ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 4] 
I have practised artificial swarming exclusively, and made a re- 
cord of the facts. The queen may be confidently expected to issue . 
from the hive, between noon and half-past two o’clock P. M., on 
the second day after emerging from the cell—frequently on the first, 
~—and if drones are abundant, she usually meets them after one or two 
flights. P 
A practised eye will readily recognize the marks of impregna- 
tion with which she returns when successful ; and in from two to 
ten days thereafter she will generally be found depositing eggs in 
the cells. One queen which issued from the cell on the 4th of July, 
took wing on the 5th, and had deposited quite a quantity of eggs 
on the 7th. Out of six which issued on the 26th ult., three became 
fertile on the 29th, two on the 30th, and one on the Ist inst. These 
are instances of the earliest fertility, however, I have ever known. 
It is accomplished in the following way, viz: by permitting only 
one queen cell to remain in the hive. In rearing queens, I always 
use small clusters only. Ifmore than one queen be allowed to ma- 
ture, and the swarm be large, the bees are apt to cluster around and 
umprison the queens: besides this, the queen will destroy all surplus 
cells before leaving ; which, it is imagined, delays her impregnation. 
I have known the bees to thus imprison a queen for ten days! By 
allowing only one royal cell to remain in the hive after the tenth 
day, no such result will ensue. The only difficulty in thus rearing 
queens by small clusters, in warm weather, is the greater liability 
of the bees to take flight with the queen when she seeks the drones, 
and then leave for the woods. This source of vexation and anxiety, 
is.avoided by taking the precaution of having some larve or 
capped brood in the cells at this time. The bees will not then de- 
sert their nurselings, and the queen will return—except an occa- 
sional one. A few will be lost by accidents, such as beiny de- 
stroyed by birds, &e., to which risk all queens are once exposed. 
Grand Rapids, Mich., Aug. 4, 1861. 
Eprtor’s Remarxs.—-There is greater diversity in this important 
matter than is commonly supposed; and observers may differ 
widely in their statements and inferences, while each narrates the 
