SWARIIING. 227 



TIME BETWEEN SECOND AND THIRD ISSUES, 



Piping for third swarms (wheu thej issue) may 

 usually be heard the evening after the second has 

 left, though one day commonly intervenes between 

 their issues. 



Here my experience is at variance with many 

 writers, who give several days between the second 

 and third. I do not recollect an instance of more than 

 three days between, but many in less,' several the 

 next, and one the same day of the second 1 I had 

 an instance of a swarm losing its queen (the old one) 

 on its first sally, and returned to wait for the young 

 ones ; when they were ready, an uncommon number 

 of bees were present ; three swarms issued in three 

 days I On the fourth, another came out and returned ; 

 the fifth day it left; making four regular swarms in 

 five days. On the eighth, the fifth swarm left I Al- 

 though I. never had five swarms from a stock before, 

 yet I expected this, from the fact of hearing the piping 

 on the next evening after the fourth one had left. 

 The piping had continued in this hive from the eve- 

 ning previous to the first swarm till the last one had 

 left. 



NOT AXWATS TO BE DEPENDED UPON. 



One stock in fifteen may commence piping, yet 

 send out no swarm. The bees will change their 

 minds about coming out, and kill their queens, or 

 allow the eldest one of them to destroy the others, or 

 some other way, as they do not always swarm in such 

 circumstances. But when the piping continues over 



