>38 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
there seems some hesitation, or the bees make an 
advance not quite in the direction desired, difficulties 
which may be left to right themselves, or which may 
be immediately remedied by the scooping process 
previously explained ; and, unless the handling be 
rough and careless, not a bee will sustain injury. 
Sometimes, the rapid onward march (especially with 
hives that have a fixed bottom board) may block the 
entrance, and cause the bees to gather densely on 
the hive front, whence they may be dislodged by 
brushing with a feather, or, better still, scraping with 
a card; but a little patience will generally be found 
more serviceable than too much anxious fussing. 
The observed entrance of the queen is an end to 
troubling, as all are sure to follow. With hives with 
fixed legs, a large board, propped up to the entrance, 
will replace the sheet, and all will proceed as before. 
Instead of these plans, the cover may be taken off, 
and the cluster thrown down upon the tops of the 
frames, one or two of which have been removed ; 
but the bees are so likely to “boil over” the hive 
sides, that beginners are not recommended to try it. 
Cases now and then occur in which bees, after having 
entered a hive, appear to be dissatisfied with it, and 
refuse to remain. My late friend, Mr. John Hunter, 
recounts that he hived one lot of bees no less than 
six times, on six consecutive days, before they sub- 
mitted to the inevitable. In such cases, an unfailing 
cure, consists in giving a frame of unsealed brood, 
rather than desert which the bees will brook a hive 
not to their fancy. 
Sometimes, swarms issue and, without apparent cause, 
