PRIMARY S\^ARiI. 217 



''air line/' to a hollow tree, which they have never seen, and 

 which may be the only one among* thousands where they can 

 find a suitable abode. 



These views are conlirmed by the repeated instances in 

 which a few bees have been noticed inquisitively prying into 

 a hole m a hollow tree, or the cornice of a building, and have,, 

 before long, been followed by a whole colony. 



About fifty yards from our home apiary, there was a large 

 hoUoAV oak tree, which v^^e called '^The Squirrel's Oak," be- 

 cause eveiy season it sheltered a family of these pretty ani- 

 mals. One Summer we noticed for several days some bees 

 flying, in and out of a hole, in one of its largest limbs. It 

 seemed to us that they were cleaning the hollow, and we sup- 

 posed that a swarm had taken possession of it. A change in 

 the weather liavmg taken place, the swarming preparations 

 were discontinued, and we never again noticed any bees around 

 the limb. The tree was cut down the following Whiter, and 

 no trace of comb was found in the hollow. It proved conclu- 

 sively that the bees we had seen were scouts in search of a 

 lodging. 



41(>. The swarm sometimes remains until the next day, 

 Avhere bees have clustered in leaving the hive, and instances 

 are not mi frequent of a more protracted delay. 



If the weather is hot when they first cluster, and the sun 

 shines directly upon them, they Avill often leave before they 

 have found a suitable habitation. Sometimes the queen of 

 emigrating bees, being heavy with eggs, unaccustomed to fiy, 

 is compelled to alight, before she can reach their intended 

 home. Queens under such circumstances, are occasionally un- 

 willing to take Aving again, and the poor bees sometimes at- 

 tempt to lay the foundations of their colony on fence-rails, 

 hay-stacks, or other unsuitable places. 



Mr. Wagner once kneAv a SAvarm of bees to lodge under the 

 loAvermost limb of an isolated oak-tree, in a corn-field. It 

 was not discoA'ered until the corn Avas harA^ested, in September. 

 Those AAiio found it, mistook it for a recent swarm, and in 



