LOSS OF THE QUEEN. 
217 
by other bees, or fall a prey to the moth, or gradually 
dwindle away. 
As the bee-keeper, from limited space or other reasons, 
may prefer to keep his colonies close together, I have de- 
vised a way of effecting it, without risking the loss of 
the young queens : — 
If he relies upon natural swarming, he should remove 
the mother-stock , as soon as it has swarmed, to a new posi- 
tion, giving it two or three quarts of bees from the 
swarm, before they have entered the new hive, which is 
to be put on the old stand. These bees having the 
swarming propensity, will supply the place (p. 156) of 
those which subsequently leave. 
If artificial swarming is practiced, the entrances to the 
hives of the nuclei should be marked with a leafy twig, 
and, if possible, made to lace differently (p. 189) from 
those of the adjoining stocks. The new colonies should 
be formed as directed on page 186. If two Apiaries are 
used, the artificial swarms may be made in any of the 
ways previously described, and those colonies w'hich have 
queens to be impregnated, removed to the second Apiary. 
The bees are sometimes so excessively agitated when 
their queen leaves for impregnation, that they exhibit all 
the appearance of swarming. They seem to have an in- 
stinctive perception of the dangers which await her, and 
I have known them to gather around her and confine her, 
as though they could not bear to have her leave. If a 
queen is lost in what the Germans call “ her wedding ex- 
cursion,” the bees of an old stock will gradually decline ; 
those of an after-swarm, will either unite with another 
colony, or speedily dwindle away. 
It w'ould be interesting, could we learn how bees become 
informed of the loss of their queen. When she is taken 
from them, under circumstances that excite the whole 
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