Mr. Hunter's Observations on Bees. 141 
rule, because they begin early in the spring to breed, generally 
before they can be observed ; and as they breed to form a colony, 
which is to go off from the old stock, in order to set out anew, 
it might seem most natural to begin with this colony, and trace 
it through its various actions of life for one year, when it, as 
it were, regenerates itself, and comes round to the same point 
again, that the old stock was in when it threw off this colony. 
Bees, like every other animal that is taken care of in the 
time of breeding, or incubation, and nursed to the age of taking 
care of itself, cannot be said to have a period in which we can 
begin its natural history ; but in some other insects there is 
such a period, for they can be traced from an egg, becoming 
totally independent of the parent from the moment of being 
laid, as the silk-worm, &c. There are three periods at which 
the history of the bee may commence : first, in the spring, 
when the queen begins to lay her eggs ; in the summer, at the 
commencement of a new colony ; or in the autumn, when 
they are going into winter-quarters. I shall begin the parti- 
cular history of the bee with the new colony, when nothing is 
formed ; for it begins then every thing that can possibly hap- 
pen afterwards. 
When a hive sends off a colony, it is commonly in the month 
of June, but that will vary according to the season, for in a 
mild spring bees sometimes swarm in the middle of May, and 
very often at the latter end of it. Before they come off, they 
commonly hang about the mouth of the hole, or door of the 
hive, for some days, as if they had not sufficient room within 
for such hot weather, which I believe is very much the case ; 
for if cold or wet weather come on, they stow themselves very 
well, and wait for fine weather. But swarming appears to be 
