376 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 



from the middle of May to the middle of June ; but swarms sometimes 

 occur so. early as the beginning of April, and as late as the middle of Au- 

 gust. 1 The first swarm, as I before observed, is led by the reigning queen, 

 and takes place when she is so much reduced in size, in consequence of 

 the number of eggs she has laid (for previously to oviposition her gravid 

 body is so heavy that she can scarcely drag it along), as to enable her to 

 fly with ease. The most indubitable sign that a hive is preparing to swarm, 

 so says Reaumur, is when on a sunny morning, the weather being 

 favourable to their labours, few bees go out of a hive, from which on the 

 preceding day they had issued in great numbers, and little pollen is col- 

 lected. This circumstance, he observes, must be very embarrassing to one 

 who attempts to explain all their proceedings upon principles purely me- 

 chanical. Does it not prove, he asks, that all the inhabitants of a hive, 

 or almost all, are aware of a project that will not be put in execution be- 

 fore noon, or some hours later ? For why should bees, who worked the 

 day before with so much activity, cease their labours in a habitation which 

 they are to quit at noon, were they not aware that they should soon 

 abandon it ? 2 The appearance of the males, and the clustering of the po- 

 pulation at the mouth of the hive (though this last is less to be relied 

 upon, being often occasioned by extreme heat.), are also indications of the 

 approach of this event. A good deal depends, however, on the warmth of 

 the atmosphere and the state of the weather either to accelerate or retard 

 it. Another sign is a general hum in the evening, which is continued even 

 during the night, all seems to be in a bustle, the greatest restlessness 

 agitates the bees. Sometimes to hear this hum, the ear must be placed 

 close to the hive, when clear and sharp sounds may be distinguished, 

 which appear to be produced by the vibration of the wings of a single bee. 

 This hum by some has been gravely construed into an harangue of the 

 queen to animate her subjects to the great undertaking which she now me- 

 ditates the founding of a new empire. There sometimes seem to 

 happen suddenly amongst them, says Reaumur, events which put all the 

 bees in motion, for which no account can be given. If you observe 

 a hive with attention, you may often remain a long time and hear only a 

 slight murmur ; and then, all in a moment, a sonorous hum will be excited, 

 and the workers, as if seized with a panic terror, may be seen quitting 

 their various labours, and running off in different directions. At these 

 moments if a young queen goes out she will be followed by a numerous 

 troop. 



Huber has given a very lively and interesting account of the interior 

 proceedings of the hive on this occasion. The queen, as soon as she began 

 to exhibit signs of agitation, no longer laid her eg<is as before, but irregu- 

 larly, as if she did not know what she was about. She ran over the bees 

 in her way ; they in their turn struck her with their antennae, and 

 mounted upon her back ; none offered her honey, but she helped herself 

 to it from the cells in her path. The usual homage of a court attending 

 round her was no longer paid. Those, however, that were excited by her 

 motions followed her, rousing such as were still tranquil upon the combs. 

 She soon had traversed the whole hive, when the agitation became general. 

 The workers, now no longer attentive to the young brood, ran about in all 

 directions ; even those that returned from foraging, before the agitation was 



* Keys On Bees, 76. a Reaum. v. 611. 



