302 THE BEE keeper's MANUAL. 



screwed down to their place, keeping them however, a 

 trifle less than an eighth of an inch from the,entrance, so as 

 to give the bees all the air which they need. I very much 

 prefer sending a box for the bees : one person can easily 

 carry two such boxes, each with a swarm of bees ; and if 

 he chooses to fasten them to two poles, or to a very large 

 hoop, he may carry four, or even more. 



If the Apiarian wishes, to be sure the first season, of 

 getting some honey from his bees, he will do well to procure 

 two good swarms, and put them both into one hive. (See 

 p. 213.) To those who do not object to the extra expense, 

 I strongly recommend this course. Not unfrequently, they 

 will in a good season, obtain in spare honey from their 

 doubled swarm, an ample equivalent for its increased cost : 

 at all events, such a powerful swarm lays the foundations 

 of a flourishing stock, which seldom fails to answer all the 

 reasonable expectations of its owner. If the Apiary is 

 commenced with swarms of the current season, and they 

 have an abundance of spare room in the upper boxes, there 

 will be no swarming, that season, and the beginner will 

 have ample time to make himself familiar with his bees, 

 before being called to hive new.swarms, or to multiply col- 

 X)nies by artificial means. 



Let no inexperienced person commence bee-keeping on a 

 large scale ; very few who do so, find it to their advantage, 

 and the most of them not only meet with heavy losses, but 

 abandon the pursuit' in disgust, By the use of my hives, 

 the bee-keeper can easily multiply very rapidly, the number 

 of his colonies, as soon as he finds, not merely that money 

 can be made by keeping bees, but that he can make it. 

 While I am certain that more money can be made by a 

 careful and experienced bee-keeper in a good situation, 

 from a given sum invested in an Apiary, than from the 



