PRIMARY SWARM. 209 
First ork Priuary Swarm. 
409. The first swarm 1s almost invariably led off by the 
old queen, unless she has died from accident or disease, 
when it is accompanied by one of the young ones reared to 
supply her loss. There are no signs from which the Apia- 
rist can predict the certain issue of a first swarm. For 
years, we spent much time in the vain attempt to discover 
some infallible indications of first swarming; until facts 
convinced us that there can be no such indications. 
4.10. If the weather is unpleasant, or the blossoms yield 
an insufficient supply of honey, bees often change their 
minds, and refuse to swarm at all. If, in the swarming 
season, but few bees leave a strong hive, on a clear, calm, 
and warm day, when other colonies are busily at work, we 
may look with great confidence for a swarm, unless the 
weather prove suddenly unfavorable. 
If the weather is very sultry, a swarm will sometimes 
issue as early as seven o’clock in the morning; but from 
ten, a. u., to two, P. M., is the usual time; and the majority 
of swarms come off when the sun is within an hour of the 
meridian. Occasionally, a swarm ventures out as late as 
five, Pp. M.; but an old queen is seldom guilty of such an 
indiscretion. 
411. We have repeatedly witnessed in our observing- 
hives (374) the whole process of swarming. On the day 
fixed for departure, the queen is very restless, and instead 
of depositing her eggs in the cells, roams over the combs, 
and communicates her agitation to the whole colony. The 
emigrating bees usually fill themselves with honey, just 
before their departure; but in one instance, we saw them 
lay in their supplies more than two hours before they left. 
A short time before the swarm rises, a few bees may gener- 
ally be seen sporting in the air, with their heads turned 
14 
