4±6 GENERAL MAXIMS. 



IV. 



A swarm without drones is not of any value: when 

 drones are wanting, about two or three hundred to be taken 

 from the parent hive. 



v. 



A hive which has drones in the winter generally perishes. 



A weak swarm will weigh from one to two pounds ; a 

 middling one from three to four pounds ; a good one about 

 five pounds, and an excellent one from six to eight pounds. 



Bees deprived of their queen will not work, and will 

 perish if there be no royal egg in the hive from which a 

 queen can be born. 



vm. 



The larvae of the bees are about six days in completing 

 their growth, according to the state of the weather; they 

 then take the form of a nymph or chrysalis, in which they 

 remain about fifteen days, when they emerge from the cell 

 a perfect bee. 



IX. 



Eggs are hatched successively in a hive ; and when the 

 number of bees which have emerged from the cells be 

 greater than the hive can contain, they form what is called 

 a swarm, which is always accompanied by a young queen, 

 but never by the mother queen. 



There are no determined signs for the departure of a 

 swarm. It generally takes place from the hour often a.m., 

 to about two p.m. A swarm seldom departs in windy 

 weather, and never during rain. 



