SURPLUS QUEENS. 133 



wasted in piping and preparing to send off a second 

 colonj', tlie young queen -will take tlie drone in three 

 days, and commence laying in about ten days after — 

 say about tbe 12tb of July. Well, the brood is three 

 weeks in the combs, so that the month of July is nearly 

 gone before young bees are hatched. First swarms have 

 pregnant queens, and generally do well, though they do not 

 leave till the' middle of June ; but it is otherwise with 

 the old hives and second swarms. Here we see the ad- 

 vantage of having all hives ready for swarming in May, 

 or very early in June ; and here also we see the advan- 

 tage of importing queens from early swarmers into later 

 swarmers. It were easy for us to fiU ten pages of this 

 book with matter illustrating the value and importance 

 of helping hives by importing queens into them, while they 

 are without them, or raising young ones. With young 

 queens at command, we can take three moderate swarms 

 from a large hive in one season, and never deprive it of 

 its own queen. The young ones are given to the swarms, 

 while the combs of the mother hive are always kept full 

 of brood by the eggs of the queen remaining, when this is 

 done. 



Small bee-keepers oblige one another by transplanting 

 surplus queens from one apiary to another when wanted. 

 One thus enriches his neighbour without injuring himself. 



Since this chapter on artificial swarming was written — 

 indeed after the manuscript was completed — a letter has 

 been received from a gentleman in Wales, asking the 

 author to state very simply and fuUy how queens can 

 be found or seen amongst the bees that have been driven 

 up into empty hives. 



After a swarm has been driven int#an empty hive, it 

 is turned on its crown, not gently, for we wish all the 

 bees to fall from the sides of the hive on the crown, and 



