Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee: A Bee Keeper's Manual — 14 - Ch. 10 (2) Artificial Swarming, part 2

"A 'bee removed' against its will Is of the same opinion still."

I have been thus minute in describing the whole process of creating forced swarms, not merely on account of the importance of the plan in multiplying colonies, but because the driving or drumming out of bees from a common hive, is employed with great success in a variety of ways which will be hereafter specified.

I doubt not that many bee-keepers, on reading this mode of creating colonies, are ready to object that it not only requires more skill, but more time and labor, than to allow them to swarm, and then to hive them in the old-fashioned way.

As practiced with ordinary hives, it is undoubtedly liable to this serious objection, and I would easily with my basket hiver, undertake to hive four natural swarms, in the time that it would require to create one forced swarm; to say nothing of the care which must be bestowed upon the artificial swarms, with their parent stocks, after the driving process has been completed.

For this reason, I do not advise the bee-keeper to force his swarms from the common hives, until he has first ascertained that they are not likely to swarm in tolerably good season, of their own accord, unless he is afraid that they will come out during his absence, and decamp to the woods.

By the aid of my hives, this process may be most expeditiously performed.

An empty hive, with its frames furnished with guide combs, must be in readiness.

The cover of the full hive should be removed, and the bees gently sprinkled with sugar-water from a watering pot that discharges a fine stream.

In about two minutes, the frames may be taken out, and the bees, by a quick motion, shaken on a sheet directly in front of their hive.

As fast as a comb is deprived of its bees, it should be set in a proper position in the new hive, and an empty frame put in its place.

Two or three of the combs containing brood, eggs, &c. , should be left in the old hive, as well to give them greater encouragement, as to prevent them from being dissatisfied if their queen should, by any possibility, be taken from them.

In removing the frames with the bees, I always look for the queen, and if I see her, as I generally do, I return to the hive the frame which contains her, without shaking off the bees.

In that case, I put several of the necessary combs into the new hive, with all the bees upon them.

In dislodging the bees upon the sheet, I do not shake them all off from the frames; but leave about one quarter of them on, and put them with the combs into the new hive.

I never knew the queen to be left on a frame after it was shaken so that the larger portion of the bees would fall off.

As soon as the operation is completed, and the necessary number of bees have been transferred with their comb to the new hive, it should be managed according to the directions previously given, in the case of the old hive from which a swarm was drummed out.

If in the operation the Apiarian does not see the queen, he must, in the course of the third day, examine the hive having the larger portion of bees, and if they have commenced building royal cells among the combs given to them, he may be certain that she is in the other hive.

The comb containing the royal cells may then be transferred to that hive, and the queen searched for, and returned with the combs on which she is found, to her proper place.

A little experience, however, will enable the operator to be sure from the first, that the queen is with the right division.

To most persons, it would seem to be of little consequence, in which hive the queen is placed: but if the bees which have only a few frames of comb, are compelled to rear another, they will be sure to fill their hive with comb unfit for breeding purposes, and will also be so long before they can have additions to their number, as to be of but little value.

If many swarms are to be created in this manner, and the operation is delayed until near swarming time, in some of them, numerous royal cells will be found, so that each stock which has no queen, may have one nearly mature, given to it, and thus much valuable time may be saved.

By making a few forced swarms, about a week or ten days before the time in which the most will be made, the Apiarian may be sure of having an abundance of sealed queens almost mature, so that every swarm may have one.

If he can give each hive that needs it, an unhatched queen, without removing her from her frame, so much the better; but if he has not enough frames with sealed queens, while some of them contain two or more queens, he must proceed as follows: With a very sharp knife, carefully cut out a queen cell, on a piece of comb an inch or more square; cut a place in one of the combs of the hive to which this cell is to be given, just about large enough to receive it in a natural position, and if it is not secure, put a little melted wax with a feather, where the edges meet.

The bees will soon fasten it, so as to make all right.

Unless very great care is used in transferring these royal cells, the enclosed queens will be destroyed; as their bodies, until they are nearly mature, are so exceedingly soft, that a very slight compression of their cell often kills them.

For this reason, I prefer not to remove them, until they are within three or four days of hatching.

As the forcing of a swarm may always be conducted, with my hives, in such a manner that the Apiarian can be sure to effect a suitable division of the bees, the process may be performed at any time when the sun is above the horizon, and the weather is not too unpleasant.

