198 THE HIVE AND HONET-BEE. 



two whole weeks, they adhered ^o . their forlorn hope ; 

 until at last, when they had dwindled to less than one 

 half of then- original number, their new queen emerged, but 

 mth whigs so imperfect thslt she could not fly. Crippled 

 as she was, they,, treated her with almost as much respect 

 as though she were fertile. In the course of a week 

 more, scarce a dozen workers remained in the hive, and a 

 few days later, the queen was gtoe, and only a few dis- 

 consolate wretches were left on the comb. 



Shame on the famt-hearted of our race, who, when 

 overtaken by calamity, instead of nobly breasting the 

 stormy waters of affliction, meanly resign themselves to an 

 ignoble fate, and perish, where they ought to have Uved 

 and triumphed ! and double shame upon those who, living 

 in a Christian land, thus " faint in the day of adversity," 

 when if they would only believe the word of God, they 

 might behold, with the eye of faith, his " bow of promise" 

 spanning the stiU stormy clouds, and hear his voice of 

 love bidding them trust in Him as a " Strong Deliverer !" 



In the previous editions of this work, with other 

 methods of artificial swarming, very foil directions were- 

 furnished for increasing colonies, by giving to the nuclei 

 a second comb with maturing brood, as soon as their 

 queens began to lay eggs, and then, at proper intervals, a 

 third, and a fourth, imtil they were strong enough to take 

 care of themselves. This mode of increase is laborious, 

 and requires skill and judgment which few possess : it is 

 also peculiarly liaible to cause robbing among the bees, 

 requu-ing the hives to be too frequently opened, to remove 

 the combs needed in the various j)rocesses. As a number 

 of nuclei are to be simultaneously strengthened, the 

 Apiarian cannot complete his artificial processes by a 

 single operation, and must always be on hand, or incur 

 the i-isk of ending the season with a number of starving 



