FORTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES. 157 



fullest extent, by simply giving abundance of room in 

 every direction; but with comb honey, I do not believe 

 that an abundance of room in the brood-nest is compatible 

 with the largest yield of surplus. 



Or, if I were working for extracted honey, I might at 

 the beginning of the harvest put all the brood over an ex- 

 cluder in an upper story, leaving the queen on empty 

 frames below, but that would hardly work for comb- 

 honey production. 



MANAGEMENT OF SWARMING COLONIES. 



From my first using movable frames, I think I have 

 kept my queens' wings clipped, so my experience in hav- 

 ing natural swarms with flying queens has been very 

 limited. But my experience in having swarms issue 

 where and when I did not want them, has been very large. 

 Only extreme modesty and humility prevents my being 

 very proud of so large an experience. If I should ever 

 reach that point where I shall be equally successful in 

 preventing swarms, I make no promise to be either modest 

 or humble. 



So long as success in prevention of swarms has not 

 been reached, it remains an important matter to know the 

 best thing to do when swarms do issue. Under ordinary 

 circumstances some one must be on hand to watch for 

 swarms. For several years I have had no watching for 

 swarms, and have had no swarms except those which 

 swarmed in spite of my efforts to prevent them. Yet if I 

 had only the one apiary, it is just possible that I might 

 allow swarming, at least so far as to allow the bees to 

 swarm and then return to their old hives. At any rate 

 there are a great many so situated as to allow their bees to 

 go thus far in swarming, and I feel pretty sure that for 

 them there may be some interest in knowing what I did 