It ought not to be attempted when the weather is so cool as to endanger the destruction of the brood, by a chill; and never unless when there is not only sufficient light to enable the Apiarian to see distinctly, but enough for the bees that take wing, to see the hive, and direct their flight to its entrance.

If hives are meddled with, when it is dark, the bees are always more irascible, and as they cannot see where to fly, they will constantly be alighting upon the person of the bee-keeper, who will be almost sure to receive some stings.

I have seldom attempted night-work upon my bees, without having occasion most thoroughly to rue my folly.

If the weather is not too cool, early in the morning, before the bees are stirring, will be the best time, as there will be less danger of annoyance from robber-bees.

If honey-water is used instead of sugar-water in sprinkling the bees when the hive is first opened, the smell will be almost certain to entice marauders from other hives to attempt to take possession of treasures which do not belong to them, and when they once commence such a pilfering course of life, they will be very loth to lay it aside.

When the honey harvest is abundant, (and this is the very time for forcing swarms,) bees, with proper precautions, are seldom inclined to rob.

I

have sometimes found it difficult to induce them to notice honey-combs which I wished them to empty, even when they were placed in an exposed situation.

This subject, however, will be more fully treated in the remarks on Robbing.

Perhaps some of my readers will hardly be able to convince themselves that bees may be dealt with after the fashion I have been describing, without becoming greatly enraged; so far is this from being the case, that in my operations, I often use neither sugar-water nor bee-dress, although I do not recommend the neglect of such precautions.

The artificial swarm may be created with perfect safety, even at mid-day, when thousands of bees are returning to the hive: for these bees being laden with honey, never venture upon making an attack, while those at home may be easily pacified.

I find a very great advantage in the peculiar shape of my hive, which allows the top to be easily removed, and the sugar-water to be sprinkled upon the bees, before they attempt to take wing.

If like the Dzierzon hive, it opened on the end, it would be impossible for me to use the sweetened water, so as to make it run down between all the ranges of comb, and I should be forced, as he does, to employ smoke, in all my operations.

Huber thus speaks of the pacific effect produced upon the bees by the use of his leaf hive.

"On opening the hive, no stings are to be dreaded, for one of the most singular and valuable properties attending my construction, is its rendering the bees tractable.

I

ascribe their tranquility to the manner in which they are affected by the sudden admission of light, they appear rather to testify fear than anger.

Many retire, and entering the cells, seem to conceal themselves."

I will admit that Huber has here fallen into an error which he would not have made, had he used his own eyes.

The bees do indeed enter the cells when the frames are exposed, but not "to conceal themselves;" they imagine that their sweets, thus unceremoniously exposed to the light of day, are to be taken from them, and they fill themselves to their utmost capacity, in order to save all that they can.

I always expect them to appropriate the contents of the open cells, as soon as I remove their frames from the hive.

It is not merely the _sudden_ admission of light, but its introduction from an _unexpected quarter_, that seems for the time to disarm the hostility of the bees.

They appear for a few moments, almost as much confounded as we should be, if without any warning the roof and ceiling of a house should suddenly fly off into the air.

Before they recover from their amazement, the sweet libation is poured out upon them, and surprize is quickly converted into pleasure rather than anger.

I believe that in the working season, almost all the bees near the top are gorged with honey, and that this is the reason why opening the hive from ABOVE is so easily effected.

The bees below that are disposed to resent any intrusions, are met in their threatening ascent, with an avalanche of nectar which "like a soft answer," most effectually "turneth away wrath."

Who would ever be willing to use the sickening fumes of the disgusting weed, when so much pleasure instead of pain may be given to his bees.

That bees never seem to be prepared to make an instant assault from the top of their hive, but only near the entrance, any one may be convinced of, who will put my frames into a suspended hive with a movable bottom which may be made to drop at pleasure.

If now, for any purpose, he attempts to meddle with the combs from below, he will find that unless he uses smoke, the bees will be almost, if not quite unmanageable.

I shall now give some directions, which will greatly assist the Apiarian in his operations.

He must bear in mind that nothing irritates bees more than a sudden jar, and that this must, in all cases, be most carefully avoided.

