SWARMING AND HIVING. 139 



and bees, becomes too much crowded to accommodate its 

 teeming population, the bees begin tiie necessary prepara- 

 tions for emigration. A number of royal cells are com- 

 menced about the time that the drones make their appear- 

 ance ; and by the time the young Queens arrive at maturity, 

 drones are usually found in great abundance. The first 

 swarm is invariably led off by the old Queen, unless she has 

 previously died from accident or disease, in which case, it is 

 accompanied by one of the young Queens reared to supply 

 her loss. The old mother leaves soon after the royal cells 

 are sealed over, unless delayed by unfavorable weather. 

 There are no signs from which ihe Apiarian can, with cer- 

 tainty, predict the issue of a first swarm. I devoted annu- 

 ally, much attention to this point, vainly hoping- to discover 

 some infallible indications of first swarming ; until taught 

 by further reflection that, from the very nature of the case, 

 there can be no such indications. ■ The bees, from an unfa- 

 vorable state of the weather, or the failure of the blossoms 

 to yield an abundant supply of honey, often change their 

 minds, and refuse to swarm, even after all their preparations 

 have been completed. Nay more, they sometimes send out 

 no new colonies that season, when a sudden change of 

 weather has interrupted them on the very day when they 

 were intending to emigrate, and after they had taken a full 

 supply of honey for their journey. 



If on a fair, warm day in the swarming season, but few 

 bees leave a strong hive, while other colonies are busily at 

 work, we may, unless the weather suddenly prove unfavor- 

 able, look with great confidence for a swarm. As the old 

 Queens, which accompany the first swarm, are heavy with 



tndes, however, the swarming instinct seems to be much more power- 

 ful. In Matamoras and Brownsville, on the Eio Grande, I saw many 

 colonies issue from hives only partially filled with comb. 



