370 
THE HIVE AND HONEY-BEE. 
short period, the largest yield of honey will be secured 
by a very moderate increase of stocks. 
8th. A moderate increase of colonies in any one season, 
will, in the long run, prove to be the easiest, safest, and 
cheapest mode of managing bees. 
9th. Queenless colonies, unless supplied with a queen, 
will inevitably dwindle away, or be destroyed by the 
bee-moth, or by robber-bees. 
10th. The formation of new colonies should ordinarily 
be confined to the season when bees are accumulating 
honey; and if this, or any other operation must be per¬ 
formed, when forage is scarce, the greatest precautions 
should be used to prevent robbing. 
The essence of all profitable bee-keeping is contained in 
Oettl’s Golden Rule: keep your stocks strong (p. 303). 
Xf you cannot succeed in doing this, the more money you 
invest in bees, the heavier will be your losses ; while, if 
your stocks are strong, you will show that you are a beer 
master, as well as a bee-keeper, and may safely calculate 
on generous returns from your industrious subjects. 
