176 FIt'TY tEAKS AMONG THE BEES 



onies, or where^-el■ it will do the most good. In no ease, how- 

 ever, \\'oukl it be a pi'udent thing in tliis locality to follow the 

 recommendation of some, by putting the brood on a new stand 

 without any bees, trnstiBg to the wai'uith of the weather to 

 hatch out young bees fast enough to care for the brood. It 

 such a colony — if you can call it a colony — should not fall a 

 prey to the I'obbers, there woixld in most cases be a serious loss 

 of brood from starvation and chilling. 



Fifj. 56 — Queen-extluder. 



NO FOKCED SWARMING TILL QUEEIv'-CELI>S ST.^RTED, 



Tn no case did I practice this forced su'ariuing till I found 

 by the presence of queen-cells that the bees Avere thiid^ing of 

 swarjning. There would be less labor in tlie long rim (sujjpos- 

 ing that all were to be swarmed sooner or later), to do up the 

 AS'hole business at a suitable time, Avithout waiting for the bees 

 to take the initiative. Indeed, conditions may be such in some 

 localities that there might be a loss to wait for queen-cells. 



But the harvests here are such that it is usually better to 

 have swarming delayed. Moreover, a good many of my colo- 

 nies, if let alone, will go through the entire season without at- 



