THE HONEY-BEE. 
141 
round the apiary, wheeling about in mazy circles, 
and in a kind of regular confusion, but dart away in 
a condensed bod}', and with a rapid wing, with a 
shrill whizzing sound, and almost always in a straight 
line, as if they had some particular selected spot in 
view. It is supposed, indeed, and on feasible grounds, 
that in every case the bees, previous to swarming, 
have fixed on a place of abode ; that they alight in 
the first instance on a bush or tree, merely as a 
general rendezvous, before proceeding to their final 
destination ; and that some days previously they send 
out some of their number in the character of scouts 
to look out for a suitable habitation. Whether this 
be the fact or not, is a question which has given 
rise to considerable discussion ; and a host of apia- 
rians have taken opposite sides on the subject. The 
advocates of the scout system are Warder, Butler, 
Bonner, and Knight among the British writers, several 
French naturalists, and the author of the letters of 
an American farmer. On the other side are Reau- 
mur, Buffon, Bonnet, and Huber. Who shall decide 
when such authorities differ in opinion ? As far as 
our experience goes, it is in favour of the scout 
system. At the approach of the swarming season, 
■we usually place an empty hive or two in the apiary 
to be ready for the reception of swarms ; and few years 
— perhaps none — have elapsed in which we have not 
observed for some days before the swarming com- 
mences, a few scores of bees very busy in some one of 
these empty hives ; — a circumstance almost uniformly 
followed by a swarm taking possession of it. They are. 
