78 .\USTRAI.IAN BEE LORE AND BEE CULTURE- 



obstructed, and we cannot ascribe her flight, as that of the young 

 queens, to the opposition she suffers. Therefore, I candidly con- 

 fess myself ignorant of the motives of her departure. No one 

 cause induces the old queen to depart from the hive or the bees 

 to swarm out without her. The same is the case with young or 

 virgin queens." I think if the justly celebrated Huber had looked 

 for the external natural conditions, and had noted how these 

 produced the internal circumstances necessary for what he terms 

 "the formations of swarms," he would have discovered "the 

 motives for her departure." The motives that cause the queen 

 to depart with a swarm from the hive are beyond dispute. Yet 

 there appear to be climatic conditions that are obscure to us, but 

 are, nevertheless, instinctively understood by the bees. The whole 

 rank and file of the hive are not ignorant of the fact that con- 

 ditions are fast ripening for that all important time ; that the 

 hour is at hand when they must go forth and seft up a home for 

 themselves. When and how the word is passed from bee to bee 

 that swarming is to take place, and that on a certain day and 

 hour the flight is to be made, appears to largely depend on the 

 age of the maturing queens, and the favourable condition of the 

 weather. In fact, the productiveness of queens largely depends 

 upon the seasons. If in early spring the blooming of honey-bear- 

 ing flowers warrants a continuity of a few weeks' honey flow, the 

 preparations for swarming are proceeded with. Just at this point 

 is where the skill of the practical (I do not mean professional) 

 bee-keeper aids in the production of early swarming. Here I 

 must repeat that string I have so often harped upon — the nume- 

 merical strength of the hive carried through winter with a suffi- 

 ciency of food to induce the queen bee to commence laying, when the 

 first signs of a favourable spring for swarming. If we 



place ourselves near the hives in early spring, and carefully watch 

 the ingress of the inhabitants, it will soon be apparent that pollen 

 gathering is the chief industry just now. It is one of the chief 

 ingredients in food preparation for the raising of brood. To this 

 end bees are often supplied with artificial pollen to aid in the 

 early maturing of swarms. The eagerness of bees for pollen 

 gathering is the earliest sign of the approach of the first swarm 

 of the spring. On examining the frames of brood combs, 



if the queen be from 10 to 12 months old, there will 

 be an abundance of worker brood in all stages of development, 

 from the tiny eggs just laid to the emerging young bee. In addi- 



