164 SWAEMIXG. 



DO THEY SELECT A HOME BEFORE SWAEMIUG. 



The inquiry is often made, do all swavms have a place 

 selected before leaving the parent stock? The answer 

 to this must ever be conjectural. I could relate some cir- 

 cumstances favoring the affirmative, and as many for the 

 negative, but will let it pass. Yet I think if bees are pro- 

 perly cared for, that ninety-nine swarms in a hundred will 

 prefer a good clean hive to a rotten tree in the woods. 



HOW PAK WILL THEY GO. 



How far they will go in search of a home is also uncer- 

 tain. I have heard of their going seven miles, but could 

 not learn how the fact was proved. I have no experience 

 of my own upon this point, but will relate a circumstance 

 that happened near me. While a neighbor was plowing, a 

 swarm passed over him ; being near the earth, he " pelted 

 them heartily " with loose dirt, which brought them down, 

 and they clustered on a low bush ; they were hived and 

 gave no further trouble. A man living some three miles 

 from this one, on that day hived a swarm about eleven 

 o'clock, and left them to warm up in the sun, as just de- 

 scribed. About three o'clock, their stock of patience being 

 probably exhausted, they resolved to seek a better shelter. 

 They departed in a great hurry, not even waiting to thank 

 their owner for the spread on his table, and the choice 

 perfumery with which he had scented their hive. They 

 gave him no notice whatever of their intention " to quit," 

 until they were moving! "With all their goods ready 

 packed, they were soon under way, accompanied by their 

 owner with music, but whether they marched with milita- 

 ry precision, is uncertain. In this case, the bees took the 

 lead ; the man with his tin-pan music, kept the rear, and 

 was soon at a respectful distance. They were either not 

 in a mood, just then, to be charmed by melodious sounds, 

 or their business was too urgent to allow them to stop and 



