HISTORY AND PHYSIOLOGY. 39 



the young queens, successively hatched, from 

 leaving them, except at an interval of several days 

 from each departure. But I have already adverted 

 to their mode of proceeding on these occasions. 

 Vide page 17. The law of primogeniture is always 

 strictly observed towards these royal insects, the 

 first-born or princess-royal being always selected to 

 go off with the second swarm, or to reign over 

 the parent stock, as the case may be ; and so on 

 with respect to the third and fourth, or whatever 

 number may issue. It is remarkable that a queen 

 seldom, if ever, leads forth a swarm, except there 

 be sunshine and calm air. Such a ferment oc- 

 casionally rages in the hives, as soon as the young 

 queens are hatched, that Huber has often observed 

 the thermometer placed in the hive, rise suddenly 

 from about 92 to above 104 Fahrenheit. This 

 suffocating heat he considers as one of the means 

 employed by nature for urging the bees to go off 

 in swarms. In warm weather one strong hive has 

 been known to send off four swarms in 18 days. 

 Vide Chap. XIII. 



According to Huber, the queen ordinarily lays 

 about 12,000 eggs in two months, one impregnation 

 serving, as has been before stated, for the whole 

 complement of eggs, of every description, which 

 she lays during two years at least. It is not to 

 be supposed that she lays at the rate of 12,000 

 eggs every two months, but she does so at the 



