SWAKMINIS. 165 



listen. Their means of locomotion being superior to his, 

 he gave up in despair and out of breath, at the end of a 

 mile. 



Another person, about the same time in the day, saw a 

 swarm moving in the same direction ; he also followed 

 them till compelled to yield to their greater locomotive 

 powers. A third discovered their flight, and likewise at- 

 tempted a race, but like the others, was soon left behind. 

 The before-mentioned neighbor saw them, and stopped 

 them as described. 



How much farther they would have gone, it is of course 

 impossible to say. That it was the same swarm that 

 started three miles away, appears almost conclusive. 



We will now return to the issuing of the swarms. There 

 will be some emergencies to provide for, and some excep- 

 tions to notice. 



If we keep many colonies, the chances are that two or 

 more may issue at one time ; and when they do, they will 

 nearly always cluster together. It is plain that the greater 

 the number of colonies, the more such chances are multi- 

 plied. 



ONE PIBST SWAEM HAS BEES BNOUGH. 



One first swarm, if of the usual size, will contain bees 

 enough for profit, yet two such will work together with- 

 out quarreling, and will store about one-third more than 

 either would alone ; that is, if each single swarm would 

 gather fifty pounds, the two together would not get over 

 seventy pounds, perhaps less. Here then is a loss of thirty 

 pounds, besides the virtual loss of one of the swarms for 

 another year ; because sucb double stocks are not gener- 

 ally any better the next spring, and not often as good as 

 single ones. Hence the advantage of keeping the first 

 swarms separate, is apparent. 



