ontier by the pioneers of our
civilization, have always extended, in wild swarms, a little distance
into the wilderness. But, at most, they appear to have wandered only for
a few miles beyond the homestead, going no further away than would
permit their use of the cultivated plants. The aborigines early learned
to regard the insect as the _avant courier_ of European men. When they
came upon an individual of the species they always knew that some white
man's dwelling stood nearby. Those who are familiar with the solitudes
of our Appalachian forests must often have remarked, in the stillness of
a summer day, the hum of a swarm from some forest or domestic hive in
its search for a dwelling-place. Those who have followed up the
movements of these migrating colonies have had a chance to perceive how
long is the search before they find a fit abiding place. Doubtless by
far the greater part of these searchers for a home fail of their quest,
and the wandering swarms perish without finding a suitable shelter.

In certain kinds of woods, as, for instance, those occupied by pine
trees or other species which do not develop spacious hollows in their
trunks, and where there are no crannied rocks--all the swarms which seek
habitations there are foredoomed to destruction. If by chance the
colonies wander too far, they generally find the wilderness so ill
provided with plants which may furnish them with the sources of wax,
honey, or other necessaries, that they cannot maintain their life. Thus
it is that the bee, though domiciled with us rather than domesticated,
has become united in its fortunes with civilization. In this position
they have shown a remarkable adaptation to extremely varied conditions.
They can withstand any climate which permits the development of the
vegetation to which they need have access, provided the growing season
continues long enough to accumulate their store. In the tropical lands
they harvest so little honey that they are not profitable to man, and in
the high north they need all their summer's accumulation to maintain
them through the long winter. Thus, though they may range almost as far
as man through the gamut of climates, they are profitable to their
masters only in the middle latitudes. They commonly do not do well close
to the sea, and cannot be kept on inconsiderable islands for the reason
that they are, in their wanderings, likely to be lost in the waters.

The bee, like the other social insects, evi