Chapter 10

(Two Chapters numbered x, by error of the Press.)

ARTIFICIAL SWARMING. Numerous efforts to dispense with natural swarming. Difficulties of natural swarming. First, many swarms are lost, 173. Second, time and labor required. Sabbath labor, 174. Perplexities to farmers. Third, large Apiaries cannot be established, 175. Fourth, uncertainty of swarming. Disappointments from this source, 176. Efforts to devise a surer method, 178. Columellas's mode of obtaining swarms. Hyginus. Small success which attended, those efforts, Schirach's discovery, 179. Huber's directions. Not adapted to general use. Dividing hives in this country unsuitable. Bees without mature queens make no preparation to rear workers, 180. Dividing hives to multiply colonies will not answer, 181. Huber's hive even, inadequate. Common dividing hives unsuccessful. Multiplying by brood comb in an empty hive, vain, 182. Multiplying by removal and substitution useless. Mortality of bees in working season, 183. Connecting apartments a failure, 184. Many prefer non-swarming hives, 185. Profitable in honey but calculated to exterminate the insect. Improved hive good non-swarmer, if desired. Disadvantages of non-swarming. Queen bee becomes infertile. Remedied by the use of the improved hive, 186. Practicable mode of artificial swarming, 187. Bees will welcome to their hives strange bees that come loaded. Will destroy such as come empty, 188. Forced swarming requires knowledge of the economy of the bee-hive. Common hives give no facility for learning the bee's habits. Equalizing a divided swarm, 190. Bees in parent hive, if removed, to be confined and watered, 191. Bees removed will return to their old place. Supplying bees with water by a straw. Water necessary to prepare food for the larvæ, 192. New forced swarms to be returned to the place of the old one, or removed to a distance. Treatment to wont them to new place in the Apiary, 193. Bees forget their new locations. Objection to forced swarming in common hives, 194. Forced swarming by the new hives removes the objection. Mode of forcing swarms by the new hives, 195. Queen to be searched for. Important that she should be in the right hive, 196. Convenience of forced swarming in supplying extra queens. Mode of supplying them. Should be done by day light and in pleasant weather, 197. Honey-water not to be used. Safety to the operator. Forced swarming may be performed at mid-day. Advantages of the shape of the new hive, 198. Huber's observation on the effect of sudden light in the hive. True solution of the phenomenon. Bees at the top of the hive, less belligerent than those at the bottom, 199. Sudden jars to be avoided. Removal of honey-board. Sprinkling with sugar-water, 200. Loosening the frames. Removing the comb. Bees will adhere to their comb, 201. Natural swarming imitated. How to catch the queen. Frames protected from cold and robbery by bees. Frames returned to the hive. Honey-cover, how managed. Motions of bee-keeper to be gentle. Bees must not be breathed on. Success in the operation certain, 202. New colonies may be thus formed in ten minutes. Natural swarming wholly prevented. If attempted by the bees cannot succeed. How to remove the wings of the queens, 203. Precaution against loss of queen by old age. Advantages of this, 204. Certainty and ease of artificial swarming with the new hive. After-swarms prevented if desired, 205. Large harvests of honey and after-swarming impracticable. Danger of too rapid increase of stocks. Importance of understanding his object, by the bee-keeper, 206. The matter made plain, 207. Apiarians dissuaded from more than tripling their stocks in a year. Tenfold increase of stocks attainable, 209. Certain increase, not rapid, most needed. Cautions concerning experiments, 210. Honey, largest yield obtained by doubling colonies. The process, 211. May be done at swarming time. Bees recognize each other by smell, 213. Importance of following these directions illustrated. Process of uniting swarms simplified by the new hive, 214. Very rapid increase of colonies precarious. Mode of effecting the most rapid increase, 215. Nucleus system, 217. Can a queen be raised from any egg? Two sorts of workers, wax workers and nurses, 218. Probable explication of a difficulty, 219. Experimenting difficult work. Swarming season best time for artificial swarming. Amusing perplexity of bees on finding their hive changed, 220. Perseverance of bees. Interesting incident illustrating it, 221. Novel and successful mode of forming nuclei, 223. Mode of managing nuclei, 225. Danger of over-feeding. Increasing stocks by doubling hives, 229. Important rule for multiplying stocks. How to direct the strength of a colony to the rearing of young bees, 230. Proper dimensions of hives. Reasons therefor, 231. Easy construction of the improved hive. Precaution of queen bees in their combats, 234. Reluctance of bees to receive a new queen. Expedient to overcome this. Queen nursery, 235. Mode of rearing numerous queens, 237. Control of the comb the soul of good bee-culture. Objection against bee-keeping answered, 233. No "royal road" to bee-keeping. A prediction, 239.