238 ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



In the first edition of this work, in speaking of the Queen 

 Nursery, I remarked as follows : " I have not yet tested this 

 plan so thoroughly as to be certain that it will succeed ; and I 

 know so well, the innmense difference between theoretical 

 conjectures and practical results, that I consider nothing in 

 the bee line, or indeed in any other, as established, until it 

 has been submitted to the most rigorous demonstration, and 

 has triumphantly passed from the mere regions of the brain, to 

 those of actual fact. A theory on any subject may seem so 

 plausible as almost to amount to positive demonstration, and 

 yet when put to the working test, may be encumbered by 

 some unforeseen difficulty, which speedily convinces even its 

 sanguine projector, that it has no practical value. Nine 

 things out of ten, may work to a charm, and yet the tenth 

 may be so connected with the other nine, that its failure 

 renders their success of no account. When I first used this 

 Nursery, I did not give the bees access to it, and I found that 

 the queens were not properly developed, and died in their 

 cells. Perhaps they did not receive sufficient warmth, or 

 were not treated in some other important respects, as they 

 would have been, if left under the care of the bees. 

 Ill the multiplicity of my experiments, 1 did not repeat this 

 one under a sufficient variety of circumstances, to ascertain 

 the precise cause of failure ; nor have I as yet, tried whether 

 it will answer perfectly, by admitting the bees to the queen 

 cells." 



Since writing the above, I have found that this Nursery 

 answers perfectly the end designed, by giving the workers 

 access to the young queens. Where rapid multiplication, 

 however, is attempted, the nucleus system will ordinarily be 

 found the best, for securing a sufficient number of young 

 queens. If the Apiarian pursues the common swarming 

 plan, he will often find it to his advantage, when hiving after- 



