198 SUMMER. 



much safer than to raise the hive an inch or more for 

 ventilation. They are also essential for many other 

 occasions. I would not do without them, even if the 

 expense was ten times what it is. 



DESCRIPTION OF SWARM ISSUING. 



When the day is fair and not too much wind, first 

 swarms generally issue from ten o'clock till three ; if 

 you are on the lookout, the first outside indication of 

 a swarm, will be an unusual number of bees around ' 

 the entrance, from one to sixty minutes before they 

 start. The utmost confusion seems to prevail, bees 

 running about in every direction ; the entrance appa- 

 rently closed with the mass of bees, (perhaps one ex- 

 ception in twenty,) presently a colimm from the inte- 

 rior forces a passage to the open air; they come rush- 

 ing out by hundreds, all vibrating their wings as theyT 

 march out; and when a few inches from the entrance, 

 rise in the air ; some run up the side of the hive, others 

 to the edge of the bottom-board. If you have seen the 

 old queen come rushing sut the first one, and the rest 

 following her, as we are often told she does, you have 

 seen what I never did in a first swarm ! Second and 

 third swarms conduct themselves quite differently. I 

 have seen the old queen issue a few times, but not till 

 half the swarm was out. 



The bees when first rising from the hive, describe 

 circles of but few feet, but as they recede, they spread 

 over an area of several rods. Their movements are 

 much slower than usual, in a few minutes thousands • 

 may be seen revolving in every possible direction ! A 



