206 AUSTRALASIAN 



many stocks as he can well look after, and wishes to keep 

 down increase ; he cannot prevent swarming altogether, and 

 would like to make use of the swarms, but without increasing 

 the number of his colonies. In this, as in most operations 

 connected with bee-keeping, various methods are advocated 

 by different bee-keepers to attain the same end. I have been 

 very successful with the following plan : Hive the swarm in 

 the manner already described, and after cutting out all queen 

 cells from the parent stock, place the hive containing the 

 swarm as a super on the hive it came from. In the course 

 of a day or two examine the hive, and if there are any eggs 

 and larvas in the super, shift the combs containing them below, 

 taking care to provide plenty of room. Should there be a 

 very large quantity of brood in the hive, some of it might be 

 given to other and weaker colonies. When this method is 

 carefully carried out, I find it very rarely fail to have the 

 desired effect. 



DIVIDING. 



Colonies may be increased by dividing at any time during 

 the swarming season, but it should only be attempted with 

 strong ones, and then only during a fair honey flow, such as 

 would be likely to cause them to swarm naturally. If it be 

 intended to increase solely by dividing, then it should be 

 carried out just at the commencement of the main honey 

 harvest, when the colonies are very populous, and just before 

 they make preparations for swarming. If it be desired to double 

 the number of stocks, and there are already young fertile 

 queens in nucleus hives on hand, then the nucleus plan may 

 be adopted as follows : On a fine warm day cage one of the 

 young queens from a nucleus hive, and transfer the frames 

 with the adhering bees to an ordinary hive; hunt up the queen 

 of the hive about to be divided, and place her, with the frame 

 she is on, in an empty hive for the time being, that it may 

 be known where she is. Next move the hive into which the 

 nucleus colony has been placed alongside the one to be divided 

 and lift four of the central frames well supplied with brood 

 and the adhering bees, and hang them alternately with those 

 of the nucleus colony ; also shake the bees from two or three 

 frames into the new hive, and after filling the remaining space 

 with empty combs or comb-foundation, place it in the position 



