152 
THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 
a single swarm, of its own accord, will form a large num- 
ber of independent families, each possessing its own queen, 
and all living in perfect harmony. 
This method, so fascinating in theory, though repeat- 
edly tried with various ingenious modifications, has in 
every instance proved an entire failure. If the bees are 
allowed to pass from one hive to another, they will confine 
their breeding operations mostly to a single apartment, if 
it is of the ordinary size, and will use the others chiefly 
for storing honey. This is almost invariably the case, if 
the additional room is given by collateral or side boxes, 
as the queen seldom enters such apartments for the pur 
pose of breeding ; if, however, the new hive is directly 
below that in which the swarm was first lodged, and the con- 
nections are suitable, she will be almost certain to descend 
and lay her eggs in the new combs, as soon as they are 
begun by the bees. The upper hive being now almost en- 
tirely abandoned by her, the bees fill the cells with honey, 
as fast as the brood is hatched, their instinct impelling 
them to keep their stores of honey, if possible, above the 
breeding-cells. So long as bees have an abundance of 
room below their main hive, they very seldom swarm ; but 
if it is on the sides of their hive, or above them, they often 
swarm rather than take possession of it. In none of these 
cases, however, do they ever form independent colouies, 
if left to themselves. 
The skillful Apiarian may, doubtless, compel his bees to 
rear an artificial colony, by separating from the main hive, 
by a slide, an apartment that happens to contain brood ; 
but unless his hives admit of thorough inspection, as he 
can never know their exact condition, he will be far more 
likely to fail than to succeed. This plausible theory, there- 
fore, to be reduced to even an empirical and precarious 
