may be induced to rid themselves of these supernumeraries? The relation of the following practical lesson will both answer the question, and exemplify and confirm the foregoing remarks. It has already been related (in pages 62-66) that in 1826 I forced a colony of Bees to swarm,--that I returned that swarm to its parent-stock, and managed so as to prevent its swarming in future,--and that two royal nymphs were cast out on that occasion. To prove whether I could not accomplish the same object, and prevent swarming altogether, I had recourse to the following experiment. On the 26th of June, 1827, at one o'clock p.m. the thermometer, in one of my colonies of Bees, suddenly rose to 96. The progressive rise and constantly high temperature in that colony, during the evening and night, together with the extraordinary weight of the hive, induced me to suspect that swarming, if not prevented, would shortly take place. Not, however, perceiving any of the symptoms that usually precede the immediate act of swarming, I suffered matters to go on until the 6th of July, on which day the thermometer stood at 102. The drones came out and sung their merry tune; and during the whole night the temperature of the colony continued to increase. On the next day unequivocal symptoms of swarming presented themselves. These urged me to push my experiment to the highest pitch of proof; I therefore went on narrowly watching and ventilating this stock, until the 10th of July, when, in spite of my endeavours to keep down the temperature by _merely ventilating_ the thermometer was standing at 112, consequently I concluded that it was high time to lay this prosperous colony under contribution; and in the evening of that day, I took from it a beautifully finished glass of honey, as pure as the crystal stream; its weight was sixteen pounds. I continued ventilating the side-boxes, and placed an empty bell-glass upon the middle one, from which I had just before taken the full one, I then withdrew the dividing-slide, and the Bees immediately entered the glass, and began their works in it, and in four days filled it with comb, and partly filled the cells with honey. On the sixth day after those operations had been performed, a continuance of the former temperature demonstrated to me the necessity of taking away a side-box. I did so, and found its weight to be no less than sixty-five pounds. On removing the box of honey, I replaced it with an empty one; and on drawing up the tin-slide, in order to admit the Bees into the empty box, to my great gratification I found the thermometer standing at 82 in that box, and in the space of five minutes the other collateral-box was under the same agreeable temperature. By this continued ventilation, within the short space of twenty-four hours afterwards, I ascertained the following important fact,--viz.--that no sooner did the Queen-Bee feel the agreeable change that had taken place in the interior of her domicil,