The Cycle of the Year 67 



that the distracting noise would cause the bees to settle. 

 Modern beekeepers have abandoned this relic of antiquity, 

 since it has no effect whatsoever on the clustering. The 

 origin of this ancient practice has been variously explained, 

 one plausible theory being that it arose from the practice 

 of notifying neighbors of the issuing of a swarm, so that 

 ownership could be claimed. Nowadays a bell is not a 

 part of the apiary equipment and no evil seems to have 

 come from neglecting this rite. Flashing lights on the 

 swarm by means of a mirror is another theoretical impedi- 

 ment to long flights in which the modern beekeeper places 

 no confidence. 



Scouts. 



Under natural conditions, when the queen is present, the 

 swarm will hang on the support from fifteen minutes to a 

 day or more. The cluster is usually then broken and the 

 swarm flies away (often for a considerable distance) to 

 establish itself in a hollow tree or cave. That scouts locate 

 the future abode has been claimed, probably correctly. 

 Baron v. Berlepsch, the celebrated German beekeeper, 

 records * an instance of scouts working for several days in 

 advance of swarming to prepare a place. Usually it can- 

 not be so well demonstrated that scouts have been sent 

 out, but the accuracy with which swarms often fly to a 

 cavity without delay indicates that they are in some manner 

 led to the place. How this is done is not known. Similar 

 instances of bees being led to certain places are discussed 

 in a later chapter (p. 120). 



After the swarm has been removed (Fig. 48) a few bees 

 will often be seen around the former location of the cluster, 

 either at rest or on the wing. These bees are evidently 

 attracted or held by the odor which adheres to the support. 

 That these are scouts which return after the cluster is hived 



1 v. Berlepsch, 1852. Eichstadt Bienenzeitung, VII, Nr. 7. Reprinted 

 in v. Buttel-Reepen, 1906. Are bees reflex machines? (Eng. trans.) 



