IRISH GARDENING 



85 



blossom. Several swarms from straw skeps and 

 also from frame hives came off on the 18th and 

 19tli May. 



The temperature dropped on the evening of 

 the 19th, completely cutting off the supply of 

 nectar which temx^ted those swaims to form a 

 new home. I saw three of these swarms on 

 the 22nd and tlieir plight Was pitiable indeed, 

 staggering from starvation, and had made no 

 attempt at comb-building. I saw them placed 

 on fall sheets of foundation and well supplied 

 with syrup made with 3 lbs. cane sugar to 

 one quart of water. If those bees had been 

 left without food for about another day they 

 would have died from star\'ati<)n. Early 

 swarms are 

 doubly valu- 

 able when 

 they get a 

 good start, 

 and unless it 

 is certain 



that they can 

 obtain suffi- 

 cient fro m 

 natural sour- 

 ces they 

 should get at 

 leas t o n e 

 q u a r t o f 

 syrup, given 

 as quick as 

 they can take 

 it immedi- 

 ately aftei 

 being placed 

 in the hive 

 in which they 

 are to remain. 

 Where honey 

 is preferred 

 to increase of 



Sa.y. 



DIAPR 



(see p. 



stocks every effort should be 

 made to mitigate the risk of swarmmg. When 

 bees contract the swarming fever, the most 

 ingenious devices of the bee-keeper will 

 not stop it, and much valuable time may 

 be lost during the best of the honey flow. 

 Giving room in the brood chamber and in crates 

 or supers in advance of requirements, keeping 

 tlie hive cool by shading with green branches or 

 canvas awnings, and giving plenty of ventilation 

 during very hot weather, assist in checking a 

 disposition to swarming. Removing frames of 

 brood to form nuclei or strengthen weaker stocks, 

 and substitute empty combs or comb foundation 

 generally prove an effective preventive of 

 swarming. If the outer combs in the brood 

 chamber be broodless and filled with honey, it 

 should be extracted, and the combs returned t<) 



provide additional space for brood rearing. If 

 after all these precautions the bees still persist 

 in swarming and deserting the crates or supers, 

 remove the parent hive to a new stand, where it 

 can be utilised to form nuclei, then hive the 

 swarm on the stand of the parent stock. If the 

 swarm issued from a hive containing ten or 

 eleven well-filled frames of brood, it should be 

 limited to at most eight frames of drawn-out 

 comb or full sheets of foundation. All supers 

 or crates of unfinished sections should be re- 

 moved from the parent hive and placed on the 

 swarm. Treated m this way, especially if it 

 can be done early this month, bees work with 

 redoubled energy, and invariably store nearly 



a s m u c li 

 honey in 

 supers or 

 sections as if 

 they had not 

 swarmed. 



Supers of 

 shallow 

 frames for 

 extracting 

 and crates of 

 sections 

 should be in 

 readiness in 

 anticipation 

 of a heat 

 wave by the 

 t i m e the 

 white clover 

 comes into 

 bloom. If 



the weather 

 conditions 

 be right 

 honey is 

 stored ra- 

 pidly from this source. If, however, the tem- 

 perature should be too low, crates must only be 

 given to the extent that bees can keep them well 

 crowded, otherwise there will be a large percent- 

 age of second grade sections. In what experien- 

 coci beekeepers would term'a moderate honey-flow 

 I Would advise beginners to place the empty crate 

 on the top of the partially- filled one. In this way 

 there is less risk of over-supering, and if a break 

 in the weather occurs after the bees have started 

 storing in the top crate, it is from the top crate 

 they retake what honey they require for their 

 subsistence. During a real good honey flow 

 from white clover, when a good stock will fill a 

 crate of sections in three or four days, it is 

 advisable to place the empty crate under the 

 jiartially filled one. Remove crates of sections 

 innuediately they are finished, as travel stain 



XS101DE.S 



89) 



