CHAPTER IV 
Bees: Their Habits and Products 
Swarming.—As already explained (pp. 7, 8) a 
hive will ‘‘swarm’’ when an old queen finds 
that other queens are being nurtured in the hive. 
In such a case she calls forth as many of her 
adherents as will follow her and goes out to 
found a new community. Oftentimes the site 
of the new home is definitely settled beforehand 
in some unoccupied hive, and in such cases 
scout workers will have prepared and cleansed 
the hive some days in advance. The passing to 
and fro of these pioneers will sometimes give 
the owner of the empty hive the idea that he 
has bees working there. Generally, however, 
the swarm issues from the hive without any 
definite objective and flies on until the queen 
settles, when her retinue cf workers form a 
cluster around her. 
As a rule it is an easy matter to tell when 
the bees are swarming, for they rush pell-mell 
in a tumultuous stream from the hive, and fly 
round and round, and in and out, hundreds 
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