BEE. 
290 
history of this interesting insect has been am])Iy 
detailed by various authors, as Swammerdam, 
Reaumur, &c. &c. Among the most elaborate 
accounts of later times may be numbered that of 
Mr. .John Hunter, which makes its appearance in 
the Philosophical Transactions for the year 1792. 
This paper I shall beg leave to introduce, with a 
few occasional variations and abridgements, into 
the present work. 
There are three periods at which the history 
of the bee may commence: first, in the spring, 
when the queen begins to lay her eggs; in the 
summer, at the commencement of a new colony; 
or in the autumn, when they are going into winter- 
quarters; I shall begin the particular history of 
the bee with the new colony, when nothing is 
formed; for it begins then every thing that can 
possibly happen afterwards. 
“ When a hive sends off a colony, it is com- 
monly in the month of June, but that will vary 
according to the season, for in a mild spring bees 
sometimes svvarm in the middle of May, and very 
often at the latter end of it. Before they come off, 
they commonly hang about the mouth of the hole, 
or door of the hive, for some days, as if they had 
not sufhcient room within for such hot weather, 
which I believe is very much the ease; for if cold 
or wet weather come on, they stow themselves 
very well, and wait for fine weather. But swarm- 
ing appears to be rather an operation arising 
from necessity, for they would seem not naturally 
to swarm, because if they have an empty space to 
