66 Mr Cron on the Singular Treatment of a Queen Bee, 
consequence to remark this, because it wiil be found, that the 
circumstance affects not a little the interest which attaches to 
the incident, the characters of which we have now to narrate. 
It was at an early hour of the afternoon when the hives were 
placed in close contact ; and, after some slight attempts, by 
knocking the under hive gently with the hand, to expel the swarm 
from it to the one above, they were permitted thus to remain 
till next day, in order that the bees might at their leisure ascend 
during the night. It is very possible, that while the hives were 
left standing after this manner, the queen bees might happen to 
exchange places ; or, at least, the queen belonging to the hive 
above might contrive to mingle with the swarm of that below. 
But though this supposition is not at all a probable one, the 
possibility of it, at all events, must not be lost sight of, in any 
deduction that may be drawn from the facts to be noticed in the 
subsequent narrative. 
It was intended next morning to attempt the final expulsion 
of the swarm from the one hive into the other. With this view, 
the hive into which the bees were to be driven, and which had 
stood uppermost during the night, was taken off, and placed 
upon the stool from which the other had been removed, as it 
was judged that the bees would very naturally resort to their 
usual abode. In all likelihood but few bees had gone up, as 
it was hoped they would, during the night, because, when the 
combs of the under hive were thus full in view, the swarm was 
discovered to be in great strength, distinguished in an eminent 
degree for a lively, active, and healthful appearance. This hive 
was now taken into both hands, and, with as much severity as 
the fragility of the combs would permit, was smartly knocked 
on all sides, with a view to frighten its inmates from their most 
retired recesses. This mode of procedure, it is evident, caused 
the utmost consternation; for, though the bees rose in thou- 
sands from their cells, not one shewed any disposition to sting, 
—which they would doubtless have done, had they not been 
thrown into a sort of trepidation and dismay. But as numbers, 
unwilling to leave their home, and the fruit of all their labour, 
were still seen clustering together in several parts of the hive, 
this kind of agitation was kept up for at least the space of half 
an hour., a feather being frequently passed between the inter- 
