Bees are very brave little creatures, and are frightened of nothing in the world except smoke and the smell of carbolic acid. When we wish to open the hive and to examine the combs, we must first puff in a little smoke at the door. Ordinary tobacco smoke would do quite well, but we more often use a rolled-up piece of brown paper, or some old rag, which are allowed to smoulder. They are placed inside a tin, which is fixed to a pair of bellows, and by working the bellows with our hand we are able to puff out any quantity of smoke from the nozzle with which the tin is fitted. This is done to frighten the bees, and not to stupefy them, as most people think. As soon as the smoke reaches them they rush to the storehouses in order to take in provisions, for they think some terrible calamity is about to occur. They know that they would starve if they were forced to leave the hive without a supply of food, and so by filling their honey-sacs they provide themselves with food to last at least a day or two. Though the bees are greatly frightened by the smoke, they have no intention of deserting the city that they have built with so much labour, unless it is absolutely necessary; so after taking in supplies they wait to see what is going to happen. While all this is going on we may look into the hive and examine the combs, and after doing so the roof is replaced, the smell of smoke leaves the hive, and the bees settle down again. The honey in their honey-sacs is put back into the storehouses, and work goes on as usual throughout the bee-city. CHAPTER XXII THE CITY GATE The door of the hive, or the city gate as it may be called, always presents a busy spectacle, and Plate XVIII. is a photograph of one. Bees are constantly alighting on the board, coming so quickly that they appear to spring from nowhere. Other bees come out of the gates, and fly away quite as rapidly. Some even are in such a hurry that they do not wait to crawl on to the board, before taking to flight, but fly straight out of the door and away into the blue. Then, again, others do not seem to be in such a hurry, for they come out of the gates, and stand on the board brushing down their wings, seeming almost as though they were blinking in the bright light of the morning sun. These are the young bees, who are on their first expedition to gather honey; probably they have never been outside the dark hive before, and so they are unaccustomed to the strong light. They must take careful survey of the position and surroundings of the hive, so that they will be able to find it again when returning laden with honey. The bees which dart straight off from the hive door are the older workers, who have made many a journey to and fro, and so know very accurately the position of the hive. [Illustration: PLATE XVIII From a photograph by] [E. Hawks The City Gate]