SWARMING.
It frequently happens when Bees are managed upon the depriving system, that for want of timely room and ventilation being given, a swarm comes off from the stock hive, leaving the bell-glass, or small hive which has been placed upon it, in an unfinished state. Now, whenever this happens, let the swarm be hived into "The Improved Cottage Hive," and the bell-glass or small hive, with the adapter, immediately removed from the stock hive, and placed upon the newly-hived swarm; and as soon as the Bees are a little settled (say in fifteen minutes), remove the new-hived swarm to the place in which it is intended to remain, care being taken to fasten down the straw cover upon the parent hive; for no further profit can be expected from it beyond a second, and, perhaps, a third swarm, which are almost sure to follow. In this method of immediately removing a swarm to the apiary, Gelieu agrees with me, and for which he gives the following reasons:—"Most people who have Bees allow their swarms to remain till the evening in the place where they have alighted, and do not move them to the apiary till after sunset. This method has many inconveniences. As soon as a swarm has congregated in the new hive, and seems to be at ease in it, the most industrious among the Bees fly off to the fields, but with a great many precautions; they descend the front of the hive, and turn to every side to examine it thoroughly, then take flight, and make some circles in the air in order to reconnoitre their new abode; they do the same in returning. If the swarm has taken flight in the morning, the same Bees make several excursions during the day, and each time with less precaution, as, becoming familiarised with their dwelling, they are less afraid of mistaking it; and thus, next morning, supposing themselves in the same place, they take wing without having observed where they have spent the night, and surprised at their return not to find the hive in the same place, they fly about all day in search of it, until they perish with fatigue and despair. Thus many hundreds of the most industrious labourers are lost; and this may be entirely avoided if the swarms be removed as soon as the Bees are perceived coming out: this sign is alone sufficient." Experience has long since proved that the custom of beating warming-pans, and the like, at the time a swarm leaves the hive is perfectly useless. Much trouble may be spared the Bees if the loose straws be removed from its interior; and the best method of effecting this is first to singe them with a wax taper and afterwards to remove them with a hard brush.
It is now an ascertained fact that the old queen accompanies the first swarm; the period which usually transpires between the first and second swarms is from nine to thirteen days; between the second and third the time is much shorter. If second swarms come by the middle of June, and stocks are required, it will be well to preserve them, for after-swarms have always young queens, which is a great advantage. Should second swarms not come till July, let them be returned to the parent hive, or put two of them together.
Symptoms of Swarming.—The symptoms preceding a first swarm are the rapid increase in numbers clustering, or hanging out, and drones becoming numerous and unusually active. Those of an after-swarm are much more certain, for, nine or ten days after the departure of the first swarm, a singular noise, called "piping," may be heard in the stock. The first note, says Mr. Golding, is long and plaintive, and is uttered by the princess already at liberty; she traverses the hive, and stops upon, or near, the royal cells which still contain brood, and emits her long plaintive note. This, when the other young queens are sufficiently forward, generally in about two days, is answered by them from within their cells in a quick, short, hoarse note; after these last have been heard for about two days the swarm may be expected to come off. Third swarms should either be returned to the parent hive, or added to a second swarm, for by themselves they are totally valueless. Sometimes an early first swarm, when additional room is not supplied at the time required, will send out another swarm: this generally occurs in about a month, but it is a thing by no means to be desired, and should carefully be prevented by giving timely room.
Hiving.—"Whatever system is adopted let everything be in readiness for the reception of swarms, for even where the depriving system is followed, from some oversight on the part of the apiarian a swarm will occasionally occur. Watch the swarm in silence, and after it has once collected, lose no time in housing it into a new, clean and dry hive (its weight with the floor-board being first taken and marked upon it), and let it he placed where it is to remain within ten or fifteen minutes after the time of its being hived; it will not be necessary even to wait till the Bees clustered in front or on the sides of the hive are reunited to their companions inside, as they are never long in being so.
Hives with Comb in Them.—Hives of comb, in which swarms of the last year have died, should be carefully preserved for hiving swarms into them; it gives a swarm treated in this manner full three weeks' advantage over another put at the same time into an empty hive.
Putting Glasses of Small Hives upon Swarms.—The most proper time for putting the bell-glass, or small hive, or box, upon a swarm, will be from the eighteenth to the twenty-first day after their being hived; and should it be quickly filled, and more room required, which may be known by the crowded state of the Bees inside the glass, and by their being seen to cluster at the mouth of the hive at nine or ten in the morning, let no time be lost in lifting up the glass, and placing between it and the stock hive a small hive or box with a hole in the top. (See [page 8]). It is necessary to use this precaution at all times, but more especially in a rainy season, as a greater disposition amongst the Bees to swarm then prevails. "Dry weather makes plenty of honey, and moist of swarms," says good Mr. Purchase; and, however, incorrect this position may at first sight appear, the attentive observer will quickly become convinced of its truth.
Second Swarms.—A second swarm generally leaves the hive about nine days after the first; but the time may be exactly ascertained by standing quietly beside the hive after sunset, when the queen may be distinctly heard "totun in hir treble voic," (Butler's Feminin Monarchi, Ed. 1643), which is a certain indication that a second swarm will leave the hive. Should two or three queens be heard one after the other, it will be on the following day, if the weather be not very unfavourable. Should the queens continue to pipe after the departure of a second swarm, a third will certainly follow in a few days; but if one or two queens be found dead beneath the hive on the next morning, no more swarms can be expected.