TUB BEE. 
301 
It turned out that the man was almost invulnerable to stings ; and al- 
though several dozen stings or so were in his face, they did not leave 
the slightest mark, and certainly did not appear to inconvenience him 
in the very smallest degree. He afterward in the same cool manner 
extracted the greater part of the combs, and the bees, taking the hint, 
speedily evacuated the premises. There was but little honey, but 
abundance of black, worn-out combs, and plenty of young bees in every 
stage ol advancement. It is said that if any one is repeatedly stung by 
scorpions, the pain diminishes each time, and that at last the system is 
entirely uninjured by it. An English naturalist was bold enough to try 
the experiment upon himself, and found that after he had been stung 
four or five times the pain was comparatively trifling. Perhaps the 
same may be the case with regard to the bee-stings, and the old man 
just mentioned possibly owed his immunity to his frequent experience, 
as Mithridates was said to have completely fortified himself against 
poisons, by gradually imbuing his system with them. 
3. Adopting as a rule the non-disturbance in any serious way of your 
stock-hive, so that honey and brood shall there at least flourish together, 
when you think it is full (a solid sound from the hive, and a great long- 
continued buzz from the bees in answer to a tap, is good evidence of 
that state), attach j'our side-box, open the communication, and make 
the bees enter and leave by the entrance to the side-box, which you will 
do by closing up the entrance to the other at night when the bees are 
all at home. A little piece of comb, fastened at the top of the side- 
box, may be at once a useful hint and a temptation to the bees. This 
box is to be kept solely for honey-combs by ventilation, which prevents 
the queen from laying eggs in it. When the heat in the side-box is 
V0°, you should admit air through the top by means of a piece of tin 
pierced with holes. A draft through the hive, from the entrance to the 
roof, now takes place. This must not be done until you see the bees 
have fairly passed the Rubicon, and have done and ventured too much 
to be inclined to retreat to the stock-hive. When the box is full, you 
can take it away, and replace it emptied, or by another, or by opening 
a communication to a similar side-box on the opposite side, as in Mr. 
Grant’s hive. The bees in it will soon flock to the queen in the parent 
hive. This arrangement prevents swarming, or at least has a great 
tendency to prevent it ; as the bees have more room given to them just 
when they want it. It also raises the stock itself to' the highest state 
of prosperity, as only the surplus honey is taken away, and the brood is 
not interfered with. 
4. But if you wish to have an increase of stock without the incon- 
venience of natural swarming, you may easily do so by treating the 
side-box exactly the same as the chief one — that is, by leaving it un- 
ventilated. Brood as well as honey will then be deposited in" it, and 
you have only to watch for a favorable opportunity of securing two 
stocks. This should be a little before the natural period of swarming, 
of which the signs are, clustering on the outside, activity and commotion 
among the drones, inactivity of the workers, portentous silence in the 
hive in the day (during which the prudent bees are supposed to be fill- 
ing their pockets with provisions for their journey), and a singular hum- 
