BEE MANUAL. 193 



commence as early as August. In Tasmania the season is 

 similar to that in the southern portion of the Province of 

 Auckland — from mid-October to mid-January. 



SYMPTOMS OF SWARMING. 



It is generally known amongst experienced bee-keepers, that 

 first swarms give but little outward indications by which the 

 apiarist may know when they are likely to issue. True, the 

 bees may hang clustered outside the hive, which is thought by 

 some people to be a sure sign ; but although this may be caused 

 in some instances by an over-crowded hive, it more often occurs 

 through bad ventilation and want of shade, and can by no 

 means be taken as an indication of the immediate issue of a 

 swarm. I have known cases where the bees have been hanging 

 outside the hive in large numbers for weeks prior to swarming, 

 keeping the household constantly on the alert lest they should 

 lose them. 



This waste of time on the part of the bees during perhaps 

 the best part of the season should not be allowed, and could 

 not occur with movable comb-hives and proper management. 

 Mr. Langstroth says, " There are no signs from which the 

 apiarian can predict the certain issue of a first swarm. For 

 years I spent much time in the vain attempt to discover some 

 infallible indications of first swarming, until facts convinced me 

 that there can be no such indications." One of the surest signs 

 in the interior of the hive is the presence of newly built queen 

 cells, and this can be easily ascertained at all times by the use 

 of movable comb-hives. 



ISSUE OF THE SWARM. 



The actual process of swarming is so admirably described by 

 Langstroth, whose closeness of observation and clearness of 

 description are equally inimitable, that I cannot withhold from 

 the reader a passage from the chapter upon natural swarming 

 in his treatise upon " The Hive and Honey Bee." He says, at 

 p. 112 :— 



"I have repeatedly witnessed, in my observing hives, the whole 

 process of swarming. On the day fixed for their 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. 







