HIVING OF SWARMS. 143 



SWAMMERDAM tried the experiment of fasten- 

 ing the queen hy one of her legs to the end of a 

 pole, by which he induced the bees to follow him 

 wherever he chose. Reaumur relates a somewhat 

 similar instance of a bee-man mentioned by 

 FATHER LABBAT in his Travels, who had the ad- 

 dress to conceal the source of his dexterity. WILD- 

 MAN'S expertness in this way was celebrated far 

 and near. Fide chapter on Uniting Swarms. 



In confirmation of the evidence I have already 

 given, of the queen's importance to the well-being 

 of the community, I will advert to some experi- 

 ments of HUBER. He removed a queen from one 

 of his hives ; the bees were not immediately 

 aware of it, but continued their labours, watched 

 over the young, and performed the whole of their 

 ordinary occupations. In a few hours afterwards, 

 agitation commenced, and all appeared to be a 

 scene of tumult ; a singular humming noise was 

 heard, the bees deserted their young and rushed 

 over the surface of the combs, with delirious im- 

 petuosity. On replacing the queen, tranquillity 

 was instantly restored ; and from what will be said 

 presently, it appeared that they knew her indi- 

 vidual person. Huber varied this experiment 

 with other hives, in different ways ; instead of 

 restoring their own queen, he tried to substitute 

 a stranger queen; the manner of her reception 

 depended upon the period at which she was in- 



