CHAPTER XXI 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 



The art of forming artificial swarms has been known 

 for nlany years. Shirach is reputed as the original dis- 

 coverer of it. It is simply based on the power that the 

 workers possess, to convert any worker-egg or larvae 

 under four days old, into a queen, as I discussed in Chap- 

 ter II. This being an established fact, it follows, that 

 if a queen belonging to any family be removed, and leave 

 behind eggs or larvae, of a suitable age, the bees will 

 rear another queen, and proceed in their labors, as if 

 nothing had occurred to them. 



I will now illustrate precisely what would take place 

 within a hive, if a queen were suddenly removed. We 

 will suppose that the whole interior of the hive is fully 

 exposed to our view. We now reniove the queen sud- 

 denly, and without molesting the workers in the least. 

 All is perfectly quiet, and perhaps may remain so seve- 

 ral hours, since no alarm has been sounded. The work- 

 ers take it for granted, that the queen is still there ; and 

 although they do not see or feel her, yet it is presumed 

 that she is somewhere about the hive. We will arouse 



