The Cycle of the Year 
67 
that the distracting noise would cause the bees to settle. 
Modern beekeepers have abandoned this relic of antiquity, 
since it has no effect whatsoever on the clustering. The 
origin of this ancient practice has been variously explained, 
one plausible theory being that it arose from the practice 
of notifying neighbors of the issuing of a swarm, so that 
ownership could be claimed. Nowadays a bell is not a 
part of the apiary equipment and no evil seems to have 
come from neglecting this rite. Flashing lights on the 
swarm by means of a mirror is another theoretical impedi¬ 
ment to long flights in which the modern beekeeper places 
no confidence. 
Scouts. 
Under natural conditions, when the queen is present, the 
swarm will hang on the support from fifteen minutes to a 
day or more. The cluster is usually then broken and the 
swarm flies away (often for a considerable distance) to 
establish itself in a hollow tree or cave. That scouts locate 
the future abode has been claimed, probably correctly. 
Baron v. Berlepsch, the celebrated German beekeeper, 
records 1 an instance of scouts working for several days in 
advance of swarming to prepare a place. Usually it can¬ 
not be so well demonstrated that scouts have been sent 
out, but the accuracy with which swarms often fly to a 
cavity without delay indicates that they are in some manner 
led to the place. How this is done is not known. Similar 
instances of bees being led to certain places are discussed 
in a later chapter (p. 120). 
After the swarm has been removed (Fig. 48) a few bees 
will often be seen around the former location of the cluster, 
either at rest or on the wing. These bees are evidently 
attracted or held by the odor which adheres to the support. 
That these are scouts which return after the cluster is hived 
1 v. Berlepsch, 1852. Eichstadt Bienenzeitung, VII, Nr. 7. Reprinted 
in v. Buttel-Reepen, 1906. Are bees reflex machines? (Eng. trans.) 
