202 
MANAGEMENT IN SWARMING. 
tiplicity of queens, that sometimes a third, and even 
a fourtl), emigration takes place from the mother-hive, 
— the former on the third day after the second, and 
the latter on the day following. To establish these as 
separate and independent colonies would be ultimately 
a loss to the ow ner, — the swarm or cast itself would 
do little good, and the parent hive would be impover- 
ished to such a degree as to render it unfit for a 
winter stock. The third and fourth swarms, there- 
fore, ought to he restored to their original habitation, 
taking care previously to search for and seiee the 
Queen or Queens, which in these small swarms is not a 
difficult operation. If the operator is successful in his 
search, the bees will return of themselves. Even a 
second swarm is seldom much worth, unless the prime 
one has been particularly weak, and would be much 
more productive to the owner, by its continuance in 
the parent hive. Our fondness for having our apiaries 
stocked with a great number of hives is apt to make 
us overlook the disadvantage of having — as we are 
sure to have by indulging ourselves in this desire — 
puny stock -hives which give much trouble, and cost 
a great deal more than they are worth ; for in this 
country, second swarms that come off later than June, 
seldom do any good, unless they are situated in the 
immediate neighbourhood of heath, or arc transported 
thither in August or September. He is a wise bee- 
master, then, who takes but one swarm from each 
stock ; he may, generally speaking, depend on having 
stronger swarms, and a greater quantity of honey than 
he w ould have procured from double the number of 
