winter stock; he must clean the whole garden, crop the grass and herbs, and destroy all the enemies of the bees that begin to try to settle themselves either in the garden or in its vicinity.

The hives once used he must wash with hot water, clean them well, and dry them thoroughly. In fine, he must prepare everything necessary for the swarming season.

II. DUTIES IN THE EARLY SUMMER.

XVI. THE WATCHING AND MARKING OF THE WINTER STOCK-HIVES, INTENDING TO CAST YOUNG SWARMS.

In this season only, which is the most troublesome, requiring also the most strict attention, the beekeeper of a large establishment must be aided by all his family, or some other persons, as this time is of the utmost importance, and everything under-mentioned must be strictly observed and accurately performed.

About the middle of June, sometimes even in the beginning of it, the swarming commences in Poland; in warmer provinces, or when the month of May is unusually beautiful, the swarming begins at the end of that month. The beekeeper is bound to watch in every fine summer day from eight o'clock in the morning until three o'clock

in the afternoon, to observe which hive casts a swarm; such hive must be marked at once, as this is of the greatest importance for regulating the strength of the colonies. The swarm must be hived immediately.

XVII. REGULATION OF THE STRENGTH OF EACH

HIVE.

Every evening during the swarming season, the beekeeper must visit those winter stock-hives, that during the same day have cast a swarm. This may be known by observing the room occupied by the bees in the interior of the hive, and it may be easily perceived if they are too much crowded or not. Should the colony prove to be too thinly populated, the casting out of another swarm must be prevented on the next morning before sun-rise, as it is described under Sect. xx. But should its population prove overgrown, it may be permitted to cast a second swarm. of the utmost importance to have strong colonies, because a strong community produces always more than half-a-dozen feeble ones, a fact known to every experienced apiarian. The unexperienced may be convinced of it by this argument, viz.Six feeble swarms, hived in six different hives, begin their work by smoothing the interior of the hive, and by constructing the different sorts

It is

of cells to propagate their species, before they begin to construct and to fill the honey-combs; a fact that agrees with the natural history of the bee, and which is known to every one. Now, the time which these six feeble colonies employ in the above-described proceedings, would be employed by them, when thrown into one strong colony, in gathering honey, as they would want only to construct the cells once, which would be effected in five-sixths less time. Sometimes, when the colony is very feeble, it spends the best season for gathering honey, in the construction of the above-mentioned cells, and loses the best time for providing nourishment, and also disappoints the expectations of the keeper.

XVIII. PROCEEDINGS IN HIVING THE SWARMS.

When the stands and hives are prepared as described under Sect. xv., the beekeeper must have, always on the days of swarming, the rope, the boat-hook, one or two clean linen sheets, and some honey. The honey serves to smear over a little the interior of the hive, to induce the swarm to settle in it more readily. When the swarm settles on a high tree, the hive, smeared inside with some honey, must be wound up near them, and the branches on which the swarm has settled must be cautiously shaken by means

of the boat-hook; the bees so disturbed, smelling the honey in the hive, will very soon hive themselves in it. If the swarm is not settled very high, the queen must be taken cautiously and slowly, and put into the hive: the rest will soon follow her. The queen does not sting, and, to prevent her subjects stinging, a glove is required; but the bees generally at the time of wandering are not so inimical as in the autumn; they seem to know their expatriated state, and are more humble, but in autumn they stand as an established community, ready to attack any intruder.

The hive is shut with the lid at the top, when the swarm is to be hived; they enter it by the entrance, or the open bottom. Some hive the swarm first in a large clay pot, smeared also with some honey, and place it in the evening on a linen sheet in the open air, or if it rains, under a roof, and cover them with the hive, which they enter very soon. Some beekeepers, to lessen their trouble, take the precaution of hanging some hives, during the day of swarming, on high trees in the vicinity of their apiary, which is generally chosen by the bees, before they start on their voyage, for their new habitation, and to which they proceed directly after leaving their native

home.

XIX. HOW TO PREVENT THE YOUNG SWARMS FROM DIVIDING.

Sometimes a young swarm divides itself into two or three; to prevent such disunion, the beekeeper must watch every swarm he hives, to ascertain if there is more than one queen amongst them. Should there be more than one, he must take the others, and keep them in a glass pot, covered with paper in which a few small holes are made, and give them some drops of honey, and introduce them when required into a young or old community, which often loses its queen in the first five or six days after being hived.

XX. HOW TO PREVENT THE OLD HIVES FROM ENFEEBLING AND DESTROYING THEMSELVES BY

OVER-BREEDING.

So far as I have ascertained, all foreign authors agree that swarming cannot be very easily prevented, especially where the swarms are crowded into a confined space, like those in the straw hives; hence the numerous observations, conjectures, and experiments by which the cause of swarming has been ascertained, and which has led to the invention of the ventilating system, and the construction of very ingenious ventilating hives. In Poland, notwithstanding the excessive