Artificial Increase. 257 



them and greatly vex us — we must crowd some to send the 

 bees into the sections. Such crowding is almost sure to 

 lead to swarming. I have, by uncapping the combs of 

 honey in the brood chamber, as suggested to me by Mr. M. 

 M. Baldridge — causing the honey to run down from the 

 combs — sent the bees crowding to the sections, and thus 

 deferred or prevented swarming. Those who have frames 

 that can be turned upside down or invertible hives, may 

 often secure the same results by simple inversion. By plac- 

 ing our sections in the brood chamber till the bees commence 

 to work on them, and then removing them above, or by car- 

 rying brood up beside the sections, the bees are generally 

 induced to commence working in sections. This requires 

 too much manipulation and so is not practical with the gen- 

 eral bee-keeper. 



It is possible that by extracting freely when storing is 

 very rapid, and then by freely feeding the extracted honey 

 in the interims of honey secretion, we might prevent 

 swarming, secure very rapid breeding, and still get our 

 honey in sections. My experiments in this direction have 

 not been as successful as I had hoped, and I can not recom- 

 mend the practice, though some apiarists claim to have 

 succeeded. Even if this could be made to work it involves 

 too much labor to make it advisable. 



The keeping of colonies queenless, in order to secure 

 honey w^ithout increase, is practiced and advised by some 

 even of our distinguished apiarists. Dr. C. C. Miller's 

 method already described, accomplishes the same object, 

 and keeps all the queens at work all the time. 



ARTIFICIAL INCREASE. 



While, as already remarked, there is no better way than 

 to allow swarming as just described when one's circum- 

 stances makes it possible to do so; yet in some cases the 

 bee-keeper can be with his bees only at certain times — 

 often early in the morning, late in the afternoon, or per- 

 chance at the noontide hour; then of course^artificial divid- 

 ing becomes necessary. It is required to secure any desired 

 increase of colonies, also to prevent loss from swarming 

 when no one is by. This requires more time than swarm- 



