S-WAEMING. 43 



at the fullest pitch of joy and gladness ; and, by reason 

 of their numbers, flying in all directions, giving us all the 

 shapes and forms of a thousand kaleidoscopes. The sw^arm- 

 ing of bees is like a wedding, or the tally-ho of the hunts- 

 man, in this particular, that it seems to inspire all spec- 

 tators with a felt interest and enthusiasm in the scene. 

 Brave colonists ! go and prosper, and multiply exceedingly ! 



Let us look into the mother hive. Why so quiet now ? 

 No suffocation, no crowding, scarcely a sound is heard. 

 More than half the bees have gone ; still there are enough 

 left to rear and hatch the brood. Comparatively few 

 hands can be spared to gather honey now ; but great num- 

 bers are born daily — the brood becomes population. There 

 are no fresh eggs, or queen to lay them. In a short time 

 many cells will be empty, and an ample population, all 

 but free from the duties of nursing, ready and willing to 

 fill them with honey. In this transition state, while the 

 brood is passing into insect forms and living bees, there 

 is great loss of weight. If the weight of honey gathered 

 during the fbst three weeks after swarming is equal to the 

 loss sustained in hatching the brood, we reckon that 

 the bees have done exceedingly well. But what about 

 second swarms 1 Well, we had intended to look into the 

 hive after the swarm had departed. We turn it up, and 

 find three, four, or five royal cells have little maggots in 

 them, floating or lying in a white substance like milk. 

 That milky substance is royal jelly — where the bees get it 

 no one knows. Those little maggots will grow uncommonly 

 fast, and be beautiful princesses in ten days. If there is 

 ever anything like a regency in a bee-hive it is now, for 

 there is no queen reigning, no queen born — still all goes 

 on well. 



By-and-by there are strange sounds made in that hive. 

 They come from a royal cell. One of the princesses has 



