THE COTTAGE AND FARM BEE KEEPER. 39 



more abundant and valuable owing to the superior purity of the honey 

 so obtained. Is it objected to this system of management, that the 

 old hives, by reason of the age and foulness of their combs, will be- 

 come less and less prolific and healthy every year ? I answer, (and 

 the reader will be prepared for my answer from what has been already 

 written,) that every autumn, not later than the end of September, one 

 fourth or one fifth of the combs in each hive, (that is, the lower part 

 only to ihe depth of six or seven inches; for the upper part is 

 rarely used for breeding purposes, and therefore lasts a longer time,) 

 must be cut away, so that all the combs in every breeding hive shall 

 be renewed once in every four or five years. By this means, a stock 

 will maintain itself in perpetual youth ard vigor, so long as straw and 

 binding will hold together. Mr. Taylor, following De G-elieu's practice, 

 advises excision of comb in spring, (February or March,) ; to this I en- 

 tirely object, chiefly because of the weakness of bees at this season, 

 and the extreme hazard attending any such operation at this critical 

 period. It is true, the bees are confined to one part of the hive, and 

 nothing is more easy than to cut away almost any quantity of empty 

 comb — empty, that is, of brood. But these, perhaps, are, (as is gene- 

 rally the case,) the main honey depository of the hive, and possibly the 

 freshest combs, which it is least desirable to remove, and which may 

 have been renovated the year before ; while the combs among which 

 the bees are congregated are full of eggs or brood, and cannot be med- 

 dled with on any account. It is, however, good practice to turn up 

 the hives in February, and cut away any mouldy or moth-eaten comb 

 that may be seen. 



To sum up, I think every one will acknowledge at this point, that 

 the system of bee management advocated in this chapter is superior to 

 most others at present in vogue, on the ground of simplicity and profit.* 

 Its peculiarity consists chiefly in four points, which I conceive have 

 not hitherto been combined in any system. 1st, the perpetual 

 maintenance of a youthful and vigorous race of queen bees ; 2ndly, 

 the entire suppression of all after swarming ; 3rdly, the yearly plunder 

 of the prime swarms, instead of keeping them as winter stock ; 4thly, 

 the preservation of the same stocks, for swarming purposes almost ex- 

 clusively, from year to year. It does seem passing strange, that in 



* See Appendix, Note D. 



