276 



MINER S AMERICAN 





THE aUEEN GENERALLY ALIGHTS FIRST. 



The above cut represents the commencement of clus- 

 tering. The queen generally selects the branch to clus- 

 ter on, and wherever she goes, the family are sure to 

 follow ; sometimes, however, the bees cluster while she 

 is on the wing, and she follows the swarm, but such 

 cases do not often occur. If it so happen, that the 

 queen becomes fatigued, and alights on the ground or in 

 some place, where the bees cannot readily observe her, 

 they will cluster without her, and remain a few minutes 

 only, when every bee will return home to the parent 

 family. Queens are often forced to alight before a 

 suitable branch is selected to cluster on, in consequence 

 of the shortness of their wings, not enabling them to fly 

 with the same ease as their subjects. 



NECESSITY OF PREPARATION FOR HIVING, ETC. 



The above engraving shows how the apiarian should 



