Personally, I believe that it is the human breath to which the bees particularly object, and I have found that if a little honey be eaten before one opens a hive the enmity of the bees will be neutralised to a very great extent.
A pair of gloves, with gauntlets, are absolutely necessary to the bee-keeper's equipment, though an admirable makeshift for the latter can be adapted from old stocking legs. These pulled over the sleeves of the coat, after the gloves have been buttoned, form an efficient guard against an exploring bee.
CHAPTER IV
Bees: Their Habits and Products
Swarming.—As already explained (pp. [7], [8]) a hive will "swarm" when an old queen finds that other queens are being nurtured in the hive. In such a case she calls forth as many of her adherents as will follow her and goes out to found a new community. Oftentimes the site of the new home is definitely settled beforehand in some unoccupied hive, and in such cases scout workers will have prepared and cleansed the hive some days in advance. The passing to and fro of these pioneers will sometimes give the owner of the empty hive the idea that he has bees working there. Generally, however, the swarm issues from the hive without any definite objective and flies on until the queen settles, when her retinue of workers form a cluster around her.
As a rule it is an easy matter to tell when the bees are swarming, for they rush pell-mell in a tumultuous stream from the hive, and fly round and round, and in and out, hundreds being on the wing together, taking the appearance of a living cloud. They are perfectly docile and will allow the spectator to stand among them provided they are not provoked. Of course this is easily done: the mere getting entangled in the hair of the onlooker is sufficient to rouse their anger. Any symptoms of nervousness, too, seem to become apparent at once to the bees, and perspiration, again, is objectionable to them. But an expert bee-handler may lift a swarm with his hands and suffer no ill, for so long as they are not crushed the bees will not resent the handling.
It is seldom that a first swarm issues from the hive other than when the weather is warm and the sun shining. Generally it is between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. that swarming takes place. First swarms are usually the largest, for when the joyful hum of the rising swarm sounds forth many of the bees from adjoining hives will be drawn to join the swarm and are received in a friendly manner.
Virgin Swarms.—The bees of a swarm will often follow a virgin queen when she goes out to seek a mate, the bees apparently thinking that if she is lost they will die. It is therefore advisable that a hive which is known to contain a virgin swarm should have the entrance blocked up so that only one or two bees can pass in or out at a time. This may be widened after the queen has been mated.
The Treatment of Swarms will be found explained on [page 68].
The Scent of the Bee.—Every novice in bee-keeping should make a point of acquiring knowledge by practical experience on this wonderful point in connection with bees, for it plays a most important part in the success of bee-keeping. Not only does each hive diffuse a different scent from that of its neighbour—even though the nectar may be gathered by the bees from the same source—but the scent of each hive may vary according to the work that is going on within it. Each individual bee, too, can diffuse a varying scent to suit its circumstances. An expert bee-keeper can generally tell from the scent immediately he opens his hive what reception he is likely to meet with, for even our native bees are seldom found to be docile in the midst or towards the end of a honey-flow.
When bees are swarming they emit quite a distinct scent, which probably accounts for the friendly reception accorded at that time to bees from other hives. When a stranger approaches a hive, or if the bees are disturbed, it will be noticed that those on the alighting board elevate their abdomens and fan vigorously with their wings—with the result that other members of the hive rush to the scene. It is true that the sound of their wing movements is different from that caused by the ventilating fanning, but there is no question that an alarm scent is emitted from the abdomen and diffused by the vigorous movement of the wings. In the same manner the sting of the bee when discharged emits a peculiar scent which has the effect of rousing other bees to anger, as though to avenge the death of their fellow-worker. The expert bee-keeper well knows the scent of the sting even though he may be immune from its effect. It is well to note, by the way, that cross-bred bees as a rule are very quarrelsome and extremely sensitive, and are often dangerous on this account, for they are very free with their sting.