NATURAL SWARMING. 191 



the atmosphere being warm and fine ; in fact, I have 

 thought that a warm day with occasional showers, 

 the sun shining brightly at intervals, is a favorite 

 time for swarms to come off. They seldom attempt 

 to swarm when it is cool and windy. 



Bonner, who is a very reliable author, remarks on 

 this point: "Some swarms will lie out long before 

 they swarm, though they will swarm at last ; others, 

 although they lie out equally long, will not swarm at 

 all ; a third class will swarm without the smallest 

 previous appearance, and a fourth will make a bustle 

 about their doors for three or four days before they 

 swarm ; and therefore, from such, a variety of chances, 

 it is scarcely possible to determine the precise time 

 of swarming, especially by young beginners in bee- 

 husbandry. A constant attendance is necessary in 

 swarming time, from eight o'clock in the morning 

 until about three or four in the afternoon ; and this 

 needs only to be done in fine warm days, as the bees 

 seldom send out a colony in cold or chilly weather." 



But this is not all that is necessary. Embryo 

 queens are always in a state of forwardness to supply 

 the old hive, as the old queen invariably leaves with 

 the first swarm, and to provide queens for any after- 

 swarms. I cannot better describe the process than 

 by quoting from the "Mysteries of Bee-keeping," by 

 Mr. Quinby, who is good authority on this point: 



REQUISITES BEFORE PREPARATIONS OF QUEEN CELLS. 



" I have found the process for all regular swarms 

 something like this : Before they commence, two or 



