128 SYMPTOMS PRIOR TO SWARMING. 



neither gather honey nor farina, though the 

 morning be sunny and the weather altogether 

 inviting. Reaumur regarded this as the most 

 indubitable sign of preparation for swarming. 



4. A singular humming noise, for two or three 

 nights previous, which has been variously de- 

 scribed and accounted for. It cannot always be 

 distinguished, unless the ear be placed near the 

 mouth of the hive ; the sounds, which are sharp 

 and clear, seem to proceed from a single bee. 

 Some suppose the noise to be made by the young 

 queen, and to resemble chip chip peep peep or 

 the toot toot of a child's penny trumpet, but not 

 so loud ; Mr. Hunter compares it to the lower a 

 in the treble of the piano-forte. It is readily 

 distinguishable by those who have been accus- 

 tomed to hear it. DR. EVANS inquires, is it the 

 sound emitted by perfect queens, on emerging 

 from their cells, as described by M. Huber? 

 The noise is sometimes in a shrill, at other times 

 in a deeper key ; this difference in the intensity 

 of the tones may arise from the distance whence 

 the sound proceeds, or may be intended to 

 4 intimate to the bees the respective ripeness of 

 their queens. BUTLER and WOOLRIDGE ascribe 

 it to a parley between the old and young queens, 

 the latter at the bottom of the hive requesting 

 leave to emigrate, and the former answering in 



