ated,
which, if it could only be made to answer, would be, of all conceivable
plans the most effectual, and as it would require the smallest amount of
labor, experience, or skill, would be everywhere practiced. A number of
hives must be put in connection with each other, so as to communicate by
holes which allow the bees to travel from any one apartment to the
others. The bees, on this plan, are to _colonize themselves_, and in
time, a single swarm will, of its own accord, multiply so as to form a
large number of independent families, each one possessing its own queen,
and all living in perfect harmony.

This method so beautiful and fascinating in theory, has been repeatedly
tried with various ingenious modifications, but in every instance, as
far as I know, it has proved an entire failure. It will always be found
if bees are allowed to pass from one hive to another, that they will
still, for the most part, confine their breeding operations to a single
apartment, if it is of the ordinary size, while the others will be used,
chiefly for the storing of honey. This is almost invariably the case, if
the additional room is given by collateral or side boxes, as the queen
seldom enters such apartments for the purpose of breeding. If the new
hive is directly _below_ that in which the swarm is first lodged, then
if the connections are suitable, the queen will be almost certain to
descend and lay her eggs in the new combs, as soon as they are commenced
by the bees; in this case, the upper hive is almost entirely abandoned
by her, and the bees store the cells with honey, as fast as the brood is
hatched, as their instinct impels them always, if they can, to keep
their stores of honey _above_ the breeding cells. So long as bees have
an abundance of room below their main hive, they will never swarm, but
will use it in the way that I have described; if the room is on the
sides of their hive, and very accessible, they seldom swarm, but if it
is above them, they frequently prefer to swarm rather than to take
possession of it. But in none of these cases, do they ever, _if left to
themselves_, form separate and independent colonies.

I am aware that the Apiarian, by separating from the main hive with a
slide, an apartment that contains brood, and directing to it by some
artificial contrivance a considerable number of bees, may succeed in
rearing an artificial colony; but unless all his hives admit of the most
thorough inspection, as he c