CHAPTER XVII. 



COLONIZING. 



COLONIZING, or propagating bees by dividing or 

 removing a part of the contents of one hive and 

 placing them in another, (known as the dividing or 

 nuclei system) has long been known, arid to some 

 extent practiced, both in Europe and the United 

 States. But owing to the bad success attendant on 

 the practice, its use has in most cases been aban- 

 doned, and forced swarming substituted in its stead. 



This has been the result of a want of information, 

 there being no well denned instruction given in any 

 of the works on bees with which I am acquainted, 

 either how the thing should be done, or the results of 

 the different modes of management. This indicates 

 that it has not been well understood, even by profes- 

 sional apiarists. 



In this fast age, when men need but to be sure 

 that a certain thing has been successfully done, before 

 they rush into it, without stopping to inquire how it 

 is done, it is not strange that failure, general failure 



