96 ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. 



ensue both parts will often be deficient in numbers and stores for 

 winter; whereas, bad the stock been left until it could have 

 spared a swarm, both would be prepared for winter, beside 

 yielding ample returns in surplus honey as the reward of proper 

 management. There will sometimes be a season when these 

 conditions will not occur in all the stocks in the apiary. Such 

 stocks should not be swarmed that season. The only safeguard 

 against poor seasons is strong stocks, for they will work while 

 others are idle. 



3d. The value of any method depends, in a great measure 

 upon the certainty of, and the time required for, supplying the 

 queenless part with a fertile queen. Yet, the method any one 

 should adopt, or whether he should allow his bees to swarm once 

 naturally, will depend much upon his desire for increase of stocks, 

 and the number of colonies or apiaries he may wish to manage. 

 Hence, we shall describe several methods, contrasting their 

 advantages and disadvantages with natural swarming. The 

 practice of multiplying colonies by artificial means, has the fol- 

 lowing advantages over natural swarming: 



1st. The trouble and risk of swarms issuing when the bee- 

 keeper is absent, or several issuing about the same time and 

 clustering together or leaving for the woods, is avoided. 



2d. As soon as the stocks are in proper condition they may 

 all be swarmed when most convenient and you are certain of the 

 increase; but in natural swarming, only a few days of bad 

 weather will frequently cause the queen cells to be destroyed and 

 swarming to be postponed for weeks and often till the next 

 season. 



