PIF'TY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 181 



of the way, so the young queen could go out on her wedding 

 trip. The thing was so certain to work that I spent $37.50 

 for queen-excluders to put the plan in practice. 



SWARMING GALORE. 



In due time when queen-cells were sealed the swarms be- 

 gan to issue. Then they returned. Then they came out next 

 day. Then they returned again. After doing more or less of 

 this, the time came when the young queens began to emerge. 

 Business became lively. Swarming once a day did not always 

 satisfy them. The number of issues in a day becStae such that 

 several swarms would be out at a time, and they were not at 

 all particular to keep separate. Neither were thej' as method- 

 ical as prime swarms about returning to their own hives. Al- 

 most any hive seemed to suit them provided there was a good 

 deal of noise at the entrance, and when swarming got well 

 under way for the day there were plenty of hives with noise 

 at the entrance. Whether the excluders leaked queens, or 

 whatever may have been the reason, there were some cases 

 of young queens being out, and when there was a young queen 

 in a swarm there was no telling how many swarms would unite 

 with it. 



ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR. 



After a swarm had' been balked in its efforts a number of 

 times there seemed to be a reckless disregard in a good many 

 eases as to the propriety of returning when they had had 

 plenty of time to discover that no yoi^ng queen had come out 

 with them, and sometimes they would settle and remain clus- 

 tered for half a day, perhaps several swarms in the cluster. 

 Nothing so very bad about that, if I had only been entirely 

 sure that some time they would return ; but when I stood gaz- 

 ing on a bunch of bees as big as my body when I'm in best 

 condition, and meditated upon the chance of there being a 

 young queen in the bunch to incite them to sail off into the 

 ethereal blue — ^well, it was not the sort of meditation most con- 

 ducive to composure of mind. 



Inside of the hive the program as laid down was pretty 

 generally carried but; at fhe proper time the excluder was re- 



