134 THE BEE-MASTER OF WARRILOW 
moment. The swarm may take three or four 
minutes to get fairly on the wing; and, from a 
populous hive, may number twenty-five or thirty 
thousand individuals. 
There is seldom any fear of stings at such a 
time, and this extraordinary phase of bee-life may 
usually be studied at close quarters. One of the 
most puzzling things about it is that, however large 
the swarm proves to be, enough workers and drones 
are still left behind in the old hive to carry on the 
work of the stock. When the order for the sally is 
given, and a feverish excitement spreads at once 
throughout the hive, those bees chosen to remain in 
the old dwelling are perfectly unmoved by the 
general mad spirit. Directly the last of the 
trekking-party has gone off, the home-bees set 
diligently and quietly to work as if nothing had 
happened. With the whole garden alive with 
flashing wings, and resounding with the rich deep 
hubbub of the swarm, the bees forming the remnant 
of the old colony go about their usual business in 
perfect unconcern, lancing straight off into the sun- 
shine towards the clover-fields, or winging busily 
homeward laden with honey and pollen, just as they 
have been doing for weeks past. And if the hive be 
opened at this time, it will show nothing unusual 
except that no queen will be found. There will be 
three or four queen-cells like elongated acorns 
hanging from the edges of the central combs; and 
the first queen to hatch out, and prove herself 
happily mated, will be allowed to destroy all the 
others. For the rest, work seems to be going on 
in a perfectly normal way. The nectar and pollen 
are being stored in the cells; the young grubs are 
