238 AETIFICIAL S WARMING. 



CHAPTER VII. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



469. Every practical bee-keeper is aware of the uncer- 

 tainty of natural swarming (406). Under no circumstan- 

 ces, can it be eonfldently relied on. While some colonies 

 swarm repeatedly, others, apparently as strong in numbers, 

 and rich in stores, refuse to swarm, even in seasons in all 

 respects highly propitious. Such colonies, on examination, 

 will often be found to liave taken no steps for raising young 

 queens. Besides, it frequently happens that, when all the 

 preparations have been made for swarming, the weather 

 proves so inclement that the young queens approach 

 maturity before the old ones can leave, and are all destroyed. 

 Under such circumstances, swarming, for that season, is 

 almost certain to be prevented. The young queens are also 

 sometimes destroyed, because of some sudden, and perhaps 

 only temporary, suspension of the honey-harvest ; for bees 

 seldom colonize, even if all their preparations are completed, 

 unless the blossoms are yielding an abundant supply of 

 honey. 



The numerous perplexities pertaining to natural swarm- 

 ing, have, for ages, directed the attention of cultivators to 

 the importance of devising some more reliable method for 

 increasing the number of their colonies. 



Dr. Scudamore quotes Columella as giving directions for 

 making artificial swarms. Although he taught how to fur- 

 nish a queen to a destitute colony, and how to transfer 

 brood-comb, with maturing bees, from a strong stock to a 

 weak one, he does not appear to have formed entirely new 

 colonies by any artificial process. His treatise on bee-keep- 



