THE HONEY-BEE IN NEW ZEALAND, 
29 
of hiving his bees which may have settled there, if he 
but set to work quietly and perseveringly. Do not use 
thick gloves, or any of those other articles of bee dress 
which you will sometimes see recommended. For any 
thing which hinders you from moving about with ease— 
anything which prevents you handling your bees with a 
gentle touch—anything, in fact, which makes you 
awkward, or shows that you are timid amongst them, 
will be less likely to protect you from stings than to 
draw them down upon you. The bees, too, are particu¬ 
larly gentle when in the act of swarming, however 
irascible the parent hive may have been up to that time. 
If the swarm has alighted on a small bough, nothing 
is easier than to hive them. Spread a cloth on the 
ground, and on it place the bottom board of the hive. 
An assistant must then hold the stem, on which the bees 
are settled, on each side of the cluster, so that it may 
not fall to the ground, when you with a sharp knife cut 
it off. Place the twig, with the bees hanging to it, 
gently on the bottom board, and then set your hive over 
it, propping it up on one side, that the bees which are 
still on the wing may find their way in. Lap the cloth 
round over the hive on all sides but this one, and other¬ 
wise shade it well from the sun, and your work is done 
till the evening, when you must set the hive where it is 
to stand. You should, however, keep an eye upon them, 
or else when you go to move your hive you may find it 
emnty, the bees having flown. 
The Rev. J. G. Wood says truly that for the most part 
all the details of bee-management can be best learned from 
practice, and the study of the essential objects which 
details are intended to secure. It is also to be observed, 
that such details are unsettled to this hour, and vary 
among the best apiarists. 
Almost the entire success of bee management depends 
upon the capabilities of the apiarian to take advantages of 
all the various changes which must take place according 
to the variations of temperature, locality, and seasons. 
While, therefore, it would display great presumption on' 
the part of a beginner to dispense with the rules which 
the extensive experience of veteran bee-masters has enabled 
