ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 177 



Strange that they have almost unanimously pronounced 

 artificial swarming to be utterly worthless. The experi- 

 ence of Dzierzon on this point has been the same with my 

 own. 



Another method of artificial swarming has been zealous- 

 ly advocated, which, if it could only be made to answer, 

 would be, of all conceivable plans the most effectual, and as 

 it would require the smallest amount of labor, experience, 

 or skill, would be everywhere practiced. A number of 

 hives must be put in connection with each other, so as to 

 communicate by holes which allow the bees to travel from 

 any one apartment to the others. The bees, on this plan, 

 are to colonize themseloes, and it is asserted that in due time, 

 a single swarm will, of its own accord, multiply so as to 

 form a large number of independent families, each one pos- 

 sessing its own Queen, and all living in perfect harmony. 



This method so beautiful and fascinating in theory, has 

 been repeatedly tried with various ingenious modifications, 

 but in every instance, as far as I know, it has proved an en- 

 tire failure. It will always be found if bees are allowed to 

 pass from one hive to another, that they will still, for the 

 most part, confine their breeding operations to a single apart- 

 ment, if it is of the ordinary size, while the others will be 

 used, chiefly for the storing of honey. This is almost inva- 

 riably the case, if the additional room is given by collateral 

 or side boxes, as the Queen seldom enters such apartments 

 for the purpose of breeding. If the new hive is directly 

 lelow that in which the swarm is first lodged, then if the 

 connections are suitable, the Queen will be almost certain to 

 descend and lay her eggs in the new combs, as soon as they 

 are commenced by the bees ; in this case, the upper hive is 

 almost entirely abandoned by her, and the bees store the 

 cells with honey, as fast as the brood is hatched, as their in- 



