THE HONEY-BEE. 197 



On the Management of Bees in the Swarming 

 Sea-son. The approach of this interesting season is 

 indicated to the Bee-master hy the appearance of the 

 drones or males, which shew themselves ahout the 

 end of May or the beginning of June, sooner or later, 

 according to the general nature of the climate, and 

 the particular state of the colony to which they he- 

 long. In the meantime, the population has increased 

 rapidly, and the heat of the hive is greatly augmented. 

 Excited hy these causes, the queen hurries over the 

 combs from one quarter of the hive to another, commu- 

 nicates her agitation to her subjects, and, accompanied 

 by a multitude of them, rushes out of the hive. (See 

 p. 138.) The bee-owner is forewarned of this re- 

 volution by several not insignificant signs. In many 

 cases, for several preceding days, the bees have been 

 hanging in clusters from the mouth of the hive, as if 

 unable to find room within, and desirous of seeking a 

 new domicile ; on the morning of the day on which 

 the emigration takes place, they may be observed 

 listless and idle at the entrance, frequently entering 

 within the door, and returning in small parties of 

 two, three, or four, seemingly insensible to the fra- 

 grance exhaled from the rich flower-vegetation, and 

 testifying none of their usual activity in profiting by 

 it; while, as the day advances, the males, on the 

 other hand, are hurrying to and fro with a prodigious 

 bustle and noise, as if conscious of some revolution 

 impending in which they would have to bear a pro- 

 minent part ; and, lastly, the moisture or sweating, 

 as it is called, which, in the early part of the day, 



