THE HONEY-BEE IN NEW ZEALAND. <>■-> 
0 f a foil grown queen bee, still confined in tier cell, where she 
is kept by the worker bees a close prisoner; for if she had 
her will, and was allowed to come forth before the moment 
of swarming, either she, or the reigning queen, would fall in 
single combat. When this noise is heard in a strong stock, 
look out for some more swarms. A bee master who has 
only been used to the English rate of increase, will be 
perfectly surprised, and as it were overwhelmed, with the 
multitude of swarms which will issue from his hives in one 
season, after his apiary has been established a year or two. 
So he does not get his hives ready in time, and he is often 
in great straits in swarming time. I will give one amusing 
instance *—A carpenter who has been many yeais m h ew 
Zealand, and is perhaps in consequence very procrastinating 
in his habits , was surprised by his first swarm rising when 
he did not expect it. He had no hive at all ready. For¬ 
tunately he had heard that the queen may be captured, 
and that when she is so, the swarm will not go away : so 
he poked about with his finger among the cluster until he 
found the queen 5 caught her, and put her m a tumblei to 
keep her safe. He then went to his house, thinking it 
time to set about making a bee box. It was a very hot 
day : so he left his door open. He had not been long at 
work when he saw the whole swarm follow him into his 
house where his bench stood, upon one end of which they 
clustered, w T hile he ivas hard at work with hammer, plane, 
and saw, at the other. It seemed as though they had 
come in to see what he was about, while he was so long - in 
bringing them a hive ; and they found, as many customers 
had done before, that his work was not begun, when it 
ought to have been finished. However, he tried to make 
up°for lost time, and hoped they would not be in a hurry 
to go. Just half an hour and he w r ould be ready for 
them. He never plied his hammer so fast before. He 
had not even time to whistle a tune : so, whilst he worked 
the bees sang. They w'aited quietly, expecting their future 
Pqjq 0 . were safely housed m it as soon as finished, and 
were dome* - well when I last saw them, as I trust he may 
be doing the first carpenter who ever built a house with 
so many homeless tenants watching its completion. 
