NATURAL SWARMING. 203 



thing after the manner of raising a brood or flock of 

 chickens, and with these a king, as many persist in 

 calling the queen, was raised to lead them forth, and 

 to reign over them, &c. and that the old bees, 

 together with their queen, remained quietly at home 

 to enjoy the fruits of their labors in the old home- 

 stead, while the young folks went forth to find a new 

 habitation in which to lay up stores to keep them, 

 in turn, when old age should advance upon them. 

 But here, as in many other things, such opinions are 

 at fault. The fact of the old queen going forth with 

 the first swarm, has been so fully demonstrated by 

 all reliable authors, and so fully attested by all intel- 

 ligent and observing apiarians whom I have had 

 the pleasure of consulting upon this point, that I 

 will content myself with simply stating the fact, that 

 the old queen invariably goes out with the first swarm 

 that issues from the hive in the spring, being replaced 

 with a young one, which is yet in an embryo state, 

 when the swarm leaves, and in due time comes forth ; 

 if no accident occurs, it becomes fertile, supplying 

 the colony with eggs and remaining until the next 

 swarming season arrives, when, if the weather and 

 other circumstances are favorable, she in turn leads 

 forth the first swarm. 



Instead of the swarm being composed entirely of 

 young bees, it is made up of all kinds and conditions, 

 from the old, with ragged wings (becoming so, doubt- 

 less, from the effects of continued hard labor), to the 

 young bee that had emerged from the cell but a few 

 hours previous and scarcely able to fly. Those that 