The inside cover of the hive, or as I shall term it, the _honey-board_, because the surplus honey receptacles stand upon it, can never be very firmly attached by the bees: it may always be readily loosened with a thin knife, or better still, with an apothecary's spatula, which will be very useful for many purposes in the Apiary.

When the honey-board is removed, its lower surface will be usually covered with bees, and it should be carefully set on end, so as not to crush them.

There is not the least danger that one of them will offer to sting, as they are completely bewildered by the sudden introduction of light, and their removal from the hive.

As soon as the cover is disposed of, the Apiarian should sprinkle the bees with the sweet solution.

This should descend from the watering-pot in a fine stream, so as not to _drench_ the bees, and should fall upon the tops of the frames, as well as between the ranges of comb.

The bees will at once, accept the proffered treat, and will begin lapping it up, as peaceably as so many chickens helping themselves to corn.

While they are thus engaged, the frames must be very gently pried by a stick, from their attachments to the rabbets on which they rest; this may be done without any jar and without wounding or enraging a single bee.

They may all be loosened preparatory to removing them, in less than a minute.

[17] By this time, the sprinkled bees will have filled themselves, or if all have not done so, the grateful intelligence that sweets have been furnished them, will diffuse an unusual good nature through all the honied realm.

The Apiarian should now remove one of the outside frames, taking hold of its two ends which rest upon the rabbets, and carefully lifting it out without inclining it from its perpendicular position, so as not to injure a single bee.

The removal of the next comb, and of all the succeeding ones, will be more easily effected, as there will be more room to operate to advantage.

If bees were disposed to fly away at once from their combs, as soon as they were taken out, it would be very difficult to manage them, but so far are they from doing this, that they adhere to them with most wonderful tenacity.

I have sometimes removed all the combs, and arranged them in a continued line, and the bees have not only refused to leave them, but have stoutly defended them against the thieving propensities of other bees.

By shaking off the bees from the combs upon a sheet, and securing the queen, I can, on any pleasant day, exhibit nearly all the appearances of natural swarming.

The bees, as soon as they miss their queen, will rise into the air, and by placing her on the twig of a tree, they will soon cluster around her in the manner already described.

A word as to the manner of catching the queen.

I seize her very gently, as I espy her among the bees, and by taking care to crush none of them, run not the least risk of being stung.

The queen herself never stings, even if handled ever so roughly.

In removing the frames from the hive, it will be found very convenient to have a box with suitable rabbets in which they may be temporarily put, and covered over with a piece of cotton cloth.

They may thus be very easily protected from the cold, and from robbing bees, if they are to be kept out of the hive for some time; and such a box will be very convenient to receive frames that are lifted out for examination.

In returning the frames to a hive, care must be taken not to crush the bees where their ends rest upon the rabbets; they must be put in slowly, so that a bee, when he feels the slightest pressure may have a chance to creep from under them, before he is hurt.

The honey-cover, for convenience, is generally in two pieces: these cannot be laid down on the hive, without danger of killing many bees;

they are therefore very carefully _slid_ on, so that any bees which may be in the way, are pushed before them, instead of being crushed.

If any bees are upon such parts of the hive as to be imprisoned if the outside cover is closed, it should be left a little open, until they have flown to the entrance of the hive.

It cannot be too deeply impressed upon the bee-keeper, that all his motions must be slow and gentle, and that the bees must not be injured or breathed upon.

If he will carefully follow the directions I have given, he may soon open a hundred hives and perform any necessary operation upon them, without any bee-dress, and yet with very little risk of being stung, but I almost despair of being able to convince even the most experienced Apiarians, of the ease and safety with which bees may be managed on my plan, until they have actually been eye-witnesses of its successful operation.

I can make an artificial colony in the way above described in ten minutes from the time that I open the hive, and if I see the queen as quickly as I often do, in not more than five minutes.

Fifteen minutes will be a very liberal allowance of time to complete the whole work.

If I had an Apiary of a hundred colonies, in less than a week, if the weather was pleasant, I could without any assistance easily finish the business of swarming for the whole season.

But how can the Apiarian, if he delays the formation of artificial swarms until nearly the season for natural swarming, be sure that his bees will not swarm in the usual way?

Must he not still be constantly on hand, or run the risk of losing many of his best swarms?

I come now to the entirely novel plan by which such objections are completely obviated.

If the Apiarian decides that he can most advantageously multiply his colonies by artificial swarming, he must see that all his fertile queens are deprived of their wings, so as to be unable to lead off new swarms.

