194 AUSTRALASIAN 



The emigrating bees usually fill themselves with honey just before 

 their departure ; but in one instance I saw them lay in their supplies 

 more than two hours before they left. A short time before the swarm 

 rises, a few bees may generally be seen sporting in the air, with their 

 heads turned always to the hive ; and they occasionally fly in and out, 

 as though impatient for the important event to take place. At length 

 a violent agitation commences in the hive ; the bees appear almost 

 frantic, whirling around in circles, continually enlarging like those 

 made by a stone thrown into still water, until at last the whole hive is 

 in a state of the greatest ferment, and the bees, rushing impetuously 

 to the entrance, pour forth in one steady stream. Not a bee lurks 

 behind, but each pushes straight ahead, as though flying for dear life, 

 or urged on by some invisible power in its headlong career. 



"Often the queen does not come out until many bave left ; and she 

 is frequently so heavy, from the number of eggs in her ovaries, that 

 she falls to the ground incapable of rising with her colony in the air. 

 The bees soon miss her, and a very interesting scene may now be 

 witnessed. Diligent search is at once made for their lost mother ; the 

 swarm scattering in all directions, so that the leaves of the adjoining 

 trees and bushes are often covered almost as thickly with anxious 

 explorers as with drops of rain after a copious shower. If she cannot 

 be found, they commonly return to the old hive in from ten to fifteen 

 minutes, though they occasionally attempt to enter a strange one, or 

 to unite with another swarm. " 



In a case of the sort last mentioned a careful search should 

 be made in the neighbourhood of the hive and between it and 

 the place where the swarm settled, when the queen may be 

 found on the ground, and probably surrounded by a number of 

 her bees, and may thus be saved and returned to the hive. The 

 attempt to swarm will then most probably be repeated the next 

 day, if the weather should prove favourable. 



OBJECTIONS RAISED AGAINST NATURAL SWARMING. 



The three great objections usually raised against natural 

 swarming are, first, the uncertainty of the time when a stock 

 may swarm, and the consequent necessity of watching for it ; 

 , second, the risk of being unable to capture the swarm if it 

 should settle in some place not easily accessible, and the cer- 

 tainty of losing it if it should abscond ; and third, the probabi- 

 lity of two or more swarms issuing about the same time in a 

 large apiary, and uniting together in one cluster. I think 

 none of these objections, practically speaking, very formidable. 

 As to the first, (a careful and observant apiarist, from his 

 periodical outward inspection of his hives, will be able to form 

 a pretty correct idea of the strength of the colonies, and the 



