210 NATURE-STUDY 



workers cling to her and each other in a dense cluster. They 

 may now be shaken into an empty hive and thus prevented 

 from wandering off. This leaving the old hive is called 

 " swarming." 



Soon after the old queen has left the hive the new queens 

 hatch out. Often the first out will sting the others to death 

 in their cells or in combat. Sometimes the extra queens 

 swarm away with some followers. Finally one queen is left 

 mistress of the hive. Then she goes out with the drones on a 

 wedding trip, but soon returns to the hive to proceed to her 

 duty of laying eggs. The drones are mercilessly killed by the 

 workers in the fall, or when the food begins to be scarce. 



During the winter the colony lives on the store of honey in 

 the hive. 



Many swarms of bees leave the apiaries and take up 

 quarters in a hollow tree or a rock cavity. Some people make 

 it a practice to trace these homes of the "wild" bees, which 

 may be done by following the "bee line" or direction taken 

 by the laden bee on its way home. Read Burroughs' "An 

 Idyl of the Honey Bee," which tells about bee hunting. 



The interesting life in the colony may be observed by 

 school children by visiting an apiary and having the bee- 

 keeper show and explain things. A still better method is 

 to have an observation hive with glass sides. 



