6 THE CONNEOTIGUT AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE EXTENSION SERVICE. 



Larvae have to be fed for six days, so it will be evident 

 that it will not take long for more bees to emerge than there are 

 new larvae to feed. These nurses being well prepared by Na- 

 ture to produce baby food and build comb, and having neither 

 of these to do, become uneasy and begin queen cells in prepar- 

 ation for swarming. In from eight to ten days from this 

 time, unless the beekeeper prevents, we may expect a swarm. 



What Takes Place When a Colony Swarms. 



Tn order to judge the effect swarming has on honey produc- 

 tion, let us see what takes place in the colony. One or two days 

 before a colony swarms, most of the field bees which have 

 been bringing in nectar and pollen, stop working. These bees 

 remaining in the hive cause increased congestion. On the next 

 bright, warm day toward noon, a bee here and there will be- 

 come excited and start running through the hive; other bees 

 will start running with these ; and soon the whole colony will 

 be in an uproar. Suddenly this boiling, seething mass will 

 rush from the entrance and begin flying about in the air with 

 a roar which may be heard for some distance, and we say, "a 

 swarm is out." This swarm is made up of most of the field 

 bees, as many of the younger bees as can fly, part of the drones, 

 and the old queen. The bees fly about in a cloud for a few 

 minutes then begin to cluster on some tree or fence near by. 

 Nearly the entire working force of the colony has gone out, 

 leaving in the old hive the nurse bees, a few drones, and those 

 field bees which were in the field at the time the swarm issued. 

 There are also a number of queen cells more or less fully de- 

 veloped. In a day or two a new queen will emerge, and un- 

 less the colony plans to swarm again soon, the bees will settle 

 down to building up a new colony. 



After the swarm is hived, it must draw out new combs, 

 produce a new batch of brood, gather new stores of honey and 

 pollen, and so gradually get back to storing strength. This 

 will take time, and in the meantime the beekeeper is gettin"' 

 no, or at most very little, surplus honey from this part of his 

 colony. The colony in the old hive must develop its queen to 

 laying age. must develop a new force of field workers and lay 



