ARTIFICIAL SWARMINO. 177 



tion they could obtain, never destroying any of their colo- 

 nies, and endeavoring to multiply them to the best of their 

 ability, who yet have not as many stocks as they had ten 

 years ago. Most of them would abandon the pursuit, if 

 they looked upon bee-keeping simply in the light of dollars 

 and cents, rather than as a source of pleasant recreation ; 

 and some do not hesitate to say that much more money has 

 been spent, by the mass of those who have used patent 

 hives, than they have ever realized from iheir bees. 



It is a very simple matter to make calculations on paper, 

 which shall seem to point out a road to wealth, almost as 

 flattering, as a tour to the gold mines of Australia or Califor- 

 nia. Only purchase a patent bee-hive, and if it fulfills all or 

 even a part of the promises of its sanguine inventor, a for- 

 tune must, in the course of a few years, be certainly realized ; 

 but such are the disappointments resulting from the bees re- 

 fusing often to swarm at all, that if the hive could remedy 

 all the other difficulties in the way of bee-keeping, it would 

 still fail to answer the reasonable wishes of the experienced 

 Apiarian. If every swarm of bees could be made to yield 

 a profit of 20 dollars a year, and if the Apiarian could be 

 sure of selling his new swarms at the most extravagant 

 prices, he could not, like the growers of mulberry trees, or 

 the breeders of fancy fowls, multiply his stocks so as to 

 meet the demand, however extensive ; but would be en- 

 tirely dependent upon the whims and caprices of his bees ; 

 or rather, upon the natural laws which control their swarm- 

 ing. 



Every practical bee-keeper is well aware of the utter 

 uncertainty of natural swarming. Under no circumstances, 

 can its occurrence be confidently relied on. While some 

 stocks swarm regularly and repeatedly, others, strong in 

 numbers and rich in stores, although the season may, in all 



