44 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



come to maturity, and intimates her intention to claim 

 the queendom of the hive. She calls " Off, off, off," which 

 sounds like the barking of a dog at a distance. These 

 sounds she repeats several times ; and, being unanswered, 

 she leaves her cell, and becomes the rightful sovereign of 

 the hive. She commences to speak in. another tongue 

 altogether. The sounds she utters are now shrill and 

 sharp: she calls, "Peep, peep, peep," or rather, "Pa-ay, 

 pa-ay, pa-ay,'' eight or ten times. The other young prin- 

 cesses come to maturity, and commence to bark " Off, off, 

 off," in their cells. This barking provokes the reigning 

 queen very much. "With murderous intent she runs up 

 and down the hive to find these barking queens. Again 

 and again, every few minutes, is she heard calling, " Pa-ay, 

 pa-ay, pa-ay,'' sometimes in one part of the hive and 

 sometimes in another. And the responses, " Off, off, off," 

 come regularly from the oeUs of her sisters. This calling 

 of the queens is termed " piping." What is it for t Who 

 can tell t It goes on for three days and three nights. The 

 reigning queen during these three days is seeking an oppor- 

 tunity of killing her rivals, but the working bees Avard 

 off her attempts to get at the young queens ; and they 

 too are securely watched and kept in their cells. If the 

 weather be favourable on the fourth day after the calling 

 began, a second swarm will issue from the hive, taking 

 with it the queen which called " Peep, peep." What hap- 

 pens in the old hive ? One of the princesses which had 

 been kept confined to her cell for three days is permitted 

 to take the place of her sister. She in her turn calls 

 "Pa-ay, pa-ay ;" and if the responsive bark of " Off, off" 

 is continued, a third swarm may be expected on the fol- 

 lowing day, or, at latest, the day after that. 



Third and fourth swarms have been known to issue 

 from a hive in one day. Third and fourth swarms are 

 not very common ; for the bees find that two swarms in a 



