1 62 The Honey-Makers 



have learned of this little lady : who, in their courtly prog- 

 ress, going to Parliament, and other solemn processions, do 

 send the greatest and fairest part of their retinue before 

 them, leaving behind but a small troupe of necessary atten- 

 dants, to guard their persons." 



The well-known habits of pounding on ketdes and reflect- 

 ing light upon a swarm may not really cause it to settle in 

 these days, but Virgil's advice to throw a htde dust upon 

 them is good, though a more certain measure is to cause a 

 smart shower from the garden hose to strike them, when 

 down they come in a hurry, wondering, no doubt, what 

 kind of storm this is that bursts out of a clear sky with no 

 " signs " to warn them of its approach. They do not gen- 

 erally swarm excepting in fair weather, and it may be that 

 when dust is thrown they mistake it for some eccentric sort 

 of storm. 



Pounding on kettles, however, has its advocates still, and 

 there are those who contend that a loud noise prevents the 

 note of the queen from being heard, and disconcerts the 

 swarm to the point of causing it to settle. 



The excitement of swarming is great enough to increase 

 the heat several degrees, Huber having discovered the 

 temperature of a populous hive on a fine spring day to 

 be from 90° to 97°, while at the swarming time it rises 

 to 104°. 



Burroughs gives us a fascinating description of the swarm- 

 ing of bees : — 



" I always feel that I have missed some good fortune if 

 I am away from home when my bees swarm. What a 

 delightful summer sound it is ! how they come pouring out 

 of their hives, twenty or thirty thousand bees each striving 

 to get out first : it is as when the dam gives way and lets 

 the waters loose ; it is a flood of bees which breaks upward 

 into the air and becomes a maze of whirling black lines to 



