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dividing or artificial swarming 
ADVANTAGES OF. 
It is a well established fact with our most scientific 
Apiarians that one great secret in bee culture is in keep- 
ing our stock strong. If natural swarming be allowed 
it is almost impossible to keep them so. Hence the im- 
portance of artificial swarming, which is full better than 
natural swarming, as it can be accomplished in a few 
minutes, at the bee-keeper’s convenience, and not as the 
bees choose. There are many serious troubles originat- 
ing from over swarming. There are also troubles and 
little profit where they do not swarm at all. In the 
Northern States, as a general thing, bees should swarm 
only once ; if a prosperous colony and a favorable year 
for honey, perhaps twice would not be too much. Where 
bees swarm too many times, it puts the bee-master to 
much inconvenience, aside from the loss of many of the 
stocks in consequence of their being too small to resist 
the Mom Millers, robbers, and the winter chill, flying 
to the forest, &c. On the other hand, how many times 
has the anxious bee-keeper witnessed his bees clustered 
by thousands upon the outside of many of his best hive* 
in the height of the honey season, and would neither 
swarm nor collect honey, and perhaps many of them 
would remain so for nearly the whole soason. The 
prevention of natural swarming does not prevent their 
increase, but on the contrary, they increase much faster 
if they are properly divided. 
THE TIME TO DIVIDE BEES. 
Is the morning in the swarming season; but should 
