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came from; it was overpopulated to begin with, and they will leave but most land several feet in front of the entrance and walk in by
again in a couple of days.) We beekeepers are always on the lookout the thousands, as though marching. The queen enters this way as
for these swarm clusters in late spring and early summer. There is well. Every beekeeper will tell you that even if he sees this arrival a
not much danger to the beekeeper of being stung when collecting thousand times, he will be thrilled every time he sees it.
a cluster. The danger comes in hastily going up a ladder or climbing Once they are inside, they are no longer "berries." Now they have
a tree to gather it, and then falling and breaking his neck. a home. Guards are quickly posted at the entrance to defend the
But much of the time no one recovers the cluster. The scouts return, colony. Within a few hours work begins. Some of the workers leave
and in some way – still not well understood – they compare opinions to look for flowers, and others begin to secrete wax and construct
as to the advantages and disadvantages of the different places they combs; as soon as the combs have some cells available, the queen
have investigated. (Their preferred habitation would be a cavity about lays her first eggs in the new home. Soon there will be a beautiful
15 feet up in a hollow tree, but they can't always be so selective.) After new city of wax, full of industrious workers, and the life of the bees
a period ranging from a few hours to a week they come to an agree- will go on as it has done for millions of years.
ment, and the clustered swarm leaves its waiting place in the same way But we have left the original colony, now nearly deprived of
that it left the hive, this time more purposefully. adults, nearly defenseless. What about them?
The first workers to arrive at the new habitation – whether a nat- To be continued…
ural one they discovered themselves or an empty hive prepared by
the beekeeper – remain at the entrance with their back ends toward Allen Cosnow, D.V.M. is a retired small animal veterinarian who keeps
the outside. They fan their wings, diffusing to the others the specific his several bee colonies on a city lot in Glencoe, Il, a lake-shore suburb of
pheromone that calls them to enter. Some of the bees enter flying, Chicago. He is a veterinary school classmate of Fred H. Olin, D.V.M., M.D.

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