96 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



them are lifted fourteen or sixteen days in advance of 

 those that do not get queens. For it would take them 

 fourteen days, at least, to rear queens, even if the eggs 

 were set the hour on which they lost their old ones, 

 and the queens from such eggs were allowed to leave 

 their cells on coming to perfection. These transplanted 

 queens would lay about 28,000 eggs in fourteen days — 

 that is to say, before queens reared at home could begin 

 to lay at all. Of course, the introduction of these sur- 

 plus queens to hives that have just swarmed, either natu- 

 rally or artificially, prevents all preparations being made 

 for throwing second swarms. The old liives are never 

 without brood, for the young queens thus implanted be- 

 gin to lay before all the brood is hatched. Such hives 

 soon become very strong, and capable of doing a great 

 deal of work in various ways. In honey seasons they 

 will rise to a great weight, and fill a good super with 

 comb. 



^ In the case of hives swarming late, it is of vast import- 

 ance to give them queens from early swarmers ; for, if left 

 to rear queens for themselves, the season is nearly over 

 before the eggs of such queens come to perfection. Let 

 us see how long it is before young bees are matured from 

 such queens. Suppose a swarm be obtained on the 15th 

 of June, the eggs wUl be matured into queens in fourteen 

 days — /. e., about the last day of the month. If there be 

 no days wasted in piping and preparing to send off second 

 swarms, the young queen will take the drone in three 

 days, and commence to lay in about ten days after — say 

 about the 1 2th 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 be not ob- 

 tained till the end of June ; but it is otherwise with the 

 old hives and second swarms. How manifest, then, is 



