1498 Department of Agriculture 



the hive partially covered with bees. Such an entrance to a hive 

 is a mistake and a loss to the beekeeper. The entrance to my 

 hives are the full width of the inside measure of the hive, seven- 

 teen inches, and during the time of gathering surplus honey 

 one and one-eighth inches deep. 



Then as to supers : In the production of extracted honey, the 

 bees should be given plenty of surplus room to store and ripen 

 their honey. I have had five full depth extracting supers on a 

 hive and practically all the room occupied with honey at the 

 close of the flow and no swarming impulse. Who could obtain 

 these results in a five-week clover flow from the combined sur- 

 plus crop of a parent colon}^ and a swarm ? 



Shade during the heat of the day is an important factor in the 

 prevention of swarming, A row of colonies on the west side of 

 a fence in the direct rays of the south and west sun is more liable 

 to swarm than if the same row stood under the shelter of an apple 

 tree with only the morning and evening sun upon the hives. 



Again, a colony will often swarm, and if the queen is clipped, 

 owing to the absence of a queen among them, the bees undertake 

 to return to the old stand, and sometimes scatter along a row of 

 hives and enter them. I believe these bees tend to set up the 

 swaiTuing impulse wherever the conditions for such are at all 

 favorable. 



Some varieties of bees are much less inclined to swarm than 

 others. It is only a master beekeeper and a specialist who should 

 undertake to run varieties of bees strongly inclined to swarming. 



Lastly, the season: We know there are seasons during which 

 bees are much more inclined to swarm than others. In tropical 

 countries bees do not swarm during heavy flows but when the 

 conditions for nectar gathering are only moderate, swarming sets 

 in. 



My observation leads me to believe that the same, to some ex- 

 tent at least, is true in our own land and that steady heavy flows 

 tend to diminish swarming; erratic and changeable flows tend to 

 increase swarming. 



A large and contented colony is the foundation to successful 

 honey production, since " In union there is strength." To keep 

 strong colonies from the swarming impulse rather than to break 

 it up after they have it, is the key to success. 



