306 THE BEE-KEEPER’S MANUAL. 
“‘ Without it,” writes Mr. William Raitt in the Journal 
of Horticulture (Feb. 12, 1880), “the race would in a 
few years become extinct. Many colonies would perish 
annually from starvation, disease, or the death of a 
queen at a season when she could not be replaced. 
To guard against such disaster, the desire for swarm- 
ing has been implanted. Young queens are reared. 
The old one leads off a colony; in a few days the first 
hatched princess follows with a second...... and thus 
our one stock is multiplied to three or four.” The 
practical remarks that follow are equally worth our 
reprinting :— 
“Tt is not uncommon for bees to swarm out and 
leave the hive tenantless. This generally happens in 
spring, and is sometimes a result of approaching star- 
vation. More generally, however, it is caused by the 
sudden arrival of warm sunshine after a period of 
cold. Glad of the opportunity of getting an airing, 
the bees become quite excited; the queen catches the 
excitement and also sallies forth, and, not marking 
her location, she is as likely to alight upon some other 
hive; and, the bees following her, the old stock is 
forsaken. There may be both honey and brood left 
behind. Such cases rarely happen except with weak 
colonies. Again, a false alarm frequently causes 
colonies with virgin queens to swarm out. The 
princess goes forth to seek the drone, and we have 
frequently seen a swarm issue with her. When such 
happens with an old stock that has already thrown 
all its normal swarms, there is seldom much harm 
done. The virgin queen marks her location and 
returns. Sometimes the swarm returns immediately, 
