There is but one reigning Queen in a colony of Bees at one time: but previously to swarming, royal-cells are constructed, and provision made, for ensuring a successor to the Queen that leads the swarm and emigrates, when the too-crowded population, and over-heated temperature of the hive, render such emigration necessary. That it is the old Queen that leaves the hive with a swarm I am well convinced, notwithstanding what some apiarians assert to the contrary. To satisfy myself on this point, I have sometimes in the evening of the day on which a hive has swarmed, at other times on the second, and at others on the third day after that event, put the parent-stock under, or rather, I may say--_over_ fumigation, dissected and examined the combs and Queen-cells minutely, and the Bees also, and whenever I did find a Queen, she was invariably a young one; but, instead of a Queen, I have more frequently found a royal-cell just ready to give birth, as it were, to a successor to that that had left the hive; and in general there are several of these royal-cells containing embryo Queens, in different states of forwardness: so that it seems, Bees have an instinctive foresight which leads them to provide against casualties, for they are generally provided with the means of bringing forth _supernumerary Queens_, that in case the first that comes forth should prove steril, should be defective, or in any way unfortunate, or unfitted to assume the sovereignty of the hive, there may be others ready to burst into being, and remedy the misfortune that would ensue, were there but one chance of a successor, and were that one chance to prove abortive. But no sooner is a young Queen enthroned, as it were, and established in the government of the hive than the supernumerary ones, in whatever stage of existence, are all discarded, and cast out of the colony, Mr. Porter, of Cowbit, has this year (1832) picked up eight of those discarded, virgin Queens, together with the old Queen, which last was sorely mutilated, _but not killed_--she alone was cast out alive, the others had been killed: these nine supernumerary Queens were all cast out of one fine colony of Bees in the course of two successive days. That colony is a remarkably prosperous one, _and has not swarmed_. I myself have observed no fewer than twenty-four supernumerary, virgin Queens that were cast out of one of my stocks; and that stock is flourishing, and _has not swarmed:_ and my respected friend, Mr. Salmon, of Stokeferry, informs me that he once collected upwards of thirty of these young Queens; whether his stock swarmed or not I am unable to state positively, but presume it did not; for, generally speaking, when supernumerary, virgin Queens are cast out of a colony, it may be considered as an indication that that colony is not only prosperous, but that swarming is not contemplated--in fact, is abandoned for that season. The question then is--how are Bees to be managed, in order that they