Srtdìcc (III lev Mars IHK! 



lùiropcan bees, hui ex idcnlly in order to onsuie Ihc fer- 

 lilisnlion of Ihc cxjiccted young (|ii('cmis hyyoiiiii; drones. 



In Ihe ease of all Honey-bees, \vhen a eoniniunity 

 has reached a eerlain uiaxiniuni population, or w heii 

 its nest or hi\e has beeonie too small lor its needs. ;i 

 portion of the eoniniunity llii's away, talking the old 

 (jueeii with it and starts a new colony in a new nesl. 

 This is called swarniini;. IJt'l'ore swanning lakes place 

 (HM'tain indications serxc to show the bee-keejier what 

 he must expect. The bees cluslei' aiound the entrance 

 of the hive, crowds ol' them silling on the alighting 

 board ol" the hive and above tlu' entrance hole. Then 

 more and more bees come out and lly aiound, near the 

 hive, linally with a rush a very large proportion ol the 

 |)opulalion comes out, among them the queen, l-'lying 

 together in a cloud, the bees letive the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of the hi\(\ and mo\iug together they linally 

 alighl on some object, such as a tree or shrub. Here 

 they l'orni a dense cluster, with the (pu'en somewhere 

 in their midst. The cluster hangs free from the sup|)ort, 

 bee sitting on bee. or hanging IVom bee. Ilaxing settled 

 in this way they remain (piiet, sonu-limes lor hours il' 

 left undisturbed ; at the end of this time all take wing 

 again and enter a ca\ ily ol' a tree, oi- a hole in the earth 

 to start a new nesl. unless they haw been taken and 

 hived in the mi'anwhile. lìt-l'ore leaving the bivi' each 

 bee has lilled itself uj) Nxitli honey, in order to caiiya 

 reser\ (' of food lo ils new nesl, and to sia it building new 

 comb, lîees full of honey rarely sling; I'oi' this rt'ason 

 swarms aie usually easy to handle. 



Swarming takes place in exactly Ihe same way in 

 the case of the l\gy])tian bee, the only dilTerence I ha\e 



