THE STORY OF THE SWARM 137 
natural life of the honey-bee this annually recurrent 
impulse of swarming serves several necessary ends; 
but the utilitarian argument, however stretched, 
cannot be made to explain the whole fact. There 
is unmistakably an element of caprice about it—a 
kicking over the traces—which would be natural 
enough in creatures possessed of reason, but totally 
inconceivable from any other point of view. And 
the farther we look into the whole problem the more 
perplexing it seems. If we grant that the issue of a 
swarm, from a hive overcrowded and headed by a 
queen past her prime, is a necessity, why is it that 
the same hive will often swarm a second and even a 
third time until the stock is practically extinguished 
and the original object of swarming wholly defeated? 
Or if, under the same conditions, a hive prepares 
to swarm and cold windy weather intervenes, 
how is it that frequently all idea of swarming is 
abandoned for the season, although apparently the 
necessity for it continues to exist? 
Creatures which pursue a certain line of conduct 
under the blind promptings of instinct could hardly 
be credited with intelligence enough to lead them to 
seek another means for the desired end when the 
preordained means has failed. But this is just what 
the honey-bee appears to do in at least one instance. 
If the mother-bee of a colony is getting past her 
work, and she cannot be sent off with a swarm in the 
usual way, the bees will supersede her. They will 
deliberately put her to death, and raise another 
queen to take her place. This State execution of 
the old worn-out queens is one of the most curious 
and pathetic things in or out of bee-life. One probe 
with a sting would suffice in the matter; but the 
