216 



NATURAL SWARMING. 



first rising with them, she has fallen, from weakness, into 

 some spot where she is unnoticed by the bees. 



Perceivmg a hive in the act of swarming, the writer on 

 two occasions, contracted the entrance, to secure the queen 

 when she should make her appearance. In each case, at 

 least one-third of the bees came out before she joined them. 

 As soon as the swarm ceased searching for her, and were re- 

 turning to the parent-hive, he placed her, with her wings 

 clipped, on a limb of a small evergreen tree, when she crawled 

 to the very top of the limb, as if for the express purpose of 

 making herself as conspicuous as possible. The few bees, 

 that first noticed her, instead of alighting, darted rapidly to 

 their companions; in a few seconds, the whole colony was ap- 

 prised of her presence, and flying in a dense cloud, began 

 quietly to cluster around her. Bees, when on the wing, inter- 

 communicate with such surprising rapidity, that telegraphic 

 signals are scarcely more instantaneous. 



415. That bees send out scouts to seek a suitable abode, 

 admits of no serious question. Swarms have been traced 

 directly to their new home, in an air-line flight, from the 

 place where they clustered after alighting. Now this pre- 

 cision of flight to an unknown home, would plainly be im- 

 possible, if some of their number, by previous explorations, 

 were not competent to act as guides to the rest. The sight 

 of bees for distant objects is so wonderfully acute, that, after 

 rising to a sufficient elevation, they can see, at the distance of 

 several miles, any prominent objects m the vicinity of their in- 

 tended abode. (13-14.) 



"Whether bees send out scouts before or after swarmmg, 

 may admit of more question, but these scouts are usually ab- 

 sent for an hour or more, after the alightmg of the swarm. 



It is probable that most of the scouts are sent during the 

 alighting; otherwise how could they know where the^ swarm 

 alighted, so as to come back to it? 



The necessity for scouts or explorers seems to be unquestion- 

 able, unless we admit that bees have the faculty of flying in an 



