HOW TO KEEP BEES. 41 



have settled down to work again the guard should be removed. The 

 drones are kept out so as to avoid one disturbing element (as they 

 are such when confined), and also to keep them from choking the 

 entrance in their efforts to get out while the guard is on. 



Forced swarming is profitably followed when treating colonies 

 afflicted with any of the contagious diseases, except that the ccmbs 

 taken away are not later shaken before the "swarm" for if they were, 

 re-infection would be certain. 



INCREASE. 



If increase is not desired, the brood and remaining bees left by a 

 swarm are united with some other colony after removing its queen or 

 after destroying the queen cells in the hive the swarm left. If in- 

 increase is desired, the old hive, now much reduced in numbers and 

 witkout a queen, is placed on a new stand and looked at in about a 

 fortnight to three weeks to see if the young queen is laying. With a 

 good young queen it will soon become strong. 



ARTIFICIAL INCREASE. 



Colonies of bees may be divided into two or more parts, the old 

 queen left with the part on the old stand and a new queen given to 

 the other part. The hives are filled out with combs or frames con- 

 taining full sheets of foundation and the bees allowed to build up. 

 This form of increase is excellent, but needs to be done with caution. 

 It is best done during a good honey flow, but done then it puts an end 

 to hope of surplus from the colonies treated. 



Another excellent way to increase, but a little more laborious, is 

 to take a frame of brood with adhering bees from each of five or six 

 colonies, put them together in one hive, fill out the empty space 

 with combs or frames of foundation, and introduce a queen. If 

 seven or eight frames of brood are taken this method may be used as 

 late as the middle of September, but as a rule it is not wise to divide 

 colonies after the middle of July. An expert may safely do it later 

 but the beginner had better not try it. Indiscriminate division is 



