BEE-KEEPING. 439 



-thrown into one for its reception, the eggs of the two other cells being de- 

 stroyed. The grub when hatched is fed with ro3'al jellj-, and a queen is pro- 

 duced. Even if the grub had been hatched and partly fed as a worker, and had 

 only received two or three days' allowance of royal food, the result would ha\'e 

 been the same. They emerge from the pupoe perfect queens, whereas, had they 

 remained in the cells which they originally occupied, they would have turned 

 out workers, having their form, instinct, and organs of generation entirely 

 different. 



13 T4. We are now to suppose that the period of the year has arrived that 

 the queen insects, having undergone the change to the pupa state, are nearly 

 ready to burst forth into life. It is now that the old queen-mother, losing all 

 her parental feelings, becomes infuriated. She rushes to the cells wherein arc 

 deposited the future queens, and instantly begins to tear them open. The 

 guard which sm-round the cells make way for her approach, suffering her to 

 act as she pleases ; whereupon she' slaughters the inmates with her stings 

 without remorse. As the cells, however, arc thicker than those of the workers, 

 she is soon fatigued by her labours, and after she has opened one or two, she 

 languidly attempts to gnaw tlu'ough a third. The sight of these cells agitates 

 her to such a degree that she runs about the hive in a state of delirium. This 

 excitement she soon communicates to the workers by touching their antennae, 

 and after rushing about in all directions, a large portion of them, accompanied 

 "by their old queen, rush out of the hive and seek a new house. In every 

 instance it is the old queen which leads the first swai-m. Experience enables 

 the apiarist to foretell this event ; for on the evening previous to swarming the 

 bees suddenly leave off their work, as if aware of the approaching change, 

 -while a few scouts are sent out in search of a new colony. Something very 

 like concerted action and foresight is evident in these proceedings. It is 

 always in calm weather, when the sky is serene, between nine in the morning 

 and four in the afternoon, that they quit their habitation. If the queen is 

 not amongst the first which issue forth, she is not long in repairing after 

 them, and in less than a minute she is followed by all the bees which ai'e to 

 compose the swarm. By degrees they fix themselves upon a branch, form a 

 group there by hooking themselves one to another with their feet. Although 

 they are exposed, they remain quiet, and often, in less than a quarter of an 

 hour, we see scarcely more bees hovering round the swarm than are to be 

 observed round a hive in fine weather. If, in sallying forth, they fly towards 

 some large tree, there is reason to fear that they may wander beyond 

 the limits of the hive. They are easily brought down by throwing up hand- 

 fuls of dust. 



13 15. Although the swarm remain tranquil, it must not be left long in this 

 position without offering it a lodging, especially if the sun be warm. Thus, 

 therefore, in the swarming season, it is necessary to have hives quite ready. 

 The interior of a hive should be perfectly clean before it is presented to the 

 bees, for they are fond of cleanliness. To render it agreeable to them, the 

 sides should be rubbed with flowers of melissa, bean-flowers, &c., of the scent 



