STOCKING AN APIARY 25 



and it takes a six-pound lot, which sometimes 

 means the contents of three skeps, to make a good 

 colony for a frame hive. These bees are placed 

 in a hive containing about six frames of founda- 

 tion, or preferably of empty combs, and fed up 

 rapidly with good syrup, when usually they will 

 turn out a good' colony in the spring. This 

 method of founding colonies is not advocated 

 unless the bees can be had for nothing or for a 

 small consideration. This is only possible when 

 skeps are personally driven, when the rule is that 

 the driver takes the bees for a trifling acknow- 

 ledgment and the skeppist takes the honey. This 

 done, stocks may be made up cheaply, but when 

 the bees have to be bought, along with comb 

 foundation and sufficient sugar to feed them up for 

 wintering, the total cost comes perilously near 

 that of a prime swarm. Now a May swarm, nine 

 times out of ten, will give a surplus, but "driven " 

 bees cannot possibly give any return before the 

 following season. Thus a season's working is lost ; 

 wintering risks have to be faced with bees which, 

 be they ever so good, are rarely up to the stamina 

 of a swarm for facing its rigours. Driven bees 

 do not transmit disease. 



To summarize, it may be said that, putting aside 

 the proviso regarding gratuitous " driven " bees, 

 the choice should lie between stocks and swarms, 

 with- stocks for preference if properly bought, but 

 for untutored hands swarms, and nothing but 

 swarms. 



