42 
on the dial plate of time, either directly or indirectly 
points us to every deviation from a common centre. 
These many seeming imperfections are but the radiating 
beams of one grand and perfect whole. To our ideas of 
perfection, especially in bee culture, we would have our 
bees gather honey from early spring until late in autumn, 
and were this the case, bees would swarm many times 
during the season. Bees increase in number remarkably 
fast while gathering honey. It seems that the Queen 
of the colony is laboring in the hive to populate it with 
the same assiduity that the workers are bringing honey 
' in, from the field.' But let the flow of honey cease by 
any sudden atmospheric changes for a number of days 
successively, and the colony seems to manifest a premon- 
ition of a dearth, and frequently commence “ killing off 
their drones at the season of the year it takes place. 
The cells containing young queens are destroyed, and 
should this happen about swarming time, it frequently 
checks their disposition to swarm. Hence, sudden 
drouths is one cause of their not swarming early in the 
seasons, should the drouth not continue long enough to 
destroy the flowers, and an increased flow of honey ensues, 
it will then be quite late in the season before new queen 
cells can be started and young queens reared. — 
And should a swarm issue- a day or two before 
young queens make their aypcarance, it is very 
apt to destroy both stocks. The new swarm 
swarm that leaves, seldom gathers honey enough to win- 
ter on, and the young queens are so late, and the previous 
destruction of drones has so far reduced the chances of 
fertilizing them, that virgin queens are many times the 
consequence of the old stocks perishing. Here is one 
great cause of so many bees dying in winters following 
fate swarming. An increased flow of honey after a 
