Every time a stock changes its queen, which all swarming hives do annually, there is a loss of over 20,000 bees! If the reader will please look over page 72, he will comprehend the explanation that I am about to make, without my repeating that statement. The old queen leaves with the first swarm, and no more eggs are deposited before her successor is ready to begin, which is generally from sixteen to twenty days afterwards. If fifteen hundred or two thousand eggs are daily depositing!--and it seems very evident that this is the case-there cannot be less than some twenty-four thousand lost. Now, if we lose a good swarm (24,000 bees), while waiting for a queen, we will use if there is any way to prevent so much swarming, and consequently loss. Let your bees, if there are stocks enough with which to take the trouble, be divided in two lots, at least a mile apart--two would be octer. A soon as one or two have swarmed, queen-cells enough for several at official swarms may be obtained. Just a day or two before they mature is the (time to operate, and if possible choose the middle of the day. Then go to a stock that can spare a swarm, and lift out the frames and examine them one by one, to see that the queen is not on them ; should she be seen, the frame containing her, with the bees attached, may be put into an empty hive for a few minutes; the other frames may then have nearly all the bees shaken from them on a sheet spread on the ground. If the operation is performed at any time when the bees are not out at work, a little care will be necessary, or you will not leave enough to take the necessary care of the brood. On one side of the sheet, set a hive or any light box, and the bees will enter as readily as a regular swarm. If sure there is no queen with them, they may be fastened up with thin musulin or wire-cloth tied or nailed over, and turn it on its side, to prevent sanduring. But if the queen has not been seen during any part of the operation, it will be important, previous to shutting them up, to let them stand a few minutes, to determine by their actions if she is with them. If she is with them they will be very quiet, and it will be necessary to look her up and return her to the old stock, or we have gained nothing. The case is very much the same as if you had driven the swarm from the common box-hive for this purpose. A great deal of trouble is often saved by keeping a good lookout for the queen when lifting out the frames; the bees are spread over the whole surface of the combs, and it gives a good chance to see her. If well enough acquinted with her looks and movements to recognize her at a glance among thousands, it would be well to get another box, and put it on the sheet with one edge raised, etc., preparatory to re-living. Shake out a few directly in front of this, and as soon as they set up the buzing shake out more a little further off, and watch, as they spread out in travelling toward the hive, for the queen. After disposing of her, the bees may be secured as directed, and taken to the other spray. Now, for the purpose of attaching them to their new locality, it would be advisable to give them a sheet of comb containing brood from some other livies. Provene a queen-cell from a hive that has cast a swarm near a week before, so that its occupant will be nearly mature. It is a good plan when a stock sends out a swarm, and it is expected that queen-cells will be wanted, to take out the frames immediately, and note down all the cells that are finished, and those nearby so ; by this means, you will know the time that they will mature-reckoning seven days from being sealed over. A place the siro and shape of the cell may be cut out of the comb, and that inserted without brushing or bending. This comb is now to be put in the hive with empty frames, and placed on a stand some foot from any others. Shake the swarm in front of the hive, and they will readily enter and go to work, as any regular swarm should.