316 SEASONS SWARMS. 



The months of MAY and JUNE are the periods of 

 swarming, but the precise departure of the swarm 

 depends in a great measure on the state of the 

 weather. The swarming season is the most import- 

 ant and anxious period of the labours of the apiarian, 

 for on its successful issue depends the chief part of 

 his profit. It should be the aim of every keeper of 

 bees to make himself thoroughly acquainted with 

 the chief symptoms of the departure of a swarm, for 

 his ignorance on this point will expose him to a 

 certain loss. Circumstances may possibly so com- 

 bine, as that the most experienced apiarian may be 

 mistaken in his calculations ; but in the majority of 

 cases, the prognostics of a swarm are so decisive, 

 that the precise period of its departure can be defi- 

 nitely fixed. The vacating of a hive may be con- 

 sidered as the preliminary symptom, as it bespeaks 

 an active and increasing population ; and the bust- 

 ling disposition of the drones about mid-day, is con- 

 firmatory of the approaching swarm. The surest 

 criterion, however, is, the clustering of the bees on 

 the front of the hive : and whenever this circum- 

 stance takes place, it becomes the proprietor to be 

 on the alert, and to keep a strict watch on the hive, 

 from nine A. M. to about two p. M. Previously to 

 the swarm leaving the hive, the bees are observed 

 in a great bustle about the entrance running in 

 and out of the hive, and on any one approaching it, 

 the bees evince an uncommon degree of irascibility, 

 attacking indiscriminately any object that presents 

 itself. A small hive generally swarms earlier than 

 a large one. The rise and departure of a swarm is 



