FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 161 



such a place starts in the spring with 75 colonies, he may 

 get a larger crop by increasing early enough to 150, 

 supposing 150 colonies to be the largest number his 

 field will bear ; but would he not have a still larger crop 

 if he had 150 all through the season and made no in- 

 crease? However that may be, in my locaHty, which 

 bee-keepers generally would consider a poor one, where 

 white clover is the chief if not the only source from 

 which a crop may be expected, and where the harvest is 

 all too short, if, indeed, it comes at all — in such a place 

 I am satisfied that more honey can be harvested 

 by commencing in the spring with the largest number 

 the field will bear and holding at that number, always 

 provided that the means taken to keep down increase 

 shall in no wise interfere with the best work on the part 

 of the bees. 



If I were working for extracted honey, I suppose the 

 matter might be managed, to a great extent, if not to the 

 fullest extent, by simply giving abundance of room in 

 every direction ; but with comb honey, I do not believe 

 that an abundance of room in the brood-nest is compatible 

 with the largest yield of surplus. 



Or, if I were working for extracted honey, I might 

 at the beginning of the harvest put all the brood over 

 an excluder in an upper story, leaving the queen on 

 empty frames below, but that would hardly work for 

 comb-honey production. 



MANAGEMENT OF SWARMING COLONIES. 



s/ 



From my first using movable frames, I think I have 

 kept my queens' wings clipped, so my experience in hav- 

 ing natural swarms with flying queens has been very 

 limited. But my experience in having swarms issue 

 where and when I did not want them, has been very large. 

 Only extreme modesty and humility prevents my being 

 very proud of so large an experience. If I should ever 

 reach that point where I shall be equally successful in 



