The Young Queens 
The question they have to consider is 
not whether a second or third swarm 
shall be-immediately launched, — for in 
arriving at such a decision they would 
merely be blindly and thoughtlessly 
yielding to the caprice or temptation of a 
favourable moment, — but the instanta- 
neous, unanimous adoption of measures 
that shall enable them to issue a second 
swarm or “cast” three or four days after 
the birth of the first queen, and a third 
swarm three days after the departure of 
the second, with this first, queen at their 
head. It must be admitted, therefore, 
that we discover here a perfectly reasoned 
system, and a mature combination of plans 
extending over a period considerable in- 
deed when compared with the brevity of 
the bee’s existence. 
257 
