It is an established fact that, previously to swarming, bees often send forth scouts to select a place for settling. Neighbour records a curious instance of this kind. He says: "A lady, who lived about a quarter of a mile from our apiary, sent to us to say that a swarm had gone in at a hole over her stable, and to ask us to come and hive them. On our going to do so, her gardener told us that he had seen, three days previous, two or three bees as if reconnoitring; next day several came, and about eleven o'clock on the third day the whole swarm went in, and took up their position between the rafters [? joists] under the flooring. The difficulty was now to get at them. A carpenter was sent for, the boards were taken up, a hive was set over, with a brood-comb placed in it attract them, and by dint of smoke and brushing to with a feather, the queen and her retinue were coaxed to ascend into the hive. Some of the bees had already gone out to forage, and there were many flying about that had not settled; so, to secure these, and to make it easy for them, we brought the hive out, and erected a sort of platform on a pair of steps close to the hole, which we stopped. By night-time all the out-flying bees had joined the swarm, and were easily removed." The number of bees in a swarm varies considerably, but the usual amount is from 10,000 to 15,000. In rarer cases, there will be from 20,000 to 25,000. Von Berlepsch, by careful experiments, estimated that about 4,000 gorged bees weighed 1 lb.: so that a good swarm will weigh from 3 lbs. to 5 lbs. As may be easily understood, the more numerous the bees, the better for the future of the colony, provided there is space in the hive for them to work in.