BEE. 
4 05 
by different authors. Reaumur and Swammerdam 
have both expatiated at large upon the nature of 
the bee ; but their accounts have been almost su- 
perseded by the elaborate treatise of Mr. John 
Hunter, published in the Philosophical Trans- 
actions for the year 1792. To this treatise we 
shall frequently have occasion to refer, as it is 
founded on the actual observation of a man of 
science. 
These htcle animals form a lodgment either in 
the hollow of a tree, the cavity of a rock, or in a 
hive they have accidentally found. There they 
biing up their young, and dwell very peaceably 
together, as long as their habitation is sufficiently 
spacious and convenient ; but when their numbers 
multiply to such a degree as to straiten them for 
room, the old bees, in whom a sort of sovereignty 
seems to be vested, command all the younger mem- 
bers to seek a new settlement ; which command is 
generally obeyed without attempting to resist, as a 
refusal to retire is always productive of a battle. 
On a certain day, commonly in the month of June, 
the young bees, with the queen at their head, leave 
the hive in quest of a new habitation. But it 
should be observed, that, previous to their going off, 
they hang about the mouth of the hole, or door of 
the hive, for some days; and if it should chance to 
be cold or wet in any part of the time, the old 
bees compassionate their case, and re-admit them 
till the weather is more propitious. As a sufficient 
proof that swarming is an act of necessity, the 
