On the day of emigration the weather must be fine, warm, and clear, with but little wind stirring; for the old queen, like a prudent matron, will not venture out unless the day is in every way favourable. Whilst her majesty hesitates, either for the reasons we have mentioned or because the internal arrangements are not sufficiently matured, the bees will often fly about or hang in clusters at the entrance of the hive for two or three days and nights together, all labour meanwhile being apparently suspended. When this cluster is formed in the morning hours, and grows constantly larger in spite of the sun, it may be taken as the sign of a very speedy start. The busy flitting of other bees around this cluster, or their sporting in numbers before the hive, are also reliable signs, and some have included the appearance of drones at ten in the morning. At the last, when the time is quite fixed, the bees in the cluster suddenly return to the hive to fill themselves with honey for the flight. The agitation of the little folk is well described by Evans:-- "See where, with hurried step, the impassioned throng Pace o'er the hive, and seem, with plaintive song, To invite their loitering queen; now range the floor, And hang in clustered columns from the door; Or now in restless rings around they fly, Nor spoil they sip, nor load the hollowed thigh; E'en the dull drone his wonted ease gives o'er, Flaps the unwieldy wing, and longs to soar." But when all is ready, a scene of the most violent agitation takes place; the bees rush out in vast numbers, forming quite a dark cloud as they traverse the air. The time selected for the departure of the emigrants is generally between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m.; most swarms come off within an hour of noon. In very sultry weather they have been known to be as early as 7 a.m., and on the other hand as late as 5 p.m., though this last probably only occurs when a _young_ queen leads the detachment. As a rule, says Von Berlepsch, first swarms start in the morning and after-swarms in the afternoon. It is a very general remark that bees choose a Sunday for swarming, and probably this is because then greater stillness reigns around. It will not be difficult to imagine that the careful bee-keeper is anxious to keep a strict watch, lest he should lose such a treasure when once it takes wing. The exciting scene at a bee-swarming has been well described by the apiarian laureate:--