ABSCONDING SWARMS. 



ABSCONDING SWARMS. 



when no one is at home ? We are happy to 

 say there is a very certain and safe remedy 

 for all cases of first swarming, in having the 

 wings of the queen clipped so she can not 

 lly; this phtn is m very general use, and 

 answers excellently for all hrst swarms; but, 

 alas ! the after-swarnis are the very ones 

 that are most apt to abscond, and we can 

 not clip the wings of their queens, because 

 they have not yet taken their wedding-llight. 

 What shall we doV In the first place, second 

 or after swarms should not be allowed. If 

 the parent hive, after it has cast its first 

 swarm, is treated as recommended under 

 the head of ArrEK Swakms, there will be 

 no further swarming from that colony for 

 that season. We recommend the Heddon 

 method. See page 4. 



Clipping the wings of the queen or putting 

 on drone-traps (see Dhones) will prevent 

 losing Hrst swarms by absconding, it is true; 

 but it does not always prevent losing the 

 queen. She goes out with the bees as usual, 

 and, after hopping about in front of the hive, 

 sometimes gets ready to go back at about 

 the sanu' time that the bees do, after having 

 discovered she is not in the crowd. Even if 

 she gets some little distance from the hive^ 

 the loud hum they make as they return will 

 guide her home many times ; but unless the 

 apiarist is at hand at such times to look 

 after affairs, many queens wull be lost, and 

 the bees will rear a lot of young queens, and 

 go into after-swarming in good earnest, 

 making even the first swarm an "after- 

 swarm. A German friend, who knows lit- 

 tle of bee-culture, once told us owy liees were 

 swarming, and if we did not ring the bells 

 etc., they would certainly go to the woods. 

 As we quietly i»icked up the queen in pass- 

 ing the hive, we told him if they started to 

 go away, we would call them back. Sure 

 enough, they did start for the woods, and 

 had gone so far that we really began to be 

 frightened ourselves, when, away in the dis- 

 tance, we saw them suddenