Page:Jardine Naturalist's library Bees.djvu/201

Rh On the Management of Bees in the Swarming Season.—The approach of this interesting season is indicated to the Bee-master by the appearance of the drones or males, which shew themselves about the end of May or the beginning of June, sooner or later, according to the general nature of the climate, and the particular state of the colony to which they belong. In the meantime, the population has increased rapidly, and the heat of the hive is greatly augmented. Excited by these causes, the queen hurries over the combs from one quarter of the hive to another, communicates her agitation to her subjects, and, accompanied by a multitude of them, rushes out of the hive. (See p. 138.) The bee-owner is forewarned of this revolution by several not insignificant signs. In many cases, for several preceding days, the bees have been hanging in clusters from the mouth of the hive, as if unable to find room within, and desirous of seeking a new domicile; on the morning of the day on which the emigration takes place, they may be observed listless and idle at the entrance, frequently entering within the door, and returning in small parties of two, three, or four, seemingly insensible to the fragrance exhaled from the rich flower-vegetation, and testifying none of their usual activity in profiting by it; while, as the day advances, the males, on the other hand, are hurrying to and fro with a prodigious bustle and noise, as if conscious of some revolution impending in which they would have to bear a prominent part; and, lastly, the moisture or sweating, as it is called, which, in the early part of the day,