But wax, although the chief, is not the only material of the combs. Propolis (q.v.) is also employed in small bands to give greater strength to the cells, the mouths of which are surrounded with it, and made thicker than their walls. This substance, which is obtained by bees from the viscid buds of trees, is also employed for more firmly attach ing the combs to the hive, for closing up apertures in the hive, for covering up obnox ious substances, intruding slugs, etc., which are too large to be removed, and for a variety of similar purposes.
It has been already stated that queen-bees are hatched and reared in cells differ( nt from the rest. They are, indeed, very different, being vertical and not horizontal in their position—not hexagonal, but rather oval in form—and much larger than the other cells, even in proportion to the size of the animal that is to inhabit them: they are generally placed on the edge of a comb, and when they have served their purpose, are partially removed, so that during winter they resemble acorn-cups in appearance.
Two queens cannot exist in time community together. There is implanted in them the most deadly rivalry; and the mother-bee, if permitted, would even tear open every queen cell of which the inmate has nearly approached maturity, and inflict death by her sting. One of those wonderful instincts, however, with which bees are endowed, counteracts this at those times when, upon account of the increased numbers of the community, and in order to the formation of new colonies, it is requisite that it should be counteracted. The workers throng around the queen, hem her in, and prevent the execution of her purpose. The cell of the young queen is also carefully guarded. and she is not permitted to leave.it. At such times peculiar sounds, by the 'action of the wings, are emitted both by the actual queen under restraint in her movements, and by the young one in the cell, which may be heard by an ear applied to tht'ontide of thelflve, are familiar to B. cultivators as, one of ;he stry2stssigns of The queentnow becomes restless; her agitation communitates itself to those around her, and extends through the hive; the ordinary work of the community is in part neglected; fewer bees than usual are seen to leave or return to the hive; and at last the queen-bee rushes forth, preceded and followed by crowds which press and throng upon each other, form a buzzing cloud in the air, and very generally settle upon a bush in the neighborhood, where they soon congregate closely together, hanging by their claws in a dense cluster. Sometimes they rise up in the air, and fly off at once
to a considerable distance, apparently to some previously selected place in the thick top of a tree—in the chimney or roof of a house, where they happen to find an aperture—or in some such situation. More frequently, they settle not far from the hive which they have left, often on some very humble plant, or even on the grass, and soon rise again. It is the care of the cultivator to prevent this by providing them immediately with a suit able habitation in a new hive, itwitingly placed above_ them, or into which he puts the swarm after they have congregated closely together as above described. It sometimes happens that bees hurry out of their hive without their queen, in which case they do not intgeneral congregate so closely together,where they settle, and soon.return to the hive again. Swarming generally takes place on a flue day; anti the bees seem on the very point of coming of a cloud passing over the sun is enough to retard it. Bad weather occasionally not only retards but prevents it, the young queens being at last killed in their cells.—When the first swarm of the season has left the hive with the old queen, as is usually, if not always the case, the imprisoned young queen is set at liberty; and if the B. community is a large and prosperous one, other young queens also come forth from their cells, and leave the hive with successive swarms, the number of which depends upon the climate, the season, etc. In Britain, it is not uncommon for a bee-hire to send off three swarms in a summer, the first being almost always the largest, and not unfrequently itself sending off it swarm before the season is over.
Bees left without a queen, and with no means of supplying the want, appear to feel themselves cut off from the very purpose of their existence; the labors of the connnun ity are relinquished, and its members are dispersed and die. It has already, however, been stated, that bees left without a queen can provide themselves with one, by trans forming and enlarging a worker's cell which contains an egg or very voung larva. This process is sometimes carried on as if by several distinct parties, in dilYerent parts of the hive at once; and as if aware that time will be gained, the:sbees generally prefer cells containing larvae of two or three days old to those containing eggs.