35 
enabled to hold the weight of their swarm, when 
first entering the hive. If made perfectly smooth 
the weight of the swarm will cause them to fall’ 
thereby irritating them, and sometimes causing 
them to leave the hive. The old fashioned chirm 
sy hives, so formed that the honey cannot be taken 
out without destroying the bees, should be forever 
discarded. 
Much has been said of the fittest size of a hive. 
The Self-protecting Hive, as described above, is of 
sufficient size for ordinary purposes. The body 
of the hive contains about 35 pounds of honey 
and the drawers about 20 pounds. The body of 
the hive contains a sufficient quantity to supply 
the largest swarm during winter, and is of the 
most suitable size to produce swarms. In very 
large hives, bees seldom swarm, and if at all, usu- 
ally very late, rendering the swarm of but little 
worth. Some are in favor of very large hives, in 
order to prevent swarming, but such are persons 
usually of but little experience as apiarians. True 
some may keep bees merely out of curiosity, but 
generally the principal object is profit. If, in the 
cultivation of bees, profit is thought of, they 
should be suffered to swarm at least once in each 
season, and be furnished with suitable sized hives 
for that purpose. Many of my hives swarm twice 
and I am very glad to have them do so. Second 
swarms, if obtained by the 10th of June, although 
small at first, soon increase in numbers, fill their 
hive, and make as good stocks for wintering as 
first swarms. 
Nature has designed that bees should swarm. 
“My own experiment,” says Dr. Thatcher, “the 
past summer, affords no encouragement to prose- 
cute the scheme of interrupting the natural swarm- 
mg of bees. Having placed empty hives in con- 
