Clifton College Scientific Society. 65 



cells. In these the queen immediately begins to deposit 

 eggs, and on or about the twelfth day, the workers busy 

 themselves in the construction of drone cells, and some time 

 after this, they set about building the royal comb. To return 

 to the parent hive : the eggs and the young brood fill up the 

 places of the bees that have swarmed, and before long another 

 swarm is given off. The number of succeeding swarms in a 

 year is seldom more than two, but of course this depends on 

 the quality of the pasture and condition of the hive. On the 

 day fixed for the departure of the swarm, all the workers 

 either remain inside the hive or hover round it. Near the 

 middle of the day, often after a shower of rain, all the buz- 

 zing is hushed, and soon after, the swarm issues from the 

 hive in a compact mass. Sometimes, however, a cloud or a 

 shower obliges it to return to the hive. After the impreg- 

 nation of the queen bee — generally in July or August — the 

 whole drone portion of the community is indiscriminately 

 exterminated. The workers hunt them down from all parts 

 of the hive to the base, where they fall upon them, eject 

 them from the hive, and sting them to death. They then 

 destroy all the brood di'ones, and the drones belonging to 

 other hives. 



The autumn is spent by the bees in laying by food for the 

 winter ; at this time of the year their labours are less pro- 

 ductive, except in the heath districts, since they have to 

 collect their honey chiefly from leaves and fruit, instead of 

 from the flowers of spiing and summer. If their stock of 

 honey fails, the pioneering force is despatched to reconnoitre 

 the condition of the neighbouring colonies, and after the 

 weakest hive has been selected, they sound their trumpets 

 and march out in battle array, to invade the dominions of 

 their neighbours. The aggressive army is met by the stock 

 whose capital is besieged, and a fierce conflict ensues between 

 the dense masses of each nation. Nor do the adjacent clans 

 always preserve a strict neutrality; but actuated by an 

 inordinate desire of plunder, instead of endeavouring to 

 maintain the independence of a small but flourishing neigh- 

 bour, generally connected with them by the closest ties of 

 consanguinity, they join themselves to the host of the in- 

 vader, completely sack the city, and appropriate the supplies 

 accumulated by the industry, perseverance, and thrift of a 

 nation reposing in peace. 



Those who keep bees should feed them in autumn, so that 

 they may not have to introduce the food in the cold months 

 of winter. Various syrups are prepared for this purpose, or 



p 



