174 SINGULAR INSTINCT OF THE BEE. 



of a swarm, and five hundred of the old members left behind 

 in the hive, and the former will outweigh the latter by at 

 least ten or twelve ounces, and this difference arises from the 

 following circumstance. The bees which are to compose the 

 swarm appear conscious of the journey which they have 

 before them, and of the chance of being exposed to hunger, 

 before they may have the opportunity of collecting any 

 food in the fields. Some therefore gorge themselves with 

 honey, whilst others fill their stomach with the farina, for 

 the purpose of constructing their cells : nothing is more easy 

 than to know and distinguish a bee, which has satisfied its 

 appetite, and one which has been living, as it were, upon 

 short commons. Take the bee of a swarm, and one of the 

 parent hive ; crush them : the former will be found full 

 of honey, the latter with scarcely any, except it has just 

 arrived from the fields with its booty. The truth of these 

 remarks is verified by the labours of a swarm put into a new 

 and empty hive, on the occasion of some severe weather 

 coming on immediately after their being lodged in the hive. 

 No doubt whatever then exists, that before their departure 

 from the parent hive, they had taken the precaution to pro- 

 vide themselves with such a stock of provisions as to protect 

 them from immediate want. The quantity of honey which a 

 swarm carries along with it for its sustenance, has been 

 ascertained from the following curious circumstance. In 

 some countries, particularly to the south and south-east of 

 Europe, it is customary to put a swarm into a bag ; and this 

 originates from the propensity of the bees to lodge them- 

 selves in the woods, in which it is the office of certain per- 

 sons to collect the swarms. A person having once collected 

 a swarm in a bag, suspended it to the branch of a tree 

 whilst he went in search of some other swarms. The 

 swarm being exposed to a most ardent sun, the bees were 

 suffocated with the heat, but more than three pounds of 

 honey were collected, leaving some behind. 



