THE ANTS, BEES, AND WASPS 85 



the larva spins a cocoon and changes to a pupa. Within 

 three weeks from the laying of the egg the worker bee cuts 

 a hole in the covering of its cell and emerges. A queen is 

 produced in somewhat less time ; a drone requires slightly 

 longer. 



In late spring or early summer, as the colony has increased 

 in size, the time approaches for one of the new queens to 

 appear from the pupal stage. A peculiar noise may be heard, 

 made probably by the wings of the imprisoned queen. Part 

 of the ordinary work of the hive is neglected, and the old 

 queen rushes forth with a large number of the community, 

 generally alighting in a palpitating mass on some neighbor- 

 ing tree or other support. This is the "swarming" of the 

 bees. If provided with a new hive, they will generally settle 

 down quietly in their new home. Bees are particular as to 

 the state of the weather at the time of swarming, appear- 

 ing only when the sky is clear. The workers carry a store 

 of honey in their crops, as if prepared for a long trip, which 

 in a state of nature may often have occurred before the bees 

 could find a hollow tree or a crevice among rocks suitable for 

 a home. The swarming serves the purpose of lessening the 

 chances of a total extinction of the species, by increasing the 

 number of communities. 



Meanwhile the new queen appears in the old hive, and 

 after a flight in the air with the drones, during which ferti- 

 lization occurs, she settles down to her duty of egg-laying. 

 This flight and the swarming are the only occasions upon 

 which the queen leaves the hive. The number of swarms 

 thus given off varies with the size of the original community 

 and seems to depend somewhat on climatic conditions. It is 

 not uncommon to have three swarms in a season. When the 

 community is to send out no more swarms, the queen is per- 

 mitted to sting the other young queens to death. If by any 

 chance two queens meet, a conflict begins at once, and the 



