246 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



of sealed brood, some of it just emerging, and then closing the 

 hive bee-tight put it where there is no danger of the brood being 

 chilled. One way to do this is to put it over a strong colony, 

 wire cloMi pi'e\'('iitina tlie |iass:ii;c' of tlic liec^s froii\ one hi\'e io 

 the other. At the end of five days the hive can be set on its 

 own stand, and these five-day-old bees, under the stress of ne- 

 cessity, will soon be seen carrying in pollen. 



Fig. 89. — Conih for Queen Cells. Trimmed. 



ARTIFICIAL INCREASE. 



Fighting so bitterly against all increase by swarming, I 

 would run out of bees entirely if I did not resort to artificial 

 increase. Without pretending to give all the ways by which in- 

 crease has been made, I may tell just a little about it. 



One can make increase by drawing brood or bees, or both, 

 from colonies that are working for honey, and thus keep all the 

 old colonies storing, and at the same time make the desired in- 

 crease. In that way the largest number of colonies possible are 

 kept at work on the harvest, and one might have a feeling that 

 all the increase was clear gain. But the feeling is a delusive 

 one. It is not the number of colonies at work storing, but the 