As an old queen never leaves the hive except to accompany a new swarm, the loss of her wings does not, in the least interfere with her usefulness, or with the attachment of the bees.

Occasionally, a wingless queen is so bent on emigrating, that in spite of her inability to fly, she tries to go off with a swarm; she has "a will," but contrary to the old maxim she can find "no way," but helplessly falls upon the ground instead of gaily mounting into the air.

If the bees succeed in finding her, they will never desert her, but cluster directly around her, and may thus be easily secured by the Apiarian.

If she is not found, the bees will return to the parent stock to await the maturity of the young queens.

The Apiarian will ordinarily be prepared to form his artificial colonies before any of these young queens are hatched.

The following is the best plan for removing the wings from the queens.

Every hive which contains a young queen, ought to be examined about a week after she has hatched, (see Chapter on Loss of the Queen,) in order to ascertain that she has been impregnated, and has begun to lay eggs.

Some of the central combs or those on which the bees are most thickly clustered, should be first lifted out, for she will almost always be found on one of them; the Apiarian when he has caught her, should remove the wings on one side with a pair of scissors taking care not to hurt her.

On examining his hives next season, let him remove one of the two remaining wings from the queen.

The third season, he may deprive her of her last wing.

Bees always have four wings, a pair on each side.

This plan saves him the trouble of marking his hives so as to know the age of the queens they contain.

As the fertility of the queen generally decreases after the second year, I prefer, just before the drones are destroyed, to kill all the old queens that have entered their third year.

In this way, I guard against some of my stocks becoming queenless, in consequence of the queen dying of old age, when there is no worker-brood in the hive, from which they can rear another: or of having a worthless, drone-laying queen whose impregnation has been retarded.

These old queens are removed at that period of the year when their colony is strong in numbers; and as the honey-harvest is by this time, nearly over, their removal is often a positive benefit, instead of a loss.

The population is prevented from being over crowded at a time when the bees are consumers and not producers, and when the young queen, reared in the place of the old one matures, she will rapidly fill the cells with eggs, and raise a large number of bees to take advantage of the late honey-harvest, and to prepare the hive to winter most advantageously.

The certainty, rapidity and ease of making artificial swarms with my hives, will be such as to amaze those most who have had the greatest experience and success in the management of bees.

Instead of weeks wasted in watching the Apiary, in addition to all the other vexations and embarrassments which are so often found to attend reliance on natural swarming, the Apiarian will find not only that he can create all his new colonies in a very short time, but that he can, if he chooses, entirely prevent the issue of all after-swarms.

In order to do this, he ought to examine the stocks which are raising young queens, in season to cut out all the queen cells but one, before the larvæ come to maturity.

If he gave them a sealed queen nearly mature, they will raise no others, and no swarming, for that season, will take place.

If the Apiarian wishes to do more than to double his stocks in one season, and is favorably situated for practicing natural swarming, he can allow the stocks that raise young queens to swarm if they will, and he can strengthen the small swarms by giving to them comb with honey and maturing brood from other hives.

Or he can, after an interval of about three weeks, make one swarm from every two good ones in his Apiary, in a way that will soon be described.

I do not know that I can find a better place in which to impress certain highly important principles upon the attention of the bee-keeper.

I am afraid, that in spite of all that I can say, many persons as soon as they find themselves able to multiply colonies at pleasure, will so overdo the matter, as to run the risk of losing all their bees.

If the Apiarian aims at obtaining a large quantity of honey in any one season, he cannot at the furthest, more than double the number of his stocks: nor can he do this, unless they are all strong, and the season favorable.

The moment that he aims, in any one season, at a more rapid increase, he must not only renounce the idea of having any surplus honey, but must expect to purchase food for the support of his colonies, unless he is willing to see them all perish by starvation.

The time, food, care and skill required to multiply stocks with very great rapidity, in our short and uncertain climate, are so great that not one Apiarian in a hundred can expect to make it profitable; while the great mass of those who attempt it, will be almost sure, at the close of the season, to find themselves in possession of stocks which have been so managed as to be of very little value.

Before explaining some other methods of artificial swarming, which I have employed to great advantage, I shall endeavor to impress upon the mind of the bee-keeper, the great importance of thoroughly understanding each season, the precise object at which he is aiming, before he enters on the work of increasing his colonies.

