CHAPTER IV 



THE HOME OF THE BEES 



r 1 1HE natural home of the honey bee 

 before it became domesticated was in 

 the heart of a forest tree, or in the cleft of a 

 rock, sheltered from the wind and rain, and 

 more or less protected from the cold. 



That the remembrance of their early homes 

 still remains is shown by the fact that when a 

 swarm is not hived, and gets away before its 

 owner can care for it, they are apt to seek the 

 interior of a partially decayed tree, entering 

 and emerging through a knothole. It is not 

 uncommon to find a tree thus tenanted by 

 a vagrant swarm. I have also found many 

 swarms that have made their homes under 

 the weather boards of a house or under the 

 eaves of a garret; only a few years ago I 



26 



