The Cycle of the Year 
77 
queens are less likely to swarm than those with older queens. 
For example, if a young queen is introduced to a colony in 
August the probability of a swarm from that colony the 
following spring is less than if the queen were reared early 
the preceding spring. 
Within the white clover region, some interesting differences 
may be noted. Geo. S. Demuth of the Bureau of Ento¬ 
mology reports the following interesting variations. In south¬ 
ern Indiana swarming has usually ceased before the beginning 
of the white clover honey-flow, while in the northern part 
of the State the swarming season extends into the honey- 
flow. This indicates that the stimulus of the heavy honey- 
flow is not the cause of swarming. In one season which 
came under Demuth’s observation, white clover failed 
to secrete enough nectar to provide surplus honey in north¬ 
ern Indiana and colonies were unable to build up sufficiently 
to swarm. In August, however, there was a heavy yield 
from heartsease, the colonies built up rapidly and there 
was a well marked period of swarming. Demuth at one 
time practiced moving his bees in the fall to the Kankakee 
swamps for the Spanish needle honey-flow. While swarm¬ 
ing was common in the spring during the white clover honey- 
flow, it was not so during the fall honey-flow. The same 
thing is observed when clover is followed by buckwheat. 
While, therefore, honey-flows influence swarming by provid¬ 
ing stores whereby colonies may build up to swarming 
strength, they can scarcely be considered as primary causes 
of swarming. 
The lack of adequate space for breeding is a common 
condition in colonies from which swarms issue and the con¬ 
traction of the brood chamber in comb-honey production 
probably contributes to excessive swarming. However, 
if the contraction is excessive swarming is greatly reduced 
and if this is carried to the extreme we have artificial swarm¬ 
ing, in which operation all the brood combs are removed. 
There is a marked difference in the amount of swarming 
according to the type of honey produced. In the produc- 