If his object is, in any one season, to get the largest yield of surplus honey, he must at once make up his mind to be content with a very moderate increase of stocks.

If, on the contrary, he desires to multiply his colonies, say, three or four fold, he must be prepared, not only to relinquish the expectation of obtaining any surplus honey, if the season should prove unfavorable, but to purchase food for the support of his bees.

Rapid multiplication of colonies, and large harvests of surplus honey cannot, in the very nature of things, be secure in our climate, in any one season.

If the number of colonies is to be increased to a large extent, then the bees in the Apiary will be tasked to the utmost in building new comb, as well as in rearing brood.

For these purposes, they must consume the supply of honey which, under other circumstances, they would have stored up, a part for their own use in the main hive, and the balance for their owner, in the spare honey-boxes.

To make this matter perfectly plain, let us suppose a colony to swarm.

If the new hive, into which the swarm is put, holds, as it ought, about a bushel, it will require about two pounds of wax to fill it with comb, and at least forty pounds of honey will be used in its manufacture!

If the season is favorable, and the swarm was large and early, they may gather, not only enough to build this comb and to store it with honey sufficient for their own use, but a number of pounds in addition, for the benefit of their owner.

If the old stock does not swarm again, it will rapidly replenish its numbers, and as it has no new comb to build in the main hive which already contains much honey, it will be able to store up a generous allowance in the upper boxes.

These favorable results are all on the supposition that the season was ordinarily productive in honey, and that the hive was so powerful in numbers as to be able to swarm early.

If the season should prove to be very unfavorable, the first swarm cannot be expected to gather more than enough for its own use, while the parent stock will yield only a small return.

The profits of the bee-keeper, in such an unfortunate season, will be mainly in the increase of his stocks.

If the swarm was late, in consequence of the stock being weak in Spring, the early part of the honey-harvest will pass away, and the bees will be able to obtain from it, but a small share of honey.

During all this time of comparative inactivity, the orchards may present "One boundless blush, one white empurpled shower Of mingled blossoms," and tens of thousands of bees from stronger stocks, may be engaged all day, in sipping the fragrant sweets, so that every gale which "fans its odoriferous wings" about their dwellings, dispenses "Native perfumes, and whispers whence they stole[18] Those balmy spoils."

By the time that the feeble stock is prepared to swarm, if it swarm at all that season, the honey-harvest is almost over, and the new colony will seldom be able to gather enough for its own use, so that unless fed, it must perish the succeeding Winter.

Bee-keeping with colonies feeble in the Spring, is most emphatically nothing but "folly and vexation of spirit."

I have shown how the bee-keeper, with a strong stock-hive which has swarmed early and but once, may in a favorable season realize handsome profits from his bees.

If the parent stock throws a second swarm, then, as a general rule, unless this swarm was very early, and the honey season good, if managed on the ordinary plan, it will seldom prove of any value.

It will almost always perish in the Winter, if it does not desert its hive in the Fall, and the family from which it issued, will not only gather no surplus honey, (unless it was secured before the first swarm issued,) but will very often perish likewise.

Thus the inexperienced owner who was so delighted with the rapid increase of his colonies, begins the next season with no more colonies than he had the year before, and has very often lost all the time he has bestowed upon his bees.

I can, to be sure, on my plan, prevent the death of the bees, and can build up all the feeble colonies, so as to make them strong and powerful: but only by giving up all idea of obtaining a single pound of honey.

From the first swarm, I must take combs containing maturing brood, to strengthen my weak swarms, and this first swarm however powerful or early, instead of being able to store its combs with honey, will be constantly tasked in building new combs to replace those taken away, so that when the honey harvest closes, it will have scarcely any honey, and must be fed to prevent it from starving.

Any man who has sense enough to be entrusted with bees, can, from these remarks, understand exactly why it is impossible to multiply colonies rapidly in any one season, and yet obtain from them large supplies of honey.

Even the doubling of stocks in one season, will very often be too rapid an increase, if the greatest quantity of spare honey is to be obtained from them; and when the largest yield of honey is desired, I much prefer to form, in a way soon to be described, only one new stock from two old ones; this will give even more from the three, than could have been obtained from the two, on the ordinary non-swarming plan.

I would very strongly dissuade any but experienced Apiarians, from attempting at the furthest, to do more than to triple their stocks in one year.

