§xi.] RATIONALE OF SWARMING. 79 



Frodsham near -Chester, and we kept the stock, which 

 of course had a new queen. The bees did not long 

 retain their distinctive features. 



A swarm of bees, in a natural state, contains from 

 ro,ooo to 20,000 insects. ■ " On an average," says 

 Dzierzon, "we may call 20,000 a strong swarm, 12,000 

 to 15,000 a moderate one, and 6,000 to 8,000 a weak 

 one." Von Berlepsch by a very careful experiment 

 estimated that there were 5,600 unloaded bees in a 

 pound, so that when loaded for swarming there would 

 certainly not be more than 4,000. A good swarm will 

 therefore weigh from three to five pounds. We have 

 known swarms not heavier than two pounds and a half 

 that were in very excellent condition in August as regards 

 store for the winter; though the Baron's experiments 

 showed with remarkable conformity that for a new swarm 

 six pounds was proportionally more profitable than any 

 other weight, larger or smaller. For a fully furnished 

 hive, he. states, there seems really no limit but that of 

 space — the more bees the better. 



Hitherto our remarks have had reference to first or 

 " prime " swarms ; these are the best, and when a swarm 

 is purchased, such should be bargained for. But there 

 are also second swarms, known amongst cottage bee- 

 keepers as " casts," one of which is often found to issue 

 from the hive nine or ten days after the first has departed ; 

 in very rare cases such has been known as early as the 

 third or as late as the seventeenth day. It is not always 



