ttended with nothing but loss and
vexation. The more a man has of such stocks, the poorer he is: for by
their weakness, they are constantly tempting his strong swarms to evil
courses; so that at last, they prefer to live as far as they can, by
stealing, rather than by habits of honest industry; and if the feeble
colonies escape being plundered, they often become mere nurseries for
raising a plentiful supply of moths, to ravage his whole Apiary.

I have already shown, in what way by the use of my hives, the smallest
swarms that ever issue, may be so managed as to become powerful stocks.
In the same way the Apiarian can easily strengthen all his colonies
which are feeble in Spring.

4. As the loss of the young queens in the parent stock after it has
swarmed, and in the after-swarms, is a very common occurrence, a hive
which like mine, furnishes the means of easily remedying this
misfortune, will greatly promote the success of those who practice
natural swarming. A very intelligent bee-keeper once assured me, that he
must use at least one such hive in his Apiary, for this purpose, even if
in other respects it possessed no superior merits.

5. Bees, as is well known, often refuse to swarm at all, and most of the
swarming hives are so constructed, that proper accommodations for
storing honey, cannot be furnished to the super-abundant population.
Under such circumstances, they often hang for several months, in black
masses on the outside of the hive; and are worse than useless, as they
consume the honey which the others have gathered. In my hives, an
abundance of room for storing honey can always be given them, _not all
at once_, so as to prevent them from swarming, but by degrees, as their
necessities require: so that if they are indisposed, for any reason to
swarm, they may have suitable receptacles easily accessible, and
furnished with guide comb to make them more attractive, in which to
store up any amount of honey that they can possibly collect.

6. In the common hives, but little can be done to dislodge the bee-moth,
when once it has gained the mastery of the bees; whereas in mine, it can
be most effectually rooted out when it has made a lodgment. (See Remarks
on Bee-Moth.)

7. In the common hives, nothing can be done except with great
difficulty, to remove the old queen when her fertility is impaired;
whereas in my hives, (as will be shown in the Chapter on Artificial
Swarming,) this can easily be effected, so tha