ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 153 



colonies are made, with a fair prospect of having fer- 

 tile queens in from twenty to twenty-six days from 

 the date of the first division. The time should be 

 noted carefully, and if at the end of twenty-two to 

 twenty-five days no eggs are found in the cells, the 

 presumption is that some accident has happened the 

 queen. Now open a hive which you know has a fer- 

 tile queen, take out a comb containing brood just 

 emerging from the cells, and also having some eggs 

 or young larva ; the young bees will serve to strength- 

 en up the colony, and the eggs will enable them 

 to rear a queen in case the previous one is lost. 

 All new colonies should be carefully examined every 

 few days, until they have a fertile queen; this is 

 known by the eggs found in the combs. In making 

 divisions, empty frames should be put in the hive 

 from time to time, as the building of combs pro- 

 gresses, until the hives are full. 



ANOTHER METHOD OF MAKING ARTIFICIAL SWARMS. 



When stocks of bees are not so strong and vigor- 

 ous as to be divided in equal parts in the manner 

 before described, and the apiarian is still desirous to 

 increase his stocks without reducing any one to a 

 weak condition, it may be done very safely in the 

 following manner : Have a supply of embryo 

 queens, as already described; have your hive in 

 readiness; take one or two frames of comb from 

 each hive containing a proportion of honey, pollen, 

 brood, &c. examining each comb very carefully lest 

 the queen should be removed. In this way a new 



