48 HISTORY OF THE HIVE. 



And now I call your attention to what appears 

 as an unusual state of things at the entrance of one of 

 the hives, and we notice that the bees are evidently 

 not working as usual. They seem restless and ex- 

 cited, flying round and round, and not going far. from 

 home. The entrance is especially crowded. Pos- 

 sibly there are numbers of bees hanging together 

 there in a great cluster. The great drones also 

 partake in the general excitement in their own noisy 

 way, rushing in and out, and circhng round, as if 

 determined to be seen and heard. 



The fact is, the bees are preparing to swarm. Let 

 us observe them closely. And we have not watched 

 them long before we notice hundreds of bees, perhaps 

 very suddenly, pouring out of the hive, and hundreds 

 more pressing after them as fast as they can get out 

 of the entrance, tumbling over one another in their 

 haste, and then flying round and round ; and more 

 pressing out, until the whole air seems filled with 

 bees in the most excited state. 



' Upward they rise, a dark continuous cloud 

 Of congregated myriads numberless, 

 The rushing of whose wings is as the sound 

 Of a broad river headlong in its course.' 



SOUTHEY. 



But before they do all this I say to you, ' Let us 

 venture near the hive ; and you need not be afraid to 

 do so, for bees, when they are swarming, are generally 

 in the best of tempers. Let us watch the entrance, 

 and, perhaps, we shall see the queen herself come out. 

 Yes, look ! there she is ! Do you not see her ? She 



