troduced. If twenty-four hours had elapsed after the removal of the queen, the stranger was well received, and at once admitted to the sovereignty of the hive. If not more than eighteen hours had elapsed, she was at first treated as a prisoner, but after a time permitted to reign. If the stranger was introduced within twelve hours, she was immediately surrounded by an impenetrable cluster of bees, and commonly died either from hunger or privation of air. It appeared therefore, in the course of these experiments, that from twentyfour to thirty hours were required, for a colony to forget its sovereign, and that if, before the lapse of that period, no substitute was presented, they set about constructing royal cells, as stated in page 22; and moreover, that if, during the time they were so occupied, a princess was brought to them, the fabrication of royal cells was instantly abandoned, and the larvæ selected to occupy them were destroyed. On the admission of a welcome stranger queen, more regard is perhaps shown to her at first, than to a restored natural queen,—at least there are more conspicuous demonstrations of it: the nearest workers touch her with their antennæ, and, passing their proboscis over every part of her body, give her honey. In the cases above related, the bees all vibrated their wings at once, as if experiencing some agreeable sensations, and ranged themselves

in a circle round her. Others, in succession, broke through this circle, and having repeated the same process, of touching her with their antennæ, giving her honey, &c. formed themselves in a circle behind the others, vibrating their wings and keeping up a pleasurable hum. These demonstrations were continued for a quarter of an hour, when the queen beginning to move towards one part of the circle, an opening was made through which she passed, followed and surrounded by her customary guard. Such is the substance of Huber's account: it does not entirely correspond with what has been stated by Dunbar. Vide chapter on Bee-boxes.

The loyal attachment of bees to their queen extends even beyond this: HUBER states that he has seen the workers, "after her death, treat her body as they treated herself when alive, and long prefer this inanimate body to the most fertile queens he had offered them." And DR. EVANS relates a case, in which a queen was observed to lie on some honey-comb in a thinly peopled hive, apparently dying, and surrounded by six bees, with their faces turned towards her, quivering their wings, and most of them with their stings pointed, as if to keep off any assailant. On presenting them honey, though it was eagerly devoured by the other bees, the guards were so completely absorbed in the care of their queen, as

H

entirely to disregard it. The following day, though dead, she was still guarded; and though the bees were still constantly supplied with honey, their numbers were gradually diminished by death, till, at the end of three or four days, not a bee remained alive.

WILDMAN says that if the queen of a swarm be lost, though it happen several weeks after leaving the mother hive, the bees will return to it, carrying their honey with them. This, if true, must occur where no grub can be converted into a queen. Both REAUMUR and WILDMAN tried the experiment of introducing a royal larva into a queenless stock, when the bees immediately set to work again, on the inspiration of hope alone.

Should symptoms of discontent be observed after hiving, the queen will probably be discovered on the ground, or somewhere apart; surrounded by a small cluster of attendants, whom nothing but violence can separate from her. she be taken up either singly or with the cluster, and placed near the entrance of the hive containing the swarm, all will be harmony.

If

Sometimes a swarm divides into two portions, which settle apart from each other and have each a distinct leader. The conduct of the apiarian must be governed by the size of the two divisions, and the season at which they emerge; unless both be large and the swarming early, they had better

be hived in separate boxes, and joined together, in the manner recommended in Chap. XIX.

COLUMELLA was the first who proposed union by killing the supernumerary queen.

The branch on which the swarm settled is sometimes rubbed with wormwood, or smoked with disagreeable fumes, to drive away all remaining loiterers.

In every operation, it is desirable to avoid crushing a single bee, as, in case of discovery, the rest are excited to anger. See chapter on the Senses of Bees.

Immediately on the bees taking to the hive, it should be placed upon a table, on a proper floor board, and be covered with boughs or a cloth; and the hive should be near the parent stock, to catch stragglers, on their return home. At night it should be removed to its permanent station.

ON

CHAPTER XVII.

REMOVING BEES FROM COMMON STRAW-HIVES TO STORIFYING HIVES OR BOXES.

MANY plans have been suggested for transferring bees from hives to boxes; but excepting in the case of a recent swarm, I would not recommend any, but an experienced apiarian, to attempt an immediate transfer.

In the case of a recent swarm, the method of effecting the object is simple and easy; for if, when the bees have retired for the night, the hive be placed upon a middle board, with a divider underneath it, and the whole be inverted upon a small tub or a peck measure, and an empty box be raised upon the divider, this latter being withdrawn, and every opening besides what is necessary for admitting air being well secured, the bees will all probably have ascended into the box by morning, when with the assistance of the dividers thay may be placed in the bee-house or any where else that the proprietor chooses, just as if they had been originally hived in the box. If the ascent have not taken place in the morning, it may be effected by drumming smartly with two sticks, upon the sides of the hive: in this way, the ascent