ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 209 



but only by giving up all idea of obtaining a single pound of 

 honey. From the first swarm, I must take combs contain- 

 ing maturing brood, to strengthen my wealt. swarms, and this 

 first swarm however powerful or early, instead of being 

 able to store its combs with honey, will be constantly tasked 

 in building new combs to replace those taken away, so that 

 when the honey harvest closes, it will have scarcely any 

 honey, and must be fed to prevent it from starving. Any 

 man who has sense enough to be entrusted with bees, can, 

 from these remarks, understand exactly why it is impossible 

 to multiply colonies rapidly in any one season, and yet ob- 

 tain from them large supplies of honey. Even the doub- 

 ling of stocks in one season, will very often be too rapid an 

 increase, if the greatest quantity of spare honey is to be 

 obtained from them ; and when the largest yield of honey 

 is desired, I much prefer to form, in a way soon to be de- 

 scribed, only one new stock from two old ones ; this will 

 give even more from the three, than could have been ob- 

 tained from the two, on the ordinary non-swarming plan. 



I would very strongly dissuade any but experienced Apia- 

 rians, from attempting at the furthest, to do more than to 

 triple their stocks in one year. In order to furnish direc- 

 tions for very rapid multiplication, sufficiently full and ex- 

 plicit to be of any value to the inexperienced, I should have 

 to write a book on this one topic ; and even then, the most 

 of those who should undertake it, would be sure at first to 

 fail. 



I have no doubt that with ten strong stocks of bees in a 

 good location, in one favorable season, I could so increase 

 them as to have, on the approach of Winter, one hundred good 

 colonies : but I should expect to feed hundreds of pounds of 

 honey, to devote nearly all my time to their management, 

 and to bring to the work, the experience of many years, 

 18* 



