APIS. 
in for such hot weather, which we 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 swarm- 
ing appears to be rather an operation arising 
from necessity, for they would seem not 
naturally to swarm, because if they have an 
empty space to fill they do not swarm ; 
therefore by increasing the size of the hive 
the swarming is prevented. This period is 
much longer in some than in others. For 
some evenings before they come off" is often 
heard a singular noise, a kind of ring, or 
sound of a small trumpet ; by comparing it 
with the notes of the piano-forte, it seemed 
to be the same sound with the lower A of 
the treble. The swarm commonly consists 
of three classes ; a female or females, males, 
and those commonly called mules, which 
are supposed to be of no sex, and are the 
labourers ; the whole, about two quarts in 
bulk, making about six or seven thousand. 
It is a question that cannot easily be deter- 
mined whether this old stock sends off en- 
tirely young of the same season, and whether 
the whole of their young ones, or only part. 
As the males are entirely bred in the same 
season, part go off ; but part must stay, and 
most probably it is so with the others. 
They commonly come off in the heat of the 
day, often immediately after a shower. 
When one goes off they all immediately 
follow, and fly about seemingly in great con- 
fusion, although there is one principle actu- 
ating the whole. They soon appeal' to be 
directed to some fixed place ; such as the 
branch of a tree or bush, the cavities of old 
trees, holes of houses leading into some hol- 
low place ; and whenever the stand is made, 
they immediately repair to it till they are 
all collected. But it would seem, in some 
cases, that they had not fixed upon any rest- 
ing place before they come off, or, if they 
had, that they were either disturbed, if it 
was near, or that it was at a great distance; 
for, after hovering some time, as if undeter- 
mined,* they fly away, mount up into the air, 
and go off with great velocity. When they 
have fixed upqn their future habitation, 
they immediately begin to make their combs, 
for they have the materials within them- 
selves. “ I have reason,” says Mr. Hunter, 
“ to believe that they fill their crops with 
honey when they come away, probably from 
the stock in the hive. I killed several of 
those that came away, and found their 
crops full, while those that remained in the 
hive had their crops not near so full : some 
of them came away with farina on their legs, 
which I conceive to be rather accidental 
I may just observe here, that a hive com- 
monly sends off two, sometimes three 
swarms in a summer, but that the second 
is commonly less than the first, and the third 
less than the second ; and this last has seldom 
time to provide for the winter. 
“ The materials of their dwelling or 
comb, which is the wax, is the next consi- 
deration, with the mode of forming, prepar- 
ing, or disposing of it. In giving a totally 
new account of the wax, I shall first shew it 
can hardly be what it has been supposed to 
be. First, I shall observe that the mate- 
rials, as they are found composing the 
comb, are not to be found in the same state 
(as a composition) in any vegetable, where 
they have been supposed to be got. The 
substance brought in on the legs, which is 
the farina of the flowers of plants, is, in com- 
mon, I believe, imagined to be the materials 
of which the wax is made, for it is called by 
most the wax : but it is the farina, for it is 
always of the same colour as the farina of 
the flower where they are gathering ; and, 
indeed, we see them gathering it, and we 
also see them covered almost all over with 
it like a dust ; nevertheless, it has been sup- 
posed to be the wax, or that the wax was 
extracted from it. Reaumur is of this 
opinion. I made several experiments to see 
if there was such a quantity of oil in it, as 
would account for the quantity of wax to be 
formed, and to learn if it was composed of 
oil. I held it near the candle, it burnt, but 
did not smell like wax, and had the same 
smell, when burning, as farina when it was 
burnt. I observed that this substance was 
of different colours on different bees, but 
always of the same colour on both legs of 
the same bee ; whereas a new made comb 
was all of one colour. I observed that it 
was gathered with more avidity for old hives, 
where the comb is complete, than for those 
hives where it only begun, which we could 
hardly conceive if it was the materials of 
wax: also we may observe that at the very 
beginning of a hive, the bees seldom bring 
in any substance on their legs for two or 
three days, and after that the farina gatherers 
begin to increase ; for now some cells are 
formed to hold it as a store, and some eggs 
are laid, which when hatched will require 
this substance as food, and which wifi be 
ready when the weather is wet. 
“ The wax is formed by the bees them- 
selves ; it may be called an external secre- 
tion of oil, and I have found that it is formed 
between each scale of the under side of the 
