150 THE BEE keeper's MAlTOAIi. 



the sure approach of famine, they sally out to see if some- 

 thiog cannot be done to better their condition. 



At first sight, it seems strange that so provident an insect 

 should not always select a suitable domicile before ventur- 

 ing on so important a step as to abandon the old home. 

 Often before they are safely housed again, they are exposed 

 to powerful winds and drenching rains, which beat down 

 and destroy many of their number. 



I solve this problem in the economy of the bee, in the 

 same manner that I have solved so many others, by con- 

 sidering in what way, this arrangement conduces to the 

 advantage of man. 



The honey-bee would have been of comparatively little 

 service to him, if instead of tarrying until he had sufficient 

 time to establish them in a hive in which to labor for him, 

 their instinct impelled them to decamp, without any delay, 

 from the restraints of domestication. In this, as in many 

 other things, we see that what on a superficial view, appear- 

 ed to be a very obvious imperfection, proves, on closer ex- 

 amination, to be a special contrivance to answer important 

 ends. 



To return to our new swarm. The queen sometimes 

 alights first, and sometimes joins the cluster after it has 

 commenced forming. It is a very rare thing for the 

 bees ever to cluster, unless the queen is with them ; 

 and when they do, and yet afterwards disperse, I believe 

 that usually the queen, after first rising with them, has been 

 lost by falling into some spot where she is unnoticed by the 

 bees. In two instances, I performed the following interest- 

 ing experiment. 



Perceiving a hive in the very act of swarming, I contract- 

 ed the entrance so as to secure the queen when she made her 

 appearance. In each case, at least one third of the bees 



