54 
BEE-CULTURE. 
will keep them in for several days. They may then swarm 
even if the weather is unfavorable. But if the weather con- 
tinues bad, or the yield of honey begins to diminish, they 
may destroy their queen cells and not swarm that season. 
Even if a colony is ready to swarm, a sudden failure in the 
honey resources may make them give up swarming for the 
season: and sometimes when it has not this effect, it would have 
been better for them if it had. 
The failure of honey-gathering also has the same effect on 
their rearing of drones, as was plainly manifested when the 
June frost of 1859 destroyed the bloom and seemed to give 
the bees the impression that winter was set in. They imme- 
diately commenced killing their drones. Even the drone 
brood were torn out of the cells and tumbled out of the hives. 
In a few days the clover was yielding honey again as freely 
as ever. They reared a new set of drones and swarmed. 
The destruction of drones at any time may be taken as evi- 
dence that swarming is over for the present, and that there 
is not muoh honey-gathering. If swarming is kept back for 
several days by bad weather, a number of colonies may issue 
on the same day ; so have plenty of hives on hand, and keep 
a look out the first fair day that occurs, if all the other cir- 
cumstances for swarming are favorable. In the morning of 
a day in which a colony intends giving off a swarm, the bees 
are generally hanging about the entrance ami are very quiet. 
But few bees fly out and in, especially for an hour before 
they swarm. From ten to thirty minutes before swarming, 
whilst they are yet still on the outside, there is a great agi- 
tation inside, running to and fro and filling themselves with 
honey. I know of no reliable sign of swarming other than 
those I have mentioned. Some say they can always tell 
when a colony is going to swarm by hearing the piping of the 
queens, but this is speaking rather fast. It never takes place 
before first swarms. [By first, or top swarms, I mean the 
first swarm that each colony gives off in the season. The 
second, third, &c., are called after-swarms or casts] 
This peculiar piping, which is different from any other noise 
made by the bees, and sounds like pronouncing the word peep, 
is occasioned by the contention of a plurality of queens, 
which of course do not exist at first swarming. If any one 
doubts whether the old queen leaves with the first swarm, all 
he has to do to convince himself of the fact, if be has a 
