Plague, chase and sting him till he dies.”
The swarming of bees may be compared to the emigration of a great number of people from one country, and forming colonies in another. In the winter, at least three-fourths of the bees in the hive usually perish. But the amazing fruitfulness of the queen more than supplies this waste, and by midsummer, the hive is usually too full for them all to be comfortable.
It is in somewhat the same situation that Ireland is in at the present time—and as many of the natives of that island are coming in swarms to this country, so the bees pass off in crowds, and take up their abode elsewhere. Sometimes two or even three swarms will issue from one hive in a year.
The swarm is very careful to select a good fair day for their emigration. They usually take one of the young queens with them, and, if by any chance the swarm passes off without a queen, they always return to the hive. While swarming, bees are generally peaceable, and may be hived without difficulty.
A writer upon bees tells the following interesting story: “A little girl of my acquaintance was greatly afraid of bees, but was completely cured of her fears by the following incident. A swarm having come off, I observed the queen alight by herself at some distance from the hive; I immediately called my little friend that I might shew her the queen. She wished to see her more nearly; so, after having caused her to put on her gloves, I gave the queen into her hand.
“We were in an instant surrounded by the whole swarm. In this emergency, I encouraged the girl to be steady, bidding her remain silent and fear nothing. I then made her stretch out her right hand which held the queen, and covered her neck and shoulders with a very thin handkerchief. The swarm soon fixed upon her hand, and hung from it, as from the branch of a tree. The little girl was delighted above measure at this novel sight, and so entirely freed from all her fears that she bade me uncover her face. At length, I brought a hive, and shaking the swarm from the child’s hand, it was lodged in safety, without inflicting a single wound.”
Bees are subject to several diseases; among which vertigo is the most remarkable. This causes great lassitude or weakness of the hind legs, an irregular mode of flying, and often produces death. The enemies of bees are numerous, among which we may mention birds, poultry, mice, wax-moths, slugs, hornets, wasps, ants and spiders. Of all these, the most destructive are wasps; these often enter the hive, and as one wasp is a match for three bees, they devour great quantities of honey.
Another great enemy to bees is the king-bird, or tyrant fly-catcher. A gentleman once shot a king-bird, and in his crop he found no less than one hundred and seventy-one bees; on being taken out, and laid on a blanket in the sun, fifty-four of these returned to life.
Great attention has been paid to the rearing of bees, and it has been found advantageous to remove them from one place to another, so that they may obtain fresh pasturage. A gentleman in England had once a swarm which weighed but five pounds when he removed it to Dartmoor Heath; at the end of two months, it was increased in weight no less than twenty-four pounds!
Bees are supposed to have some means of communicating with each other, not very unlike language. Their two horns which come out from the head below the eyes, called antennæ, are supposed to answer the purpose of ears, and to convey sounds as well as to accomplish some other objects.