bee-keeper's manual. 133 



second, third and fourth seasons passed away, and A's 

 " rouser" had not made its appearance, and not a bee 

 more could be discovered in the hive, at the end of that 

 period, than he had at the commencement. 



Now for B and his family, B expected one or two 

 good swarmg from his little 5 by 7 box, but he found the 

 young bees produced in this hive were few, compara- 

 tively, in numbers, and when every other family on his 

 premises had thrown off very large swarms, and some 

 ten ^i^s beyond this period had past, a little weak, 

 sick^TOoking swarm did issue from this small hive, and 

 B was sent for in great haste. After he had surveyed 

 it for a moment, said he ; " You can go. I'm not going 

 to fuss with another goose-egg swarm, and feed it, to 

 get it through the winter." He suffered the bees to 

 perish on the branch where they clustered. 



Year after year past, and B derived no manner of 



Jjtvantage from his little hive. It seldom swarmed, and 



^when it did throw one off, it was very late in the season, 



and the swarms were so small, that they were seldom 



hived. 



The result of the foregoing imaginary cases, is pre- 

 cisely what would be the consequences, of such a course 

 of actual management. The swarm in A's hive could 

 not, with all its natural increase, so fill the hive in the 

 spring, as to be able to spare a single bee, since it is an 

 invariable principle of the bee, to never suffer emigra- 

 tion, while an inch of their domicil remains unfilled with 

 combs, and unfilled with bees. Let this remark be 

 deeply impressed on your minds, ye who know it not, 



