not be apt to purposely make it, conse- 

 quently what you have will be from 

 natural swarming. By the way, I am 

 not sure, all tilings considered, that the 

 last named kind of increase is not the 

 most preferable in any case. 



I have practiced artificial increase in 

 many different forms, and the following 

 has proved the most successful in all 

 kinds of seasons, and with all sorts of 

 locations and bee-keepers, so far as I 

 have been able to find out. Just before 

 swarming time, induce your choicest 

 blooded colonies to prepare to swarm 

 naturally. This is done by seeing that 

 fresh food is not neglected at any time, 

 and by the addition of brood from other 

 good colonies, and by heat and crowding. 



This method will give you a lot of 

 just such cells as you wish to procure 

 queens from. Watch developments, 

 and as you find cells ready (you may let 

 the cell-rearing colonies notify you by 

 swarming), divide your foremost colo- 

 nies as follows : Remove all the. top from 

 your hive and place thereon the cap or 

 a box, and drum the bees up into the 

 same. When about one-half have gone 

 up (the queen will be almost sure to be 

 with them) set your box aside with its 

 bees, then remove the old hive to the 

 new stand, putting the new one (just 

 like it) in its place, and run in the bees. 

 Number each hive alike. You can look 

 for the queen as you run them in, or not, 

 as you please ; as stated above, she will 

 nearly always be there ; but when she 

 is not, the bees will soon notify you by 

 "running," when you go to the old 

 hive (now removed), and you can quite 

 easily pick her out and put her where 

 she belongs. 



How to Prevent After-Swarms. 



Modify the above process in this way : 

 Instead of carrying the old hive away, 

 face it the other way, and set it close by 

 the new hive on the old stand. Every 

 day after, turn it one-fifth the way back 

 facing the old direction, and on the sixth 

 day carry it away to a new stand. What 

 few bees were flying again from the old 

 hive are now added to the new colony, 

 so what the old colony loses the new one 

 gains. The old hive is to have one of 

 the aforesaid queen-cells on the day of 

 the division, just at night. Divide only 

 when the bees are flying to the fields 

 freely, and not later than 3 o'clock p. m. 



The above method of artificial in- 

 crease can be made to work with box 

 hives just as well as any, and from box 

 to frame hives, by throwing a piece of 

 carpeting over the old hive before, and 

 over the new hive after dividing, to 

 make the deception complete. 



The plan given to prevent after- 

 swarms works just as well with natural 



223 



swarming as with artificial. It is not 

 always a sure preventive, but there are 

 hardly more exceptions than are re- 

 quired to prove a rule. 



You see there is no removing frames 

 to be done, consequently your work is 

 straightforward and rapid. I know by 

 experience that the plan works well, 

 and I can see no good reason why it 

 should not. The conditions are as near 

 like those of natural swarming as well 

 can be. With or without foundation, I 

 will never put one frame of comb (with 

 or without honey and brood) between 

 empty ones, nor will I put one empty 

 frame between full ones, unless the lat- 

 ter are chock-full of brood. 



In the above hasty description of my 

 favorite method of artificial increase (I 

 do not use any now but the natural, 

 which is forced upon me by the instinct 

 of the bees and the flow of honey), I 

 have no doubt omitted some points, and 

 I know I have left out the minutiae, ex- 

 pecting that most readers of the Bee 

 Journal have experience enough to 

 supply the details. 



Nowthat I am out of the supply trade 

 for this season, next month I will tell 

 you what I know about " Supply Deal- 

 ing." 



A Card. 



I take this occasion to return thanks 

 to the writers of the several congratu- 

 latory letters I have received in refer- 

 ence to my article of last month, and 

 the cause it advocates. While poor 

 health and many cares prevent me from 

 answering each separately, I feel most 

 forcibly their great help to our cause, 

 and the grand growth of good sense 

 among the many honey producers who 

 read the American Bee Journal. 



Dowagiac, Mich., April 10, 1880. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Wintering of Bees. 



L. H. I'AMMEL. 



We have just passed a trying winter 

 for bees, on account of the great changes 

 in temperature. It is a question of in- 

 terest to many, how to winter bees suc- 

 cessfully. We can hardly find two bee- 

 keepers who agree on this subject ; some 

 prefer wintering them in a cellar ; oth- 

 ers in a bee-house ; and still others on 

 the summer stands. 



My experience gives me unbounded 

 faith in wintering on summer stands. 

 The bees will remain clean, and will not 

 besmear their combs and hives, which 

 always results in loss of colonies. I had 

 a case of that kind during the past win- 

 ter. I wintered some in a house, and 



