INSECTS 125 
Swarming. ‘The hive contains only one queen, So 
soon as a new queen emerges from a royal cell, the old 
queen, accompanied by a swarm of workers, quits the hive. 
After flying about for a short time these settle on a suitable 
branch, and.hang down in a long cluster. Keepers of bees 
are always on the look out for “‘swarms” of this kind, 
which are transferred into other hives, where they in turn 
increase in numbers and send forth fresh colonies. It 
sometimes happens—especially at the end of the season, or 
if the numbers in the hive be small—that the queens are 
stung to death as soon as they appear. : 
Uses. Though insects as a whole serve a number of. 
useful purposes, those that are directly serviceable to 
man are few, and of these the Honey-bee comes first in 
importance. 
As direct products of its industry we get honey and wax, 
whilst the fertilisation of flowers which is brought about by 
its labours is of great practical importance. 
THE SILK WORM. 
Another useful insect is the moth of the Silk-worm ; and 
as it is easily obtained and easily kept, its life-history can 
be readily observed. 
The Silk-worm moth is about 14 inches in expanse of 
wings. Its body, which is thick and hairy, shows the. 
three-fold division characteristic of insects. The thorax 
carries three pairs of legs and two pairs of white wings, 
streaked with dark bands. In front of its head are a short 
proboscis, and two feathery feelers, which, unlike those of 
the butterfly, are not clubbed. , 
The female moth is larger than the male. She lays from 
200 to 400 eggs, usually on the leaves of mulberry trees on 
which the larve feed. In a short time the egg develops into 
a larva or caterpillar (see fig. 86). The caterpillar is small 
