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HYMENOPTERA. 333 



young bees to the population of the hive, which is not long in 

 becoming too small for the number of its inhabitants. It is then 

 that those curious emigrations of this winged people take place which 

 are called swarms. The queen leaves the hive, with a part of her 

 subjects, and founds a new colony elsewhere. In the climate of 

 France the bees generally swarm in the months of May and June. 

 In the south very thickly populated hives may furnish as many as 

 four swarm.s in a season, but in the north rarely more than one or 

 two. But in some years swarming does not take place at all, for the 

 want of a sufficient population. In such cases the workers do not 

 construct royal cells at the period when the eggs of the males are 

 laid, and the swarming is put off till the following spring. It 

 occasionally happens that a hive, although full of bees, cannot make 

 up its mind to send out a swarm, and also that the hives thinly 

 populated send out abundant swarms. There are, then, other causes 

 than the excess of population which exercise an influence on this 

 annual crisis in the life of bees. The first swarm is always led by 

 the old queen ; if other swarms succeed, it is the young females 

 lately hatched who lead the way. 



There are many signs which announce that a swarm is going to 

 take place. The appearance of the males, or drones, is one of the 

 first signs. Another sign, but far from being infallible, is the excess 

 of the population in the common home. The bees seem then to 

 find themselves so ill at ease in their over-crowded hive, that part of 

 them go out and keep outside, either on the stand upon which the 

 hive is placed, or upon the hive itself. Crowds of bees may be seen 

 heaped up on each other outside, only waiting for the signal of 

 departure. But the least equivocal of all the signs, that which 

 points out the event for the very day, says Reaumur, is when the 

 bees of a hive do not go into the country in as great a number as 

 'usual, although the weather may be favourable and seem to invite 

 them to do so. "There is no sign," says Reaumur, "which points 

 out so surely that a swarm is preparing to take flight, as when, in the 

 morning, at those hours when the sun shines, and when the weather 

 is favourable for work, the bees go out in a small number from a hive 

 from which they went out in great quantities on the preceding days, 

 and bring back only a little rough wax. The fact of their acting in 

 this manner seems to force us to concede to bees more intelligence 

 and foresight than many people are inclined to allow that they 

 possess ; at any rate, it is exceedingly puzzling to those who wish to 

 explain all their actions by saying that they are purely mechanical. 

 Does it not seem proved that from the morning alLthe inhabitants of 



