BEES AND THEIR WAYS 



433 



and, as if to revenge themseh'es u])on 

 them, drive them from the hive to perish 

 miserably of cold and hunger. Many 

 fall to the ground with wings and legs 

 torn off, and bodies battered and broken. 

 Are the injuries caused in the struggle, or 

 is it intentional cruelty ? Who can say ? 



As winter approaches the Bees rarely 

 go out, but cluster closely for warmth, 

 and as the outer Bees get chilled they 

 come into the centre of the li\'ing ball 

 to regain warmth, while others take their 

 places on the outside. 



During the winter, when there is little 

 work to be done, the workers live on 

 until the new brood hatches in the spring, 

 but in the summer they work night and 

 day, and wear themselves to death in the 

 brief space of about six weeks. The 

 drones, as already stated, Uve but one 

 season, and the queen (in her prime for 

 three years) will sometimes live for four 

 or five years, but frequently, as her 

 egg-laying powers decrease, she is put to 

 death by the workers, and a new queen 

 raised from one of her own eggs. In May, 

 June or July — it sometimes happens, 

 though rarely, in April — if the honey-flow 

 is good and the hive crowded, the Bees will 

 "swarm" — an event which forms one of 

 the most interesting in their life's history. 



To realise exactly what this means we 

 must trace the development of a queen 

 Bee. The workers build a special cell 

 which is shaped like an inverted acorn, 

 and in which the queen lays an egg ; or 

 sometimes the Bees may take a newly 

 laid egg from a worker cell and place it 

 there, or even build a queen cell round 

 it where it lies. There the queen is 

 reared. It often happens that several 

 queen cells are found in a hive at the 

 same time. The first hatched queen 

 tears open the other queen-cells and kiUs 

 their occupants, or if not allowed to do 

 so, sometimes leaves the hive with a small 

 number of Bees — which is called an 

 " after swarm " or " cast " ; or, again, 

 she may remain, and when the next queen 

 is hatched, fight to the death for the 

 motherhood of the hive. Here again is 

 seen a wonderful provision of Nature, 

 for in the fight for supremacy the two 

 queens hover round each other, w^atching, 

 and trying for an opening, but never 

 striking till the blow is certain death, 



for the victor must be uninjured, as on 

 the perfection of her body depends the 

 future welfare of her colony. 



When the new queen has rid herself of 

 her rivals she must turn her attention to 

 matrimony, and that within a fortnight 

 of her birth, or she will be unable to fulfil 

 her duties. Even now she is caj^able of 

 laying fertile eggs, but these invariably 

 produce drones and never worker Bees. 



Choosing a bright sunny day, the young 

 queen starts upon her marriage ilight, 

 and though she may have previously taken 

 short excursions, the drones are at once 

 aware of the import of this occasion. 

 As she flies swiftly upwards they follow 

 hard upon her, but she outstrips them all, 

 and one by one the weaker fail until at 

 length, far up out of sight, she is left 

 alone with the last and strongest drone, 

 who, in catching her, reaches not only 

 the end of his race but the end of his life, 

 for he falls back dead. The queen Bee 

 returns to the hive to take up her duties 

 of motherhood, and never again meets a 

 drone, or leaves the hive, except to 

 " swarm." Yet her marvellous power 

 enables her to lay two to three thousand 

 eggs a day in the height of summer, and 

 so to continue for three, four, or even 

 five years, laying either male or female 

 eggs at will. 



Shortly before the new queen is due 

 to be hatched the old queen leaves the 

 hive with a swarm of Bees numbering 

 some thousands. The joyous sound of 

 the Bees when swarming can be heard 

 some distance off, and as the black cloud 

 issues from the hive it seems incredible 

 that so many could be contained therein ; 

 but there are still as many, or more, left. 

 If not taken and placed in a hive the 

 swarm will send out sentinels to find a 

 hollow suitable for a new home, and 

 usually depart for it at sundown, though 

 sometimes they stay clustered where 

 they have swarmed (usually a bush or 

 branch of a tree) for two daj^s or more. 



So the Bee colonies are increased. 

 Swarming is, indeed. Nature's method of 

 saving from annihilation and increasing 

 the number of the Bees, whose work is 

 so necessary in the fertilisation of much 

 of the vegetation that sujiports life, and 

 makes the world beautiful. 



T. H. Yeldiiam. 



