§ VI.] ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 233 



§ VI. ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



Every bee-keeper knows the anxiety he feels in watch- 

 ing and expecting a swarm to come forth, fearful lest 

 his favourites should, " like riches, take wing and fly 

 away " — a mischance that it is desirable to prevent. In 

 our description of natural swarming this will be found 

 fully treated of; we propose here merely to point out 

 how, especially with movable frames, this work of Nature 

 may be assisted. We call it assisted, because artificial 

 swarming should, as nearly as possible, resemble natural 

 swarming ; that is, it ' should be performed at the same 

 time of the year, and when the populous state of the 

 hive makes a division desirable. This is easily known 

 to be the case when bees hang out in clusters at the 

 entrance, wasting their time in enforced idleness instead 

 of being abroad gathering honey. It is also necessary 

 that there should be drones about at the date chosen. 



When such is the state of the hive, the advantages of 

 movable-frame hives are strikingly manifested. With 

 the others the bees will often persist in wasting their 

 time as just stated when a swarm would put all to rights ; 

 while they are often just as awkward the other way and 

 will send out swarm after swarm which the strength of 

 the hive cannot spare and which in themselves are unable 

 to form colonies capable of self-support and of repelling 

 robber bees. The great expenditure of time and labour 

 by the bee-keeper, with the fear that after all the swarm 



