Artificial Increase. 257 
them and greatly vex us—we must crowd some to send the 
bees into the sections. Such crowding is almost sure to 
lead to swarming. I have, by uncapping the combs of 
honey in the brood chamber, as suggested to me by Mr. M. 
M. Baldridge—causing the honey to run down from the 
combs—sent the bees crowding to the sections, and thus 
deferred or prevented swarming. Those who have frames 
that can be turned upside down or invertible hives, may 
often secure the same results by simple inversion. By plac- 
ing our sections in the brood chamber till the bees commence 
to work on them, and then removing them above, or by car- 
rying brood up beside the sections, the bees are generally 
induced to commence working in sections. This requires 
too much manipulation and so is not practical with the gen- 
eral bee-keeper. 
It is possible that by extracting freely when storing is 
very rapid, and then by freely feeding the extracted honey 
in the interims of honey secretion, we might prevent 
swarming, secure very rapid breeding, and still get our 
honey in sections. My experiments in this direction have 
not been as successful as I had hoped, and I can not recom- 
mend the practice, though some apiarists claim to have 
succeeded. Even if this could be made to work it involves 
too much labor to make it advisable. 
The keeping of colonies queenless, in order to secure 
honey without increase, is practiced and advised by some 
even of our distinguished apiarists. Dr. C. C. Miller’s 
method already described, accomplishes the same object, 
and keeps all the queens at work all the time. 
ARTIFICIAL INCREASE. 
While, as already remarked, there is no better way than 
to allow swarming as just described when one’s circum- 
stances makes it possible to do so; yet in some cases the 
bee-keeper can be with his bees only at certain times— 
often early in the morning, late in the afternoon, or per- 
chance at the noontide hour; then of courseartificial divid- 
ing becomes necessary. It is required to secure any desired 
increase of colonies, also to prevent loss from swarming 
when no one is by. This requires more time than swarm- 
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