The Young Queens 



coming births — is sufficiently constant 

 to point to an actual and mysterious 

 reckoning on the part of the genius of 

 the hive. 



[75] 



We will not follow these swarms on 

 their numerous, and often most compli- 

 cated, adventures. Two swarms, at times, 

 will join forces ; at others, two or three 

 of the imprisoned queens will profit by 

 the confusion attending the moment of 

 departure to elude the watchfulness of 

 their guardians and join the groups that 

 are forming. Occasionally, too, one of 

 the young queens, finding herself sur- 

 rounded by males, will cause herself to 

 be impregnated in the swarming flight, 

 and will then drag all her people to an 

 extraordinary height and distance. In 

 the practice of apiculture these secondary 

 and tertiary swarms are always returned 



267 



