fi6 CAKE AND MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 



drone is very uncertain. It invariably expires after the act of 

 impregnating the queen, and when they get in the way and are 

 i% not wanted, " they are summarily put to death by the workers. 

 The worker, if it were not for the arduous duties he performs, and 

 the wear of gathering honey, might live six months and perhaps a 

 whole year, but the average age is not over six months in the sum- 

 mer season, and during the height of the honey gathering period 

 probably not over six or eight weeks. It is the constant process of 

 reproduction which keeps the hives full, and produces the " over- 

 flows " which result in ' swarming." 



Swarming When the hive contains too many to leave space 

 for breeding young bees and storing honey, they swarm, or colon- 

 ize. If the owner does not wish to lose his bees, he must prevent 

 this by providing extra hives for the swarms. When the stock of 

 winter feed has become exhausted, which if the bees are left to 

 consume their own stores, will generally be about the first warm 

 days in the spring, they decide .to reduce the family by sending 

 out a new colony; this is always led by a virgin queen, and but little 

 trouble is experienced generally in getting them into a hive. 



AFTER SWARMING. The first swarm is frequently followed bv 

 a second and even a third. This is a great nuisance and should be 

 obviated by proper measures, as it leaves both old and new hives 

 too weak for utility. An effectual way to prevent after-swarming 

 is, to cut out all the queen cells after the first swarm has gone, ana 

 as bees never swarm unless led out by a virgin queen, this will put 

 a stop to the depletion of the hive. A simple method is, immedi- 

 ately after the swarm leaves the old hive, to move it to a distance 

 and put the hive with the new swarm in the old one's place. The 

 flying bees will thus find their way into the new hive, and the 

 numbers being equalized, there will be little danger of after-swarm- 

 ing. Another plan is, as soon as the first swarm has gone out, to 

 supply the old hive with a young fertile queen who will soon destroy 

 all the queen-cells or induce the bees to do so. A swarm which 

 comes out a month after the first, led by a fertilized queen, is not 

 an " after-swarm." 



SEASON OF SWARMING An old adage says: 



" A swarm of bees in May 

 Is worth a load of hay ; 

 A swarm of bees in June 

 Is worth a silver spoon ; 

 A swarm of bees in July 

 Is not worth a fly." 



This was the result of the primitive system of bee-keeping, 

 but with modern improvements, even the July swarm may be 

 worth the silver spoon and the load of hay together. A colony that 

 was populous in the fall, and has wintered finely, may cast the first 

 swarm in May, but usually the season is about the middle of June. 

 If the feed is plentiful, the hive may be fully stored early in the 



