9 8 
FOLLOWING THE BEE LINE 
all having deserted and joined the cluster above, 
where their queen undoubtedly was hiding. 
In spite of weakness and weariness, my blood was 
up! I tackled the job again. And in the tackling, 
did a very foolish thing—one of those things most 
beekeepers don’t tell! 
After scooping down the bees and thoroughly 
exciting them, I opened the window wide to relieve 
the oppressive heat in the little room. Soon I became 
conscious that they were all on the wing and swarm¬ 
ing out through the window. Too late to close it! 
They clustered on the limb of a tall elm in a large, 
indignant bunch, high, high up above the big, three- 
story house. 
Hadn’t I better give it up, suggested the owner 
. . . ? No! 
To reach them we lashed another ladder to the 
top of an extension ladder and after a perilous- 
seeming climb, got the bees in a box and quickly 
covered it with mosquito netting, so they would not 
take wing again. And—oh joy! the queen, a little 
black old lady, was with them. . . . All was 
well! 
The following day the hive was moved and the 
boards nailed up, preventing access to any more 
undesirable tenants. We killed the old black queen 
