ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 215 



so situated as to wish to increase their bees quite rapidly, 

 I shall give such methods as from numerous experiments, 

 many of them conducted on a large scaler, I have found to 

 be the best. I wish it however to be most distinctly under- 

 stood, that 1 do not consider very rapid multiplication as 

 likely to succeed, except in the hands of skillful Apiarians ; 

 and under ordinary circumstances it requires too much time, 

 care and honey, to be of very great practical value. Its 

 chief merit consists in the short time which it requires to 

 build up an Apiary. After trying my mode of management 

 tor a few seasons, a bee-keeper may find out, that he is in 

 all respects, favorably situated for taking care of a large 

 slock of bees. Suppose him to have acquired both skill and 

 confidence, and that he has ten powerful colonies. If he is 

 willing to do without surplus honey for one season, and the 

 honey-harvest should be very productive, he may without feed- 

 ing, and without very much labor, safely increase his ten col- 

 onies to thirty. If he chooses to feed largely, he may possi- 

 hly end the season with fifty or sixty, or even more ; but 

 he will prohablp end it in such a manner as most thoroughly 

 to disgust him with his folly, and to teach him that in bee- 

 keeping, as well as in other things, " Haste makes waste." 



On the supposition that by the time the fruit-trees are in 

 blossom, the Apiarian has, in hives of my construction, ten 

 powerful colonies, let him select four of the strongest, and 

 make from each a forced swarm. He will now have four 

 queenless colonies, which will at once, proceed to supply 

 themselves with a young queen. In about ten days, he may 

 make from his other six slocks, six more forced swarms. 

 He will probably find in making these, many sealed 

 queens, if he has delayed the operation until about swarming 

 time ; so that he may give to each of the six stocks from 

 which he has e.xpelled a swarm, the means of soon obtain- 



