Swarm (biology)

“ A wondrous swarm, that o'er the carcase crawls,
Of shapeless, rude, unfinished animals.
No legs at first the insect's weight sustain,
At length it moves its new-made limbs with pain;
Now strikes the air with quivering wings, and tries
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To lift its body up, and learns to rise;
Now bending thighs and gilded wings it wears
Full grown, and all the bee at length appears;
From every side the fruitful carcase pours
Its swarming brood, as thick as summer showers,
Or flights of arrows from the Parthian bows,
When twanging strings first shoot them on the foes. ”

“ A swarm is a wonderful sight, for the bees are almost perfectly still, and hang in a glistening mass, clinging to one another by their tiny hooked claws. Sometimes the leading bees of a swarm choose queer places in which to cluster: one lot, for instance, swarmed on to the beard of a gardener, whilst another found a resting-place on the neck of a horse which was standing under some trees! ”

“ They continue to emerge for many days, so that when yesterday’s swarm is dead, to-day a new swarm is seen emerging from the water towards the evening.’ ‘They not only drop their eggs in the water, but wherever they may happen to be,—on trees, bushes, or the earth. ”

“ Irritated by such opposition, and annoyed at the sight of so many royal cells in every quarter, the young Queen becomes extremely agitated, and at last rushes, together with the bees to whom she has imparted her agitation, through the outlets of the hive, and thus forms the second swarm. ”

“ Swarms have a great affinity for each other when they are adrift in the air; but, of course, when the union has been effected, the rival queens have to do battle for supremacy. A more ingenious device than any of the above is by means of a mirror, to flash a reflection of the sun's rays amongst a swarm, which bewilders the bees, and checks their flight. It is manifestly often desirable to use some of these endeavours to induce early settlement, and to prevent, if possible, the bees from clustering in high trees or under the eaves of houses, where it may be difficult to hive them. ”

“ The endless swarms of Swallows have united into a single mighty cloud. Who could count them? The air is filled with them and with the noise they make with wings and voices. The swarm of more than hundreds of thousands moves up and down, to and fro, lowering itself quickly down to the reeds and rising just as swiftly high up into the air ”

“ Swarming.—The precise facts with regard to the swarming of ants are not yet certainly established. As regards some of the facts, however, there is no doubt. The winged males and females first quit the nest in enormous numbers, and choose some fine afternoon in July or August for their wedding flight. The entrances to the nest are widened by the workers and increased in number, and there is a great commotion on the surface of the nest. The swarm takes place as a thick cloud of all the male and female insects, rising together to a considerable height. ”

“ In some instances, owing to favourable breeding seasons and prolific queens, a third swarm issues from the hive, this is termed a "colt;" and in remarkable instances, even a fourth, which in rustic phrase is designated a "filly." A swarm from a swarm is called a "maiden" swarm, and according to bee theory, will again have the old queen for its leader. ”

“ But perhaps you have a swarm from one of your own stock-hives,—not so desirable as the purchase of a swarm from a neighbour. A swarm will occasionally emerge from hives and bee-boxes, in spite of every plan of preventing it. The signs of swarming are some of them appreciable by the most expert bee-master only. A common sign of the emergence of a swarm is inactivity in work, and about the hive clusters hanging from the bee-board—arising, probably, from the old queen finding no princess ready to take her throne—and a high temperature within. ”

“ Thus we see in natural swarming, with the bees left to themselves, the old queen leaves with the first swarm, at about the time the queen cells are sealed over and finished, which is about eight days before the young queens hatch. ”

“ He is a wise bee-master, then, who takes but one swarm from each stock; he may, generally speaking, depend on having stronger swarms, and a greater quantity of honey than he would have procured from double the number of seconds. There is but one way of preventing second swarms, and that is, by giving them more room, and destroying all the remaining royal cells, as soon as it is ascertained that a young Queen has been hatched, to preside over the community. A first swarm departs only on a fine day, when the sky is clear, and the sun shines; a second, or cast, is not so scrupulous. ”