In order to furnish directions for very rapid multiplication, sufficiently full and explicit to be of any value to the inexperienced, I should have to write a book on this one topic; and even then, the most of those who should undertake it, would be sure at first to fail.

I have no doubt that with ten strong stocks of bees in a good location, in one favorable season, I could so increase them as to have, on the approach of Winter, one hundred good colonies: but I should expect to feed hundreds of pounds of honey, to devote nearly all my time to their management, and to bring to the work, the experience of many years, and the wisdom acquired by numerous failures.

After all, what we most need, in order to be successful in the cultivation of bees, is a _certain_, rather than a _rapid_ multiplication of stocks.

It would require but a very few years to stock our whole country with bees, if colonies could only be doubled annually; and an increase of even one third, would before long, give us bees enough.

This rate of increase I should always encourage in the swarming season, even if, in the Fall, I reduced my stocks (see Union of Stocks) to the Spring number.

In the long run, it will keep the colonies in a much more prosperous condition, and secure from them the largest yield of honey.

I have never myself hesitated to sacrifice one or more colonies, in order to ascertain a single fact, and it would require a separate volume quite as large as this, to detail the various experiments which I have made on the subject of Artificial Swarming.

The practical bee-keeper, however, should never, for a moment, lose sight of the important distinction between an Apiary managed principally for the purposes of experiment and discovery, and one conducted almost exclusively with reference to pecuniary profit.

Any bee-keeper can easily experiment with my hives: but I would recommend him to do so, at first, on a small scale, and if profit is his object, to follow the directions furnished in this treatise, until he is _sure_ that he has discovered others which are preferable.

These cautions are given to prevent persons from incurring serious losses and disappointments, if they use hives which, if they are not on their guard, may tempt them into rash and unprofitable courses, by allowing so easily of all manner of experiments.

Let the practical Apiarian remember that the less he disturbs the stocks on which he relies for surplus honey, the better.

After they are properly lodged in their new hive, they ought by all means to be allowed to carry on their labors without any interruption.

The object of giving the control over every comb in the hive, is not to enable him to be incessantly taking them in and out, and subjecting the bees to all sorts of annoyances.

Unless he is conducting a course of experiments, such interference will be almost as silly as the conduct of children who pull up the seeds which they have planted, to see whether they have sprouted, or how much they have grown.

If after these cautions, any still choose to disregard them, the blame of their losses will fall, not upon the hive, but upon their own mismanagement.

Let me not, for a moment, be understood as wishing to discourage investigation, or to intimate that perfection has been so nearly attained that no more important discoveries remain to be made.

On the contrary, I should be glad to learn that many who have the time and means, are disposed to use the facilities furnished by hives which give the control of each comb, to experiment on a large scale; and I hope that every intelligent bee-keeper who follows my plans, will experiment at least on a small scale.

In this way, we may soon expect to see, more satisfactorily elucidated, some points in the Natural History of the bee, which are still involved in doubt.

Having described the way in which forced swarms are made, both in common hives and in my own, when the Apiarian wishes in one season merely to double his colonies, I shall now show in what way he can secure the largest yield of honey, by forming only one new colony from two old ones.

Early in the season, before the bees fly out, or better still, after they ceased to fly in the previous Fall, the two hives from which the new colony is to be formed, should be placed near each other, unless they are already, not more than a foot apart.

When the time for forming the artificial colony has arrived, these hives should be removed from their stand, and the bees driven from them, precisely in the manner already described.

If all the bees are at home, I sometimes shut up the hives on their stand, and drum long enough to cause the bees to fill themselves before the hive is removed.

Timid Apiarians may find some advantage in this course, as the bees will all be quiet after they are well drummed, and the hive may then be removed with greater safety.

In five minutes I can in this way reduce any swarm to a peaceable condition.

After the forced swarms are secured, the removed hives are replaced, in order to catch up all the returning bees, and the forced swarms must be shut up, until towards sunset; unless it is judged best to keep the entrances temporarily open, so as to secure the return of a sufficient number of bees to the parent stocks.

The old stocks are now moved to a new place, and managed according to the previous directions.

If neither of the expelled swarms was driven into the hive intended for the new colony, then the proper hive must be placed, as near as possible, in the center of the space previously occupied by the original colonies.

