74 GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



When the larva is full grown no more food is supplied to it 

 and the cell is sealed with a waxen cover. Within this prison 

 the larva spins a cocoon and changes to a pupa. Within three 

 weeks from the laying of the egg the worker bee cuts a hole 

 in the covering of its cell and emerges. A queen is produced 

 in somewhat less time ; a drone requires slightly longer. 



In late spring or early summer, as the colony has increased 

 in size, the time approaches for one of the new queens to 

 appear from the pupal stage. A peculiar noise may be heard, 

 made probably by the wings of the imprisoned queen. Part 

 of the ordinary work of the hive is neglected, and the old 

 queen rushes forth with a large number of the community, 

 generally alighting in a palpitating mass on some near-by 

 tree or other support. This is the " swarming" of the bees. 

 If provided with a new hive, they will generally settle down 

 quietly in their new home. Bees are particular as to the* 

 state of the weather at the time of swarming, appearing only 

 when the sky is clear. The workers carry a store of honey 

 in their crops, as if prepared for a long trip, which in a state 

 of nature may often have occurred before the bees could find 

 a hollow tree or crevice among rocks suitable for a home. 

 The swarming serves the purpose of lessening the chances 

 of a total extinction of the species, by increasing the number 

 of communities. 



Meanwhile the new queen appears in the old hive, and 

 after a flight in the 'air with the drones, during which ferti- 

 lization occurs, she settles down to her duty of egg-laying. 

 This flight and the swarming are the only occasions upon 

 which the queen leaves the hive. The. number of swarms 

 thus given off varies with the size of the original community, 

 and seems to depend somewhat on climatic conditions. It is 

 not uncommon to have three swarms in a season. When the 

 community is to send out no more swarms, the queen is per- 

 mitted to sting the other young queens to death. If by any 



