202 MANAGEMENT IN SWARMING. 



tiplicity of queens, that sometimes a third, and even 

 a fourth, emigration takes place from the mother-hive, 

 the former on the third day after the second, and 

 the latter on the day following. To establish these as 

 separate and independent colonies would be ultimately 

 a loss to the owner, the swarm or cast itself would 

 do little good, and the parent hive would be impover- 

 ished to such a degree as to render it unfit for a 

 winter stock. The third and fourth swarms, there- 

 fore, ought to be restored to their original habitation, 

 taking care previously to search for and seize the 

 Queen or Queens, which in these small swarms is not a 

 difficult operation. If the operator is successful in his 

 search, the bees will return of themselves. Even a 

 second swarm is seldom much worth, unless the prime 

 one has been particularly weak, and would be much 

 more productive to the owner, by its continuance in 

 the parent hive. Our fondness for having our apiaries 

 stocked with a great number of hives is apt to make 

 us overlook the disadvantage of having as we are 

 sure to have by indulging ourselves in this desire 

 puny stock-hives which give much trouble, and cost 

 a great deal more than they are worth ; for in this 

 country, second swarms that come off later than June, 

 seldom do any good, unless they are situated in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of heath, or are transported 

 thither in August or September. He is a wise bee- 

 master, then, who takes but one swarm from each 

 stock ; he may, generally speaking, depend on having 

 stronger swarms, and a greater quantity of honey than 

 he would have procured from double the number of 



