164 



SilALL ANIMALS AND INSECTS. 



[Chap. II. 



Place your hive in the place where it is to stand, as soon as possible after 

 the swarm is in ; because the workers commence comb-building immediately, 

 and moving disturbs them, and if only a day or two at work, moving may 

 break down tlie comb. 



218. What a Swarin Consists of. — A swarm of bees in working order con- 

 sists of one queen, two or throe hundred drones, and from ten to fifty 

 thousand workers. The queen would more properly be called a mother, as 

 she is so, in fact, of all the colony. The drones are the males ; they never 

 work nor fight — they are stingless. The workers are imperfectly developed 

 females. According to T. B. Miner, author of a bee manual, the swarm in 

 the spring consists. of the queen and about two or three thousand workers, 

 and these increase as soon as food can be provided in spring, enough to make 

 a new swarm, which goes oif, led by the old queen, while a new one is pro- 

 vided for the old colony, which also goes oflT sometimes, with another swarm ; 

 and occasionally a third one is sent oil", and finally, the swarm remaining con- 

 sists of about 20,000 bees, and all but two or three thonsand die ofl" before 

 spring ; the life of a bee being calculated at only about nine months. 



A queen-bee is so distinguished from other bees by her shape, size, and 

 color, that when you have once learned how, you can always distinguish 

 her. So you can by the noise she makes. A queen is larger than a worker, 

 but not as large around as a drone, though longer ; and the rings of her 

 abdomen are less fully developed, and consequently not so plainly distin- 

 guishable. In short, a queen is more wasp-like in her form than a drone ; 

 and is of a darker color, particularly upon the back part of the abdomen ; 

 while on its under side it is of a yellowish hue. The wings of the queen, in 

 proportion to her body, as compared to either of the others, are wider, 

 stouter, and shorter. She is seldom on the wing ; only at swarming time, 

 and when she cohabits with the males. It is supposed that she is always 

 impregnated during her flight, and that impregnation in the fall, before the 

 drones are destroyed, serves for the eggs she will lay in the spring. Those 

 who have made ol)servations upon them, declare that a queen-bee is capable 

 of laying hundreds, perhaps thousands, of eggs a day. 



Drones are idle fellows ; their only service being attendance upon the 

 queen. Their life is a very short one ; generally from April to August ; say 

 four months. None are allowed to live over v»inter. You must not mis- 

 take the slaughter of the drones for war with other bees, which sometimes 

 occurs. 



The workers are always busy whenever it is possible for them to carry on 

 their labors. They often begin the very hour they enter a new hive to 

 build comb, and the second day the honey and pollen gatherers begin to 

 bring in their stores. To work to advantage they must have a good house. 

 Sometimes when a swarm goes into a hollow tree, the labor is immense, to 

 clear out and fit the room for use. So it is when put into a mean, dirty hive. 

 It requires a great deal of labor sometimes for the bees to stop up the cracks 

 of an old hive with bee-glue — a substance gathered in the forest, and not 



