152 SWARMING AND HIVING. 



swarms after the first,) reduce very seriously the strength of 

 the parent stock ; for after the departure of the old Queen, 

 no more eggs are deposited in the cells, until all swarming 

 is over. It is a very wise arrangement that the second 

 swarm does not ordinarily issue until all the eggs left by the 

 first Queen are hatched, and the young fed and mostly 

 sealed over, so as to require no further care. The depart- 

 ure of the second swarm earlier than this, would leave too 

 few laborers to attend to the wants of the young bees. As 

 it is, if the weather after swarming, suddenly becomes chilly, 

 and the hives are thin and admit too much air, the bees are 

 too much reduced in numbers, to maintain the heat requisite 

 for the proper development of the brood, and numbers are 

 destroyed. 



In the Chapter on Artificial Swarming, I shall discuss the 

 effect of too frequent swarming, on the profits of the Apiary. 

 If the bee-keeper desires to have no casts, he can, by the 

 use of my hives, very easily, prevent their issue. A few 

 days after the first swarm is hived, the parent stock may be 

 opened, and all the Queen cells except one removed. How 

 much better this is, than to attempt to return the after-swarms 

 to the parent hive, can only be appreciated by one who has 

 thoroughly tried both plans. If the Apiarian desires the 

 most rapid multiplication of colonies possible, where natural 

 swarming is relied on, full directions will be furnished in the 

 sequel, for building up all after-swarms, however small, into 

 vigorous stocks. 



It will be remembered that both the parent stock from 

 which the swarm issues, and all the colonies except the first, 

 have a young Queen. These Queens never leave the hive 

 for impregnation, until after they have been established as the 

 acknowledged heads of independent families. They gene- 

 rally go out for this purpose, the first pleasant day, after 