One of the swarms must now be shaken out upon a sheet, in front of this hive which should be elevated, so as to enable the bees to enter it readily.

As soon as they are shaken out, they should be gently sprinkled with sugar-water scented with peppermint, or any other fragrant odor.

Diligent search must now be made for the Queen, and if found, she should be carefully removed, and given to the hive to which she belongs.

If the queen of the first swarm has been found, the second colony may be shaken out, and sprinkled in the same way, and allowed to enter without any further trouble.

If the queen of the first colony was not found, then that of the second one must be sought for; if neither can be found, (though this, after a little experience, will very seldom happen,) one of the Queens will soon kill the other, and reign over the united family.

The next day, the doubled colony will be found working with amazing vigor, and it will not only fill its main hive, but will, in any ordinary season, gather large quantities of surplus honey besides.

The Apiarian who relies upon natural swarming, can double his new colonies if they issue at the same time, by hiving them together, or if this cannot be done, he may hive them in separate hives, and then, towards evening, set one hive on a sheet, and shake down the bees from the other, so that they can enter and join the first.

It may be safely done, even if several days have elapsed before the second colony swarms;

although in this case, I prefer after turning up their hive to sprinkle the oldest swarm with scented sugar-water, and then to give the new swarm the same treatment.

I have doubled natural swarms in this way, repeatedly, and have never, when they were early, failed to secure from them a large quantity of honey.

In sprinkling bees, let the operator remember that they are not to be _drenched_, or almost drowned, as in this case, they will require a long time to enter the hive.

Bees seem to recognize each other by the sense of smell; and when they are made to have the same odor, they will always mingle peaceably.

This is the reason why I use a few drops of peppermint in the sugar-water.

If one of the queens of the forced swarms can be returned to her own colony, it will of course, save them the time which would otherwise be lost in raising another.

I do not know that I can better illustrate the importance of the inexperienced Apiarian following carefully my directions, than by supposing him to return the queen to the colony to which she does not belong.

Now I can easily imagine that some bee-keeper may do so, conceiving that I am foolishly precise in my directions, and that the queen might be just as well given to one hive as to the other.

But if this is done before at least 24 hours have elapsed since they were deprived of their own, she will almost certainly be destroyed.

The bees do not _sting_ a queen to death, but have a curious mode of crowding or knotting around her, so that she is soon smothered; and while thus imprisoned, she will often make the same piping note which has already been described.

In all this treatise, I have constantly aimed to give no directions which are not important; and while I utterly repudiate the notion that these directions may not be modified and improved, I am quite certain that this cannot be done by any but those who have considerable experience in the management of bees.

The formation of one new swarm from two old colonies, may, of course, be very much simplified by the use of my hives.

The two old hives are first opened and sprinkled, and the bees taken from them and put into the new hive in the same way in which the process was conducted when only one colony was expelled, some brood comb being given to the united family.

There will be no difficulty in rightly proportioning the bees; one queen may always be caught and preserved, and the operation may be performed at any time when the sun is above the horizon.

I have no doubt that those who have a strong stock of bees, and who are anxious to realize the largest profits in honey, will find this mode of increase, by far the simplest and best.

If judiciously practiced, they will find that their colonies may always be kept powerful, and that they may be managed with very great economy in time and labor.

As Apiarians may be so situated as to wish to increase their bees quite rapidly, I shall give such methods as from numerous experiments, many of them conducted on a large scale, I have found to be the best.

I wish it however to be most distinctly understood, that I do not consider _very_ rapid multiplication as likely to succeed, except in the hands of skillful Apiarians; and under ordinary circumstances it requires too much time, care and honey, to be of very great practical value.

Its chief merit consists in the short time which it requires to build up an Apiary.

After trying my mode of management for a few seasons, a bee-keeper may find out, that he is in all respects, favorably situated for taking care of a large stock of bees.

Suppose him to have acquired both skill and confidence, and that he has ten powerful colonies.

If he is willing to do without surplus honey for one season, and the honey-harvest should be very productive, he may without feeding, and without very much labor, safely increase his ten colonies to thirty.

If he chooses to feed largely, he may _possibly_ end the season with fifty or sixty, or even more; but he will _probably_ end it in such a manner as most thoroughly to disgust him with his folly, and to teach him that in bee-keeping, as well as in other things, "Haste makes waste."