462 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAi-. 



WMcH Orlers tie Swarming 



Query 944.— When a colony swarms, which 

 orders the "walk-out"— the queen or the 

 workers ?— Florida. 



The workers.— J. H. Laekabee. 

 The workers, no doubt. — R. L. Tay- 



LOB. 



Both. They work in unison. — P. H. 

 Elwood. 



I don't know. The workers, I think. 

 — J. A. Green. 



In prime swarms, the workers.-— 

 Eugene Secor. 



Both, in harmony witQ Nature's laws. 



— G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Workers are "boss," and control the 

 queen. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



The queen — for want of room to de- 

 posit her eggs.— E. France. 



I doubt if there is any ordering about 

 it. No order is needed. The queen is 

 late in going. — A. J. Cook. 



The workers, many of them, will be in 

 the air before the queen makes her ap- 

 pearance. — S. I. Freeborn. 



It must be the queen that leads — not 

 orders — for the simple fact that if she 

 leads back, they go.— Jas. A. Stone. 



Nature ; but it seems there is occa- 

 sionally internal dissensions, as the 

 queen fails to go.— J. M. Hambaugh. 



It would seem — the workers. But no 

 doubt the "walk out" is ordered by 

 " Nature's first law."— J. P. H. Brown. 



I suppose a little like it was in the 

 late great railroad strike. The chief 

 boss (queen) sort of "requests" the 

 swarm to march forth.— C. H. Dibbern. 



We think they are unanimous on that 

 point. The queen is angry because 

 ^'oung queens are reared, and the bees 

 are uncomfortable for want of room. — 

 Dadant & Son. 



Neither of them. The economy of a 

 bee-hive is not managed on the Debs 

 plan. Each one has a mind to work the 



best she knows how, and when the time 

 comes for doing a thing, they all do it 

 without any ordering. The workers 

 generally go out first, however. — Emer- 

 son T. Abbott. 



Does any one know? I don't ; and I 

 don't see how one can ascertain. As a 

 guess, I will say, there is probably a 

 community of interest that governs the 

 matter. — J. E. Pond. 



The workers. I have repeatedly seen 

 them persecuting the queen and driving 

 her out. When a queen cannot fly, the 

 bees will endeavor to prevent her return 

 to the hive. — M. Mauin. 



" I don't know ;" but I think there is 

 usually an understanding between bees 

 and queen. Possibly the bees create 

 the emergency, and the queen gives the 

 "signal."— W. M. Baenum. 



With a normal first swarm the queen 

 is among the last to leave the hive ; 

 while with after-swarms with virgin 

 queens, the queen is about the first one 

 to leave the hive. — Mrs. J. N. Heater. 



I suppose both must work together to 

 get things in shape for swarming. I 

 suspect the immediate instigators are 

 the workers, as I have known a swarm 

 to issue with no queen in the hive, hav- 

 ing been removed a short time before. — 

 — C. C. Miller. 



I never have yet been fortunate 

 enough to hear the orders given, but I 

 have often seen bees make a rush, and I 

 believe Nature has taught the whole 

 business — queen and workers — to move 

 out when the proper time comes. I do 

 not think there are any orders at all, 

 but the bees sometimes seem about half 

 way mad at their queen at swarming- 

 time. — Mrs. Jennie Atchley. 



The worker-bees control the whole 

 proceeding. This very season I was 

 watching for the queen at the entrance 

 of a hive where the bees were in the act 

 of swarming, and the queen did not 

 make her appearance until % of the 

 swarm was in the air, and when she did 

 appear, she was being hustled out by 

 force of arms. I distinctly saw an ireful 

 worker bite her as she sullenly " va- 

 cated." I once had a swarm to issue 

 while I had the hive open, and saw the 

 internal excitement, and I saw the 

 queen make repeated attacks on a sealed 

 queen-cell, but the guards stood firmly, 

 and even used force to drive her away. 

 The old idea that the queen "leads out 

 the swarm," looks romantic, and all 

 that, but it is not according to solid 

 facts. — G. W. Demabee. 