“ These, like locusts, falling in great swarms, destroy all green things, and all dyes they bite on, by the venome of them. This swarm lives so long as they feed on new grass. Also they come together in troops like swallows that are ready to fly away ”

“ The symptom of swarming, is generally the unusual number of bees seen hanging at the mouth of the hive, and if a piping noise, or a shrill note, which is made by the queen is heard, it is a sure index the bees will swarm, if the weather be warm and dry.
If the bees work a comb under the floor-board, as is sometimes the case, it is a sign they will not swarm; a more certain sign is when they throw out the young dead queens with the drone brood. ”

“ If she returns to the old stock, the swarm will come out again the next day, if the weather is favorable. If the Queen is too feeble to return, and the apiarian neglects to look her up, and restore her to her colony again, (which he ought to do,) the bees will not swarm again until they have made another, or are supplied, which may be done immediately by giving them any spare Queen, I have done it with entire success, and never failed in the experiment.
The Queen, when lost in swarming, is easily found, unless the wind is so strong as to have blown her a considerable distance. ”

“ These preparations must be made prior to 'the bees being hived, so that when a hive is so prepared, a swarm may begin to adapt whatever advantages they find ready for them; and it is truly marvellous what a swarm will do when thus furnished with combs in their new habitation. ”

“ A swarm, especially a first one, never departs but in fine weather, and at the warmest time of the day. The passing of a cloud over the face of the sun, causing a sudden diminution of the light, is sufficient to stop the emigration for a time, although all is in perfect readiness. ”

“ A swarm on the wing is a most agreeable spectacle to the Bee-master. It is true his harvest of honey might be more plentiful, were the population to remain undivided, and be accommodated with additional room, either by means of storifying or collateral hiving; still, to the lover of nature, the development of the instincts and habits of this interesting insect, which takes place in the process of swarming, is a source of genuine pleasure. ”

“ The best way of doing this, is to cover the whole of the head, neck, &c. (over a hat) with coarse cloth, or canvass, which may be brought as low as the waistcoat, and fastened to it: through this cloth we may see the operations of the bees, without fearing their stings. The hands may be protected by means of gloves, of which the best are those made of wool.
When we mean to bring a new swarm into a hive, that prepared as above, and formed of two, three, or four boxes, according to the size of the swarm, must be brought near the place where the swarm is. ”

“ When a hive is ready to swarm, I had before observed, that the moment of swarming is always preceded by a very lively agitation, which first affects the queen, is then communicated to the workers, and excites such a tumult among them, that they abandon their labours, and rush in disorder to the outlets of the hive. ”

“ If the swarm should rise in the full heat of the day, and the sun shine hot upon them, they will not continue long in their first situation; for when they find they have all got their company together, they will soon uncluster, rise again, fly to some particular spot which has been fixed upon for that purpose by detached parties of bees, who return and acquaint the swarm; therefore I would advise to hive them as soon as possible, and remove them in the evening to the place where they are to remain. ”

“ At this moment the brood issue from the ground, leaving innumerable exit holes, and swarm over trees and shrubs, filling the air with their strident calls, and laying their eggs in slits which they cut in the trees. The larvae, when hatched, fall to the ground, and quickly burrow out of sight, each "forming for itself a little subterranean chamber over some rootlet, where it remains through winter and summer, buried from sun, light, and air, and protected in a manner from cold and frost.... ”

“ One by one the swarm sought their original haunt, settling on the bramble, and I now noticed that only in occasional instances did the insects seek the flowers, the attraction seeming to be confined to the leaves. I stole up softly for a nearer point of observation, and could now distinctly see the beautiful yellow and black open wings of the swallow-tail softly gliding or gently fluttering as it hung from the edge of a leaf, while it explored its surface with its uncoiled capillary tongue. ”

“ When the first swarm comes off he places it in a new hive like the old one, and puts the new hive on the exact site of the old one, while the latter is moved away just a little and faces in a different direction than before. ”

“ The swarm is a unit. The members act in concert without direction or rule. If anything happens to the queen, if she is lost or killed, every bee in the hive seems to know it at the same instant, and the whole swarm becomes greatly agitated. The division of labor in the hive is spontaneous: the bees function and coöperate as do the organs in our own bodies, each playing its part without scheme or direction. ”

“ There is unmistakably an element of caprice about it—a kicking over the traces—which would be natural enough in creatures possessed of reason, but totally inconceivable from any other point of view. And the farther we look into the whole problem the more perplexing it seems. If we grant that the issue of a swarm, from a hive overcrowded and headed by a queen past her prime, is a necessity, why is it that the same hive will often swarm a second and even a third time until the stock is practically extinguished and the original object of swarming wholly defeated? ”

“ Whether the swarm be strong or weak, large or small, is of no consequence, - 30 - as the smallest swarm will consume as much as a large one. If they have less than that allowance, they may linger through the winter, but will be sure to die if the spring happens to be a late one, and the weather cold and rainy. ”

“ After having covered your head with a veil, if the swarm has settled in a difficult place, and you are afraid of being stung, you hold the hive under the cluster of bees and make them fall into it, either by shaking the branch to which the swarm is attached, very hard, or by means of a small broom, or even with the hand, for then they very rarely sting: it is hardly ever necessary to take any precautions in approaching them, except for swarms which have been fixed for many hours, or since the day before. ”

“ The kings themselves are never seen out of the hives, except with a young swarm, and in young swarms all the rest appear to be collected round him. When a swarm is about to separate, a peculiar and singular noise is made for some days, and for two or three days beforehand a few bees are seen flying round the hive ”

“ If the Bees will swarm, they will. They are a stiff-necked generation, and know their own business, at least they think so, better than we men can teach it them. Our objects, however, are slightly different. Their's to propagate and preserve their species: ours to secure the maximum amount of honey in any given locality. I have known a swarm sent forth from a Ruche a l'air libre, a French Hive, which I worked in New Zealand. The Combs and Bees were entirely exposed to the external air, which was not then particularly warm. But a swarm was ready to go, so off they went. ”

“ THE SWARM IT is not known exactly why bees swarm, and it has been said that it is because the hive becomes overpopulated. When the hive becomes crowded early in the summer, the bees build queen cells, and in them royal princesses are reared, as we have already seen. When the time approaches for them to leave the cells, the old queen begins to get very excited, for she seems to know that a rival is about to be born. ”

“ If only one were able to find the queen in the clustering swarm and secure her by placing her in the hive, the work would be easy, for the other bees would soon follow. But to hunt for the queen in the clustering swarm is, for most of us, quite like hunting for the traditional needle in the haystack; and while we are hunting we are wasting precious time, as the swarm may make up its collective mind to remove from our vicinity its component atoms. ”

“ It might be that the bees had already selected some hollow tree for their new home, and had gone straight to it without clustering. This sometimes happens, but very rarely; a swarm almost always settles and hangs for some time, probably as a means of getting its force together, ready for the final journey, and Bob felt sure that this swarm would sooner or later settle on a branch. ”

“ The “first” or “prime” swarm is the first swarm of the season that issues out of the hive; it is headed by the old queen. Second swarms or casts, which come off about eight days after the first swarm has left the hive, are headed by young newly-emerged queens. They are not so valuable as the first swarm. ”

“ When bees go from the old stock to the tree without alighting, it is when they lie out of the hive before swarming, and the embassy are sent forth before the swarm leaves the old stock. When the first swarm comes forth, eggs, young brood, or both, are left in the combs, but no Queen; for the old Queen always goes forth with the swarm, and leaves the old stock entirely destitute. Not a single Queen, in any stage of minority, is left in the hive. ”