10 Biley — Presidential Address. 



the hive the young workers, as already stated, care for the 

 brood — a labor which they take upon themselves within two or 

 three days after issuing from the cell. The glands which secrete 

 a part of the food required by the developing larvae are active 

 during the earlier part of the life of a worker. Later these 

 nurses become incapable of doing their work well, as the gland 

 system becomes atrophied. When a few days old they take 

 short flights, if the weather favors, but seldom commence 

 gathering stores before they are fifteen days old. Wax pro- 

 duction is more essentially a function of the workers in mid- 

 dle life, and it is particularly noticeable that those bees fashion- 

 ing the wax into combs are principally of this class. Many of 

 those acting as foragers do, however, secrete wax scales, which 

 are doubtless, in the main, utilized. Among the outside workers 

 and hive-defenders some bring honey only on certain trips or for 

 a time; others honey and pollen; others Avater, and yet others 

 propolis or bee-glue to stop up crevices and glue things fast. 

 Meanwhile some are buzzing their wings at the entrance to ven- 

 tilate the hive, and others are removing dead bees, dust, or loose 

 fibres of wood from the inside of the hive or from near the en- 

 trance, or are guarding this last against intruders, or perhaps 

 driving out the drones when these are no longer needed. 



Swarming.' — -Perhaps there is no action on the part of the 

 Hive Bee which more distinctly indicates its intelligence and 

 power of communication than the act of swarming. The fact 

 that queen brood is being reared in the hive is the best evidence 

 that the colony is preparing for flight or swarming ; but, in ad- 

 dition, it is noticeable that on the day of swarming the whole 

 colony is excited, and in a measure has abandoned ordinary 

 duties. For days previous to the event, scouts have been search- 

 ing for a favorable hollow or crevice or place in which to house 

 the new colony, and when the time finally comes, which is 

 usually in the hotter part of the day, all the individuals of the 

 hive leave after the peculiar preparatory flight around the hive, 

 known as swarming. The impulse to leave is such that many 

 individuals not yet capable of flight, fall to the ground, and the 

 hive is practically abandoned by all those within it at the time 

 of swarming. Individuals alight on some bough or object near by, 

 with a view primarily to organization and the sending out and 

 return of additional scouts. During this period a cluster will 



