ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 145 



several swarms rise at once, and cluster together ; and not 

 unfrequently, in the noise and confusion, other swarms fly 

 off, and are lost. I have seen the bee-master, under such 

 circumstances, so perplexed and exhausted as to be almost 

 ready to wish he had never seen a bee. 



3. The multiplying of bees by natural swarming, must, 

 in our country, almost entirely prevent the establishment 

 of large Apiaries. 



The swarming season is, with most bee-keepers, the 

 busiest part of the year, and if they keep a large number 

 of warming-hives, they must devote nearly all their time, 

 for a number of weeks, to their supervision ; and at a 

 season when labor commands the highest price, they may 

 also be obliged to hire additional assistance. 



To keep a few colonies in swarming-hives, often costs 

 more than they are worth, while the supervision of a large 

 number can be made profitable, only by those who can de- 

 vote nearly all the Summer months to their bees. The 

 number of such persons, in this country, must be very 

 small ; and hence there are few who have succeeded in 

 making bee-keeping anything more than a subordinate 

 pursuit. 



4. A serious objection to natural swarming, is the dis- 

 couraging fact that bees often refuse to swarm at all ; thus 

 the Apiarian finds it impossible to multiply his colonies 

 with any certainty or rapidity, even although he may be 

 favorably situated for conducting bee-culture on an exten- 

 sive scale. 



Many of the most careful bee-keepers have fewer stocks 

 than they had years ago, although they have sought to 

 increase them to the extent of their power. Few in- 

 telligent Apiarians believe that there are half as many 

 colonies in our Northern and Middle States, as there were 

 twenty years ago ; and most of them Avould abandon bee- 

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