SWAEMING. 



417 



SWARMING. 



worth a silver spoon, or even a load of hay; 

 possibly both together. See After-swarm- 

 ing. A colony that was very populous in 

 the fall, and has wintered finely, may cast 

 the first swarm in May, in this latitude ; but 

 such events were very unusual before the 

 advent of Italians. The latter often swarm 

 during fruit-bloom, and in some cases even 

 earlier. In our locality swarms do not usu- 

 ally issue until the middle or last of June. 

 If the season is a little late, sometimes the 

 greater part of them will come in July, and 

 we almost always have more or less swarm- 

 ing going on during our national holiday. 

 At this time basswood is generally at its 

 height, and we frequently have quite a yield 

 from clover after basswood is gone. On 

 this account, swarms that come out during 

 the first week in July usually get enough to 

 winter, and are therefore worth the price of 

 a swarm of bees any way. The old adage 

 doubtless referred principally to the amount 

 of honey they would store; if the July swarms 

 did not secure enough to winter over, and 

 were allowed to starve, they would not be 

 worth the trouble of hiving them, and so 

 they might be rated as of less value than a 

 fly. Swarms that come out in June would 

 fill their hives, and perhaps make a surplus 

 that, on an average, would bring at least a 

 dollar, the old price of a silver spoon ; while 

 those that were so thrifty as to be able to 

 start in May would have the whole season 

 before them; and if they did not get set 

 back before white clover came out, would 

 very likely make a surplus worth $5.00, the 

 market price of a load of hay. In some lo- 

 calities bees seem to swarm in the latter part 

 of July and August, and reports seem to 

 show that they do so when little or no honey 

 is to be had, and when the bees are disposed 

 to rob ; but such is certainly not the case 

 here, for our bees give up all preparations 

 for swarming some little time before the 

 honey flow has ceased. In some localities 

 buck\yheat swarms are a very common 

 thing. Where the apiarist has plenty of 

 extra combs filled with stores, it is an easy 

 matter to care for and make valuable stocks 

 of swarms that issue at any time. 



SYMPTOMS OF SWARMING. 



Although we can sometimes tell when bees 

 are going to swarm, we do not think it will be 

 safe, by any means, to assume we can always 

 do so. It has been said that all the bees 

 which have been clustering on the outside 

 will, the morning of the day they are in- 

 tending to swarm, go inside the hive ; but 

 this can not always be so, for we have seen a 

 14 



swarm issue while the loafers were hanging 

 on the outside as usual ; and at the sound of 

 the swarming-note they took wing and join- 

 ed in. Where a colony is intending to swarm, 

 they will not be working like the rest, as a 

 general thing ; and, quite likely, on the day 

 they are intending to swarm, very few bees 

 comparatively will be seen going out and in 

 at the hive. With movable combs we can 

 generally give a very good guess of the dis- 

 position to swarm by opening the hive. 

 Bees do not, as a rule, swarm luitil they have 

 their hive pretty well filled up, and have 

 multitudes of young bees hatching out daily. 

 The presence of queen-cells is generally con- 

 sidered an indication of the swarming fever. 

 Many think that the clustering of the bees 

 on the outside of the hives is an indication 

 that they are going to swarm. To a certain 

 extent this may be the case, but it is by no 

 means an indication that they are going to 

 swarm very soon. We knew a colony, belong- 

 ing to a neighbor, that hung out in great 

 masses nearly a month before the bees came 

 out. His new hive was in readiness, and he 

 stayed at home and watched day after day, 

 ' until clover and basswood both were almost 

 gone, when finally they cast a large fine 



swarm. 



I 



DO BEES CHOOSE A LOCATION BEFOHE 

 SWARMING V 



I While it is true that a swarm will issue 

 I without any previous preparation when a 

 [ swarming craze is on in the yard, the great 

 I majority of colonies, preparing to swarm, 

 send out scouts, or prospectors. These bees 

 hunt up cavities in hollow trees, or even 

 seek out empty hives, and commence clean- 

 ing house. The number of scouts having 

 located a home will increase until there 

 appears to be quite a little swarm, and some- 

 times one is led to believe there is a case of 

 robbing going on, especially if the scouts 

 have entered an empty hive containing 

 combs. They will continue to make their 

 visitations day by day, and in the mean 

 time they busy themselves by "cleaning 

 house.'' When the day comes for the swaim 

 to issue, the scouts appear to make it their 

 business to lead the flying bees to this new 

 location. Just how they do this can not be 

 definitely shown; but that they do lead these 

 ' swarms to particular abodes has been so 

 clearly proven that there is no further ques- 

 tion about it. This shows why a swarm will 

 sometimes "light out" without even clus- 

 tering. Following the lead of their scouts 

 they will go directly to their new home 

 ' which has been already prepared. 



