210 THE BEE keeper's MANUAL. 



and the wisdom acquired by numerous failures. After all, 

 what we most need, in order to be successful in the cultiva- 

 tion of bees, is a certain, rather than a rapid multiplication 

 of stocks. It would require but a v*y few years to stock 

 our whole country with bees, if colonies could only be 

 doubled annually ; and an increase of even one third, would 

 before long, give us bees enough. This rate of increase I 

 should always encourage in the swarming season, even if, 

 in the Fall, I reduced my stocks (see Union of Stocks) to 

 the Spring number. In the long run, it will keep the colo- 

 nies in a much more prosperous condition, and secure from 

 them the largest yield of honey. 



I have never myself hesitated to sacrifice one or more 

 colonies, in order to ascertain a single fact, and it would 

 require a separate volume quite as large as this, to detail 

 the various experiments which I have made on the subject 

 of Artificial Swarming. The practical bee-keeper, how- 

 ever, should never, for a moment, lose sight of the impor- 

 tant distinction between an Apiary managed principally for 

 the purposes of experiment and discovery, and one conduct- 

 ed almost exclusively with reference to pecuniary profit. 

 Any bee-keeper can easily experiment with my hives : but 

 I would recommend him to do so, at first, on a small scale, 

 and if profit is his object, to follow the directions furnished 

 in this treatise, until he is sure that he has discovered others 

 which are preferable. These cautions are given to prevent 

 persons from incurring serious losses and disappointments, 

 if they use hives which, if they are not on their guard, may 

 tempt them into rash and unprofitable courses, by allowing so 

 easily of all manner of experiments. Let the practical Apia- 

 rian remember that the less he disturbs the stocks on which he 

 relies for surplus honey, the better. After they are proper- 

 ly lodged in their new hive, they ought by all means to be 



