74 HANDY BOOK OF BEES. 



swarms ; we want supers of honeycomb. It is not an in- 

 crease of hives, but a supply of pure honeycomb we are 

 seeking." And the question may be urged whether the 

 swarming or non-swarming system is best for getting 

 most supers of comb 1 At present we could not answer 

 this question with any degree of certainty, for we have 

 not tested it by experiment. And even if fairly tested 

 by actual experiment in one season or locality, the same 

 experiment in another locality or season may produce 

 different results. We are strongly inclined to believe 

 that the swarming system wiU yield more supers and 

 more pure honeycomb than the non-swarming one, if the 

 bee-master understands his work, and sets himself to the 

 task of getting all the supers possible. How would you 

 get supers and swarms too? We would have all our 

 hives weU fiUed with bees in autumn, as already de- 

 scribed. They would be ready to swarm early in May ; 

 but before they were ready to swarm we would put a 

 super to hold 8 or 10 lb. on each. If 'weather per- 

 mitted, and the hives did not swarm, these supers w^ould 

 be filled in about fourteen days. After cutting them off, 

 we would swarm aU the hives artificially, and put the 

 swarms in 16 -inch hives, which is the smallest size 

 we use. The mother or stock hives would be left full 

 of brood, with bees sufficiently numerous to hatch it. 

 On each stock-hive a super would be placed, for every 

 day the population of the hives would be augmented 

 by the brood coming to perfection. Probably no combs 

 would be made in the supers for ten or fourteen 

 days, when second swarms may be expected to issue. 

 When second swarms are thrown off, the better way 

 is to cast them back on the front of the hives whence 

 they came, a few hours afterwards. They creep into 

 their hives, and rarely come a second time. The hives 

 are now full of bees with no brood to attend to. At this 



