SWARMING AND NON-SWARMING SYSTEMS. 75 



time tlie bees generally gather a great denl of honey, and 

 will fill supers, weather permitting. We know an experi- 

 enced apiarian who thus obtains supers from hives not 

 weakened by throwing off second swarms. In about 

 three weeks from the time the first swarms were hived, 

 they wiU be nearly fuU of combs, and ready for supering, 

 if the weather has been favourable. They should have 

 supers placed on them before they are quite full. With 

 brood coming to perfection every day, these young swarms 

 wiU not be long in filling supers from the fields of white 

 clover, now at their best. Here we see the hkelihood of 

 having three supers of combs from one hive managed on 

 the swarming system. With two strong hives in the 

 middle of July, there is stiU left the probability, if not 

 the certainty, of getting a super of honey from each of 

 them before the season closes. In favourable seasons all 

 this may be done under good management. Then there- 

 will remain a hive of honey for further profit, the bees 

 of which will be united to the other, to be kept for 

 stock ; and this will be incomparably better for keeping 

 than one that has never swarmed at all. 



The great difficulty in obtaining supers of comb is the 

 tendency of the bees to swarm ; and this difficulty is 

 greater by haK in the non-swarming system of manage- 

 ment — for it is as natural for bees to swarm once a-year 

 as it is for birds to build their nests. In the hands of 

 inexperienced people, hives that have received supers 

 often swarm before a bit of 3omb is built in them. 



In certain seasons it is well known that a great deal of 

 pure honeycomb has been yielded by hives managed on 

 the non-swarming mode. In 1863, Mr George Fox of 

 Kingsbridge, Devonshire, got from two hives two glass 

 boxes (or supers) of pure honeycomb, weighing respect- 

 ively 109J lb. and 112 lb., their gross weights being 123 

 lb. and 126 lb., the empty boxes being 14 lb. each. These 



