MIGRATIONS OF BEES. 287 



the royal cells are after her departure assiduously 

 watched by the workers. ' At length,' says the 

 elder Huber, ^ the female hatched from the first egg 

 laid by the old queen leaves her cell; the workers 

 then treat her with indifference. But impelled by 

 the instinct which urges her to destroy her rivals, she 

 seeks the cells where they are enclosed; yet no 

 sooner does she approach than the sentinel bees bite, 

 pull, and harass her, so that she is forced to remove, 

 though the royal cells being numerous she can 

 scarcely find a place of rest. Incessantly animated 

 with the desire of attacking the other queens, and as 

 continually repelled, she becomes agitated, and hastily 

 traverses the different groups of workers, to which 

 she communicates her disorder. At this moment 

 numbers of bees rush towards the aperture of the 

 hive, and, accompanied by the young queen, forsake 

 it to seek another residence. After the departure of 

 this second colony, the remaining workers set another 

 queen at liberty, and treat her with equal indifference 

 as the first. They drive her from the royal cells; 

 she also, from being perpetually harassed, becomes 

 agitated, departs, and carries along with her a third 

 swarm. In a populous hive this scene is repeated 

 with the same circumstances three or four times 

 during the summer. The number of bees being then 

 so much reduced, they are no longer capable of pre- 

 serving a strict watch over the royal cells; several 

 females are enabled to leave their confinement at 

 once, when they seek each other, fight, and the 

 queen who is at last victorious reigns peaceably over 

 the republic.'* 



For two or three nights previous to the departure 

 of a swarm, a singular humming sound is heard in 

 the hive. The sounds, which are sharp and clear, 



* Huber on Bees, 176. 



