178 THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 



"With the movable-comb hives, the death of the bees 

 may be prevented, and all the feeble colonies made strong 

 and powerful ; but only by abandoning the idea of obtain- 

 ing a single pound of surplus honey. From the parent- 

 stock, and first swarm, combs containing maturing brood 

 must be taken to strengthen the weak swarms, and instead 

 of being able to store their combs with honey, they will 

 be constantly tasked in replacing those taken away, so 

 that when the honey-harvest closes, they must be fed to 

 save them from starving. 



Any one intelligent enough to keep bees, can, from 

 these remarks, understand exactly why colonies cannot be 

 rapidly multiplied, in ordinary seasons, and yet be made to 

 yield large supplies of surplus honey.* Even the doubling 

 of stocks will often be too rapid an increase for the 

 greatest yield of spare honey. 



I would strongly dissuade any but the most experienced 

 Apiarians, from attempting, at the furthest, to do more 

 than treble their stocks in one year. Another book would 

 be needed, to furnish directions for rapid multiplication, 

 sufficiently full and explicit for the inexperienced; and 

 even then, most who should undertake it, would be 

 sure, at first, to fail. With ten strong stocks of bees, in 

 movable-comb hives, in one propitious season, I could so 

 increase them, in a favorable location, as to have, on the 

 approach of Winter, one hundred good colonies ; but I 

 should expect to purchase hundreds of pounds of honey, 

 devoting nearly all my time to their management, and 

 bringing to the work the experience of many years, and 

 the judgment acquired by numerous lamentable failures.* 



* In one season, being called from home after my colonies had been greatly mul- 

 tiplied, the honey-harvest was suddenly cut short by a drought, and I found, on 

 my return, that most of my stocks were ruined. The bees, not having been 

 fed, had gone into the groceries, and perished by hundreds of thousands. 



