_Bees, when swarming, are generally peaceable_, and if treated gently, may be hived without danger or difficulty. _A remarkable instance of their inoffensiveness at this time_ is related by +Mr. Thorley+. Wanting to dislodge a swarm from the branches of a codlin-tree, he placed the hive in the hands of his maid-servant, who being a novice, covered her head and shoulders with a cloth, to guard her face; on shaking the tree, most of the bees alighted upon the cloth, and quickly crept under it, covering the girl's breast and neck up to her very chin. Mr. T. impressed her with the importance of neither flinching from nor buffeting the bees, and began immediately to search for the queen; which on finding, he gently seized and removed, but without effecting a dislodgement of the swarm: thus disappointed, he suspected that there was a second queen; which actually proved to be the case: on securing, and placing her also in the hive, with a portion of the bees, the rest followed in multitudes, till in two or three minutes not one bee remained upon the girl, who was thus released from her state of apprehension and alarm, without feeling the point of a single sting. All persons similarly situated may not be so fortunate, as, notwithstanding the greatest precaution, bees may be provoked to draw their swords. +Dr. Evans+ relates a case of this kind; a swarm having settled on the branch of a larch-tree, and its long tufts of narrow leaves flapping the bees as the bough was shaken, the woman who hived them, received above thirty stings. If the weather be windy, at the time of swarming, they are often irritable, and apt to sting; though clustered, they will frequently return home: this last occurrence is generally caused by the absence of a queen; but it may also be produced by a sudden shower, or by the transit of a dark cloud. A queen has sometimes a defect in her wings, or is disabled by some accident; either of these misfortunes may cause the return of a swarm, or produce symptoms of discontent after hiving.