MY BEES. 139 



advanced the hive became more and more 

 lively, and when the willows blossomed the 

 noise of my bees could be heard fifty feet 

 away ; apparently I had twice as many bees as 

 in the autumn, and I looked forward to a tre- 

 mendous crop of honey. Authorities upon 

 the bee business say that the average product 

 of a good hive ought to be 60 pounds of 

 honey a year. Some bee-keepers boast of 

 having obtained 100 pounds, and the farmer 

 who still keeps bees in a common wooden box, 

 provided with no movable frames, is satisfied 

 with 25 or 30 pounds. May came, and I filled my 

 hives with boxes fitted out with wax " starters." 

 The hive appeared to be crowded with bees, so 

 much so that early in May a tremendous swarm 

 came out one day, and after hanging to a cedar 

 tree for some hours, went off to find new 

 quarters ; I was away in the city and lost it. 

 Swarming is nothing more or less than a sign 

 that the hive is too small for the family. The 

 queen goes off with a certain number of the 

 bees to find a new home, but not without leav- 

 ing things in such a state that a new queen 

 will be hatched out in a few days. Within ten 

 days of the loss of my first swarm, another one 



