SWARMING AND HIVING. 141 



interesting scene may now be witnessed. A diligent search 

 is immediately made for their missing mother; the swarm 

 scatters in all* directions, and 1 have frequently seen the 

 leaves of the adjoining trees and bushes, almost as thickly 

 covered with the anxious explorers, as they are with drops 

 of rain after a copious shower. If she cannot be found, they 

 return to the old hive, though occasionally they attempt to 

 enter some other hive, or join themselves to another swarm 

 if any is still unhived. 



The ringing of bells, and beating of kettles and frying- 

 pans, is one of the good old ways more honored by the 

 breach than the observance ; it may answer a very good 

 purpose in amusing the children, but I believe that as far as 

 the bees are concerned, it is all time thrown away ; and 

 that it is not a whit more efficatious than the custom prac- 

 ticed by some savage tribes, who, when the sun is eclipsed, 

 imagining that it has been swallowed by an enormous dra- 

 gon, resort to the most frightful noises, to compel his snake- 

 ship to disgorge their favorite luminary. If a swarm has 

 selected a new home previous to their departure, bo amount 

 of noise will ever compel them to alight, but as soon as all 

 the bees which compose the emigrating colony have left the 

 hive, they fly in a direct course, or " bee-line," to the chosen 

 spot I have noticed that when bees are much neglected 

 by those who pretend to take care of them, such unceremo- 

 nious leave-taking is quite common ; on the contrary, when 

 proper attention is bestowed upon them, it seldom occurs. 



It can seldom if ever occur to those who manage their 

 bees according to my system ; as I shall show in the Chap- 

 ter on Artificial Swarming. If the Apiarian perceives that 

 his swarm instead of clustering begins to rise higher and 

 higher in the air, and evidently means to depart, not a mo- 

 ment is to be lost : instead of empty noises, he must lesorS 



