AFTER-SWARMING. 



ascended to the top of an apple-tree dnring 

 a hot July day to hive a very small third 

 swarm. He soon came down, in breathless 

 haste, to inform ns that the swarm was all 

 queens; and, in i)roof of it, brought two or 

 three in his closed-ui) liands. 



Years ago after-swaruiing was considered 

 a sort of necessary evil that had to be toler- 

 ated because it could not be obviated ; but 

 in no well-regulated apiary should it be al- 

 lowed. Many consider it good practice to 

 permit one swarm— the first one. After that 

 all others are restrained. Cutting out all 

 tiie queen-cells but one may have the effect 

 of I'reventing a second swarm; but the prac- 

 tice is objectionable— chiefly because one 

 can not be s^ire that he destroys all but one. 

 If there are two cells the occupant of one of 

 them, when she hatches, is likely to bring 

 out an after-swarm; indeed, we may say 

 that, as long as there are young queens to 

 hatch, there are likely to be after-swarms 

 up to the number of three or four. 



But the practical honey-producers of to- 

 day consider cell-cutting for the prevention 

 of these little swarms as waste of time, al- 

 though they may and do cut out cells to pre- 

 vent prime or first swarms. There are 

 some who deem it advisable to prevent 

 swarming altogether. The plan usually 

 adopted to prevent second swarms is about 

 as follows; 



The wings of all queens in the apiary 

 should be clipped, or else there should be 

 entrance-guards over the colonies. As soon 

 as the first swarm comes forth, and while 

 the bees are in the air, the queen, if clipped, 

 is found in front of the entrance of the old 

 hive. She is caged, and the old hive is lifted 

 off the old stand, and an empty one contain- 

 ing frames of foundation or empty combs is 

 put in its place. A perforated zinc honey- 

 board is next put on top, after which, the 

 supers, now^ on the old stand. The queen in 

 her cage is placed in front of the entrance, 

 and the old hive is next carried to an entire- 

 ly new location. In the mean time the 

 swarm returns to find the queen at the old 

 stand; and when the bees are Avell started 

 to running into the entrance she is released, 

 and allowed to go in with them. Most of 

 the old or flying bees that happen to be lelt 

 in the old colony, now^ on the new location, 

 will go back to the old stand to strengthen 

 further the swarm. This will so depopulate 

 the parent colony that there will Inrdly be 

 bees enougli left to cause any after-swarm- 

 ing, and the surplus of young queens will 

 liave to fight it out among themse'lvcs— the 



AGE OF BEES. 



''survival of the fittest" being, of course, 

 the only one left. She will be mated in the 

 regular way, and the few bees with her will 

 not, of c(mrse, follow her, as there will not 

 be enough of them to make a respectable 

 after-swarm. 



heddon's method. 



The first swarm is allowed to come forth; 

 and while it is in the air the parent colony 

 is removed from its stand and placed a few 

 inches to one side, with its entrance point- 

 ing at right angles to its former jxisition. 

 For instance, if the old hive faced the east, 

 it will now look toward the north. Another 

 hive is placed on the old stand, filled with 

 frames of wired foundation. The swaim is 

 put in this hive, and at the end of tw^o days 

 the parent hive is turned around so that its 

 entrance points in the same direction as the 

 hive that now has the swarm. Just as soon 

 as young queens of the ])arent colony are 

 likely to liatch it is carried to a new location 

 during the middle of the day or when the 

 bees are flying the thickest. The result is, 

 these flying bees will go back to the hive 

 having the swarm. This, like the otlier 

 method described, so depletes the parent 

 hive that any attempt at after- swarming is 

 effectually forestalled. 



A variation from this plan makes it easier 

 and just as good. Hive the swarm on the 

 old stand and set the old hive close beside it, 

 botii facing the same w^ay. A week later, 

 when most bees are out, remove the old hive 

 to a new stand. That leaves the old colony 

 just as much depleted as the longer way: 

 and the depletion coming more suddenly 

 will more thoroughly discourage all thought 

 of further swarming. 



ACrZj or BEES.— It may be lather 

 difficult to decide how long a worker bee 

 would live if kept from wearing itself out 

 by the active labors of the field; six montiis 

 certainly, and jierhaps a year; but tlie aver- 

 age life (luring the summer time is not over 

 three months, and perhaps during the height 

 of the clover-bloom not over six or eight 

 weeks. The matter is easily determined by 

 introducing an Italian queen to a hive of 

 black bees at different periods of the year. 

 If done in May or June, w^e shall have all 

 Italians in the fall: and if we note when the 

 last black bees hatch out, and the time when 

 no black bees are to be found in the colony, 

 we shall have a pretty accurate idea of tlie 

 age of the b'acks. The Italians will i)erhaps 

 liold out under the same circumstances a 

 hair longer. If we iiitroducc the Italian 



