BEEKEEPERS IN STRANGE PLACES 69 
swarm clustering on a small pear tree in the kitchen 
garden and plastering itself over part of the trunk 
and about the base of two branches. Not an easy 
place from which to secure them. Wong was not 
discouraged, however. He edged his basket-topped 
pole through the branches and leaned it against the 
tree with the basket upside down just above the 
top of the clustered swarm. Very slowly they started 
to go up into it, Wong tickling their backs with a 
wisp of grass, attached to the top of another pole, 
to encourage them on their way. He stood there 
with the true patience of a Chinaman—poking and 
pushing them for several hours, till eventually al¬ 
most all had gone up and clustered in the bottom of 
the reversed basket. Gently he lowered the basket 
and poured out the bees into an empty hive awaiting 
them. 
During these proceedings he would at times leave 
for a few minutes to go back to his kitchen, but he 
was never flurried. Still, I expected on swarming 
days to notice a difference in the cooking. . . . 
Something a little burnt or under-done or heavy. 
But our meals maintained their high standard of 
excellence and I more than ever admired Wong’s 
ability to combine the highly specialized occupa¬ 
tions of chef and beekeeper. 
