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CHAPMAN'S HANDY-BOOK

14
is black; see that the bees are lively, not quiet and
languid, and paying no attention to you when examining
the hive. Now then, afer making your selection, you
wish to move your bees some distance, therefore, when
your hive is stocked, tie it up securely in a cloth, that same
evening, and cary it to the place where it is to stand. It
must on no account be moved again except to a considerable
distance. The situation of the hives ought never to be
changed, but I have seen people shift about their hives
very inconsiderately; the change of place invariably
weakens them, as the bees will return to their old resi-
dence, the environs of which are so familiar to them. A
hive should remain as fixed to the spot as the ancient oaks,
in the hollows of which they delight to establish them-
selves, where they have their young, their companions,
their beloved queen, and all their treasures. When the
young bees take wing for the first time, they do it with
great precaution, turning round and round, and fluttering
about the entrance, to examine the hive well before taking
flight. They do the same in returning, so that they may
be easily distinguished, conducting themselves nearly after
the same manner as the workers of a newly hived swarm.
When they have made a few hundred excursions, they
set off wihtout examining the locality, and, returning in
full flight, will know their own hive in the midst of a
hundred others. But if you change its place you perplex
them, much the same as you would be, if, during your
absence, some one lifted your house, and placed it a mile
off. The poor bees return loeaded, and seeking in vain for
their habitation, either fall down and perish with fatigue,
or throw themselves into the neighbouring hives, when
they are speedily put to death.
When hives are trasnported to a considerable distance,
there is no fear that the beses will return. But this incon-
venience would be sure to take place, and many of the
working bees would prerish, if they were removed only a
few hundred paces from the spot they have been accus-
tomed to. The hive may not perish, but it will be greatly
weakened. In my opinion, if the situation is to be changed
at all, they should be removed at least a mile and a half.