PBEVENTION OP NATURAL SWARMING. 237 



how suddenly the honey harvest comes, and how rapidly the 

 combs can be filled, when it once begins. Strong colonies 

 which were almost destitute, just at the opening of the crop, 

 owing to the large amount of brood they were raising, have 

 been known to harvest twenty pounds, and more, in one day. 

 When bees are thus gathering large quantities of honey, and 

 the combs are becoming crowded, so that the cells, from which 

 the young bees hatch, are filled with honey as fast as they are 

 vacated, they feel the necessity of emigrating, especially as 

 the constant hatching workers add daily to their large popu- 

 lation. The building of additional combs, by a part of the 

 bees, is sometimes insufficient to keep them from making prep- 

 arations for swarming, as it does not give employment to all. 

 The reader must remember that in a good colony, at this sea- 

 son, there are between 50,000 and 100,000 bees, according to 

 the laying capacity of the queen and the size of the breeding- 

 room. There is also an additional increase over mortality of 

 perhaps 2,000 bees daily. In spite of the admirable order of 

 these wonderful little insects, there cannot help be more or 

 less crowding, unless there is ample room in the combs. 



455. If some of the bees decide that they are too crowded, 

 queen-cells are raised (104) and the colony gets what Apia- 

 rists call the "swarming fever." It is a very appropriate 

 name, indeed, since the so-called fever is cured only by swarm- 

 ing. In some extraordinary seasons, after this "swarming 

 fever" has taken possession of their little brains; no amount 

 of room given, even by dividing (470) will prevent them 

 from executing their purpose, unless the weather and the 

 honey crop become unfavorable. We have repeatedly, in such 

 seasons, divided a colony into several nuclei (520) without 

 avail, each nucleus swarming in spite of its weakness. 



456. 2d. The heat of the Summer sun, which alone would 

 not cause them to swarm, hastens their preparations, when the 

 bees are disposed to emigrate. 



451'. 3d. The hatching of a great number of drones due 

 to an excess of drone-comb (224:) in the brood chamber, in 



