84 BEES. 



wander aimlessly, alighting here and there, and per- 

 haps in the end uniting with some other colony. In 

 case of such union, it would be curious to know x 

 negotiations were first opened between the parties, and 

 if the houseless bees are admitted at once to all the 

 rio-hts and franchises of their benefactors. It would 

 be very like the bees to have some preliminary plac 

 and understanding about the matter on both sides. 



Bees will accommodate themselves to almost any 

 quarters, yet no hive seems to please them so well 

 as a section of a hollow tree — 4 * gurus ,: as they 

 are called in the South and West where the sweet 

 gum grows. In some European countries the hive 

 is always made from the trunk of a tree, a suitable 

 cavity being formed by boring. The old-fashioned 

 straw hive is picturesque, and a great favorite with 

 the bees also. 



The life of a swarm of bees is like an active and 

 hazardous campaign of an army ; the ranks are be- 

 ing continually depleted, and continually recruited. 

 What adventures they have by flood and field, and 

 what hair-breadth escapes ! A strong swarm during 

 the honey season loses, on an average, about four 

 or five thousand per month, or one hundred and 

 fifty per day. They are overwhelmed by wind and 

 rain, caught by spiders, benumbed by cold, crushe( 

 by cattle, drowned in rivers and ponds, and yl 

 many nameless ways cut off or disabled. In the 

 spring the principal mortality is from the cold. As 

 the sun declines they get chilled before they can 

 reach home. Many fall down outside the hive, 

 unable to get in with their burden. One may see 

 them come utterly spent and drop hopelessly into 

 the grass in front of their very doors. Before they 



