186 THE LORE OF THE HONEY-BEE 
disappear, and after a variable time, from a few 
minutes to a few hours, or even days, a whole 
army of bees suddenly descends from the sky and 
takes possession of the new home. When the 
interval between the appearance of the scouts and 
the arrival of the main body, is only a short one, 
the reconnoitring bees have been manifestly sent 
out by the clustered swarm; but in the case of 
long periods elapsing, the scouts must have been 
sent in search of the new location before the 
swarm issued. Probably, although the bulk of 
the party is imbued with this reckless spirit alone, 
thinking and caring for nothing else but the escape 
and the frolic, many of the older and wiser bees 
undertake the matter in a temperate, businesslike 
way, as they would go about any other important 
hive-operation. In one sense, therefore, the old 
notion of there being “ subordinate lieutenants, 
captains, and governours” in a hive may not be so 
very far from the truth. That these scouts are 
actually sent out to find a suitable site for the new 
colony, either before the swarm leaves or while 
it is clustered in the open, is a well-established 
fact, so that some of the bees at least must keep 
their wits about them throughout the general chaos. 
And with these wiser virgins must be reckoned 
the queen, in spite of the fact that she joins in the 
public excitement and restlessness, For some 
days before the great emigration her work of egg- 
laying is largely arrested, and this retentive action 
