In response to Rex Boys' last mail, I had not realised that to use the
apidictor it was necessary first to thump the hive to produce the hiss.  This
cannot be so very different to what I did yesterday to I hive that was
quieter than the rest.  I pressed my ear to it and gave it a gentle tap (the
hive, not the ear!).  The resulting buzz rapidly subsiding to a murmer told
me all was well.  If I trained my ear better in the swarming season, could I
do without apidictor, computers, radio links and parabolic reflectors?  They
are all machines and, generally machines hate me.
Chris Slade