142 THE LIFE OF THE BEE 



left in the hive will set one of the prisoners free ; and she 

 will evince the same murderous desires, send forth the same 

 cries of anger, until at last, after three or four days, she will 

 leave the hive in her turn, at the head of the tertiary swarm ; 

 and so in succession, in the case of " swarming fever," till the 

 mother-city shall be completely exhausted. 



Swammerdam cites a hive that, through its swarms and 

 the swarms of its swarms, was able in a single season to found 

 no less than thirty colonies. 



Such extraordinary multiplication is above all noticeable 

 after disastrous winters ; and one might almost believe that 

 the bees, forever in touch with the secret desires of nature, 

 are conscious of the dangers that menace their race. But at 

 ordinary times this fever will rarely occur in a strong and 

 well-governed hive. There are many that swarm only once ; 

 and some, indeed, not at all. 



After the second swarm the bees, as a rule, will renounce 

 further division, owing either to their having observed the 

 excessive feebleness of their own stock, or to the prudence 

 urged upon them by threatening skies. In that case they 

 will allow the third queen to slaughter the captives ; ordinary 

 life will at once be resumed, and pursued with all the more 

 ardour for the reason that the workers are all very young, 

 that the hive is depopulated and impoverished, and that there 

 are great voids to fill before the arrival of winter. 



IS 

 The departure of the second and third swarms resembles 

 that of the first, and the conditions are identical, with the 



