376 PERFECT SOCIETIES OF INSECTS. 
from the middle of May to the middle of June; but swarms sometimes 
occur so early as the beginning of April, and as late as the middle of Au. 
gust.!_ The first swarm, as I before observed, is led by the reigning queen, 
and takes place when she is so much reduced in size, in consequence of 
the number of eggs she has laid (for previously to oviposition her grayid 
body is so heavy that she can scarcely drag it along), as to enable her to 
fly with ease. The most indubitable sign that a hive is preparing to swarm, 
—so says Reaumur, —is when on a sunny morning, the weather being 
favourable to their labours, few bees go out of a hive, from which on the 
preceding day they had issued in great numbers, and little pollen is col- 
lected. This circumstance, he observes, must be very embarrassing to one 
who attempts to explain all their proceedings upon principles purely me- 
chanical. Does it not prove, he asks, that all the inhabitants of a hive, 
or almost all, are aware of a project that will not be put in execution be. 
fore noon, or some hours later? For why should bees, who worked the 
day before with so much activity, cease their labours in a habitation which 
they are to quit at noon, were they not aware that they should soon 
abandon it?? ‘The appearance of the males, and the clustering of the po- 
pulation at the mouth of the hive (though this last is less to be relied 
upon, being often occasioned by extreme heat), are also indications of the 
approach of this event. A good deal depends, however, on the warmth of 
the atmosphere and the state of the weather either to accelerate or retard 
it. Another sign is a general hum in the evening, which is continued even 
during the night, — all seems to be in a bustle, the greatest restlessness 
agitates the bees. Sometimes to hear this hum, the ear must be placed 
close to the hive, when clear and sharp sounds may be distinguished, 
which appear to be produced by the vibration of the wings of a single bee. 
This hum by some has been gravely construed into an harangue of the 
queen to animate her subjects to the great undertaking which she now me- 
ditates —the founding of a new empire. There sometimes seem to 
happen suddenly amongst them, says Reaumur, events which put all the 
bees in motion, for which no account can be given. If you observe 
a hive with attention, you may often remain a long time and hear only a 
slight murmur ; and then, all ina moment, a sonoroushum will be excited, 
and the workers, as if seized with a panic terror, may be seen quitting 
their various labours, and running off in different directions. At these 
moments if a young queen goes out she will be followed by a numerous 
troop. 
Huber has given a very lively and interesting account of the interior 
proceedings of the hive on this occasion. The queen, as’soon as she began 
to exhibit signs of agitation, no longer laid her eggs as before, but irregu- 
larly, as if she did not know what she was about. She ran over the bees 
in her way; they in their turn struck her with their antenna, and 
mounted upon her back; none offered her honey, but she helped herself 
to it from the cells in her path, The usual homage of a court attending 
round her was no longer paid. Those, however, that were excited by her 
motions followed her, rousing such as were still tranquil upon the combs. 
She soon had traversed the whole hive, when the agitation became general, 
The workers, now no longer attentive to the young brood, ran about in all 
directions; even those that returned from foraging, before the agitation was 
1 Keys On Bees, 76. 2 Reaum, v. 611, 
