The following account of the process of transplanting bodily a tribe
of wild bees, is given in the notes to _The Tay_, a descriptive poem
of considerable merit by David Millar. (Perth, Richardson, 1830.)
'When the boy, whose hobby leads him in that direction, has found out
a "byke," he marks the spot well, and returns in the evening, when all
its inmates are housed for the night. Pushing a twig into the hole as
far as it will go, in case he should lose it by the falling in of the
rubbish, he commences digging freely till the hum of the hive is
distinctly heard, when he proceeds more cautiously to work. By this
time, the more adventurous of the bees come out to ascertain what is
going on, and are caught as they make their appearance, and put into a
bottle. When the nest is fully exposed, it is lifted carefully up, and
placed, as it stood, in a box prepared for it, along with the captured
bees. The lid being now closed, the whole is carried home, and placed
in the spot assigned for it in the garden. Next morning, a hole in the
side of the box is quietly opened, when one or two of the strangers
soon make their appearance, wondering, evidently, where they are, but
apparently resolved to make the most of their new circumstances. At
last, they rise slowly on the wing, and buzz round and round their new
habitation for some time, taking, no doubt, special note of its every
peculiarity. The circle of observation is then gradually enlarged,
till it is thirty or forty yards in circumference, when the earnest
reconnoitrer disappears, to return again in a short time with
something for the general good. The curious in those matters, by
placing the grubs of all the different kinds in one box beside a hive
in operation, will soon have a choice assortment of all descriptions,
working as amicably together as if they were all of the same family.'