and the bee-keeper is pleased should his bees swarm in May, for then he will be able to put them in a new hive, and they will gather a good supply of honey before the summer is over. Should the swarm take place a month or two later, however, the bees do not settle down in time to gather sufficient honey for the winter, and they cause the bee-keeper trouble, for he has to feed them with syrup. After a swarm, the bees seem to forget all about their old life and companions, for the hive containing the swarm may be placed quite close to the old hive without either set of bees taking the slightest notice of the other. If a bee-keeper is not at hand to take the swarm, the bees will probably make their home in some hollow tree. They will commence to build combs, and young bees will be reared and honey stored just as in a hive. [Illustration: PLATE XXVIII From a photograph by] [E. Hawks Thousands of Bees walking into their New Home] CHAPTER XXXIV THE OLD HIVE AFTER A SWARM After the old queen has left with the swarm, the bees have to decide what to do about a new queen, and the eldest princess is, as we have already seen, clamouring to be set free from her cell. Although she gnaws away at the floor of her cell the bees keep her a prisoner, by piling more wax on the outside of the cell. She is kept thus until the old queen has got away with the swarm, otherwise there would be a terrible fight between the rival queens. However, the bees now decide to set the young princess at liberty, and two courses are open to them. If the hive has got what is called the “swarming fever,” the princess will lead a second swarm, for she knows that in a few days another princess will be born. This second swarm is called “the cast,” and unlike the first, flies away at once, no matter what the weather may be, for there is no time to be lost. The cast does not settle near the hive as the first swarm does, but flies quite away, and is generally lost to the bee-keeper. If, as is generally the case, the hive has not got swarming fever, the bees adopt the princess as their queen. As soon as this course is decided upon, the bees allow her to visit the cells containing her rivals, and with savage anger she inserts her sting in each cell and puts them to death. During the next few days she wanders about the hive in a restless fashion, constantly going to the door. After a while she leaves the hive and flies high up into the air. She is not allowed to go alone, however, but is followed by numbers of drones. In about an hour’s time she returns, and the bees know that she is now mated and will remain quietly in the hive. The hive then resumes its ordinary life, and the young queen commences to enter upon her new duties. The queen cells are no longer required, and so they are cut down; the builders set to work to erect nursery cells in their place, for every available inch of room will be required by the young queen for laying eggs. [Illustration: PLATE XXIX