ARTIFICIAL INCREASE—PREVENTION OF SWARMING. 101 
bees, which will soon become flight bees, in the hive on the old stand. 
This may be done by shaking or brushing nearly all of the bees from 
the combs of the hive to be divided, or, if the latter 1s a box hive, the 
Swarm may be driven into an empty box, as described under ‘ Trans- 
ferring,” in Chapter VII, and then hived as an ordinary swarm, the 
parent colony receiving also the same treatment as described under 
“ Natural swarming.” 
THE NUCLEUS SYSTEM. 
Perhaps the safest plan, considering that the yield, even when one is 
acquainted with the flora, can not be foretold, is to follow the plan of 
making nuclei, and, as soon as these have laying queens, building them 
up gradually to full colonies by adding frames of brood, frames filled 
with worker comb, or with comb foundation, or merely starters, as may 
seem best. This system, besides being safe, has certain other advan- 
tages. It leaves the parent hives strong for the working season, yet 
tends to discourage swarming, because whenever colonies become over- 
crowded, and before they have contracted the swarming fever, one or 
more brood combs are removed and the colony is thus induced to con- 
tinue work in the brood chamber to fill the empty space, while, of course, 
they are kept supplied with plenty of storage room above for surplus 
honey. Furthermore, it is easy to exchange the young queen of the 
nucleus, aS soon as she commences laying, with the queen of the full 
colony. If the nucieus has been started early, the full colony will thus 
secure a queen of the current season’s raising sufficiently early to 
reduce greatly the probability of its wanting to swarm that year, even 
though permitted to get very strong, as it is almost certain to do under 
such circumstances. These nuclei build straight combs and may be 
relied on to build, even without foundation, worker comb only. 
On the whole, a rational method of artificial increase is preferable to 
natural swarming; but experience and judgment in carrying it out are 
required to make it advantageous. It should be cautiously undertaken 
by the beginner, and the main reliance placed upon natural swarming 
until the bee keeper is familiar with the bees’ way. 
PREVENTION OF SWARMING. 
The most commonly practiced and easily applied preventive measure 
is that of giving abundant room for storage of honey. This to be 
effective should be given early in the season, before the bees get fairly 
into the swarming notion, and the honey should be removed frequently, 
unless additional empty combs can be given in the case of colonies 
managed for extracted honey, while those storing in sections should be 
given additional supers before those already on are completed. With 
colonies run for comb honey it is not so easy to keep down swarming as 
in those run for extracted honey and kept supplied with empty comb. 
Free ventilation and shading of the hives as soon as warm days come 
will also tend toward prevention. Opening the hives once or twice 
So 
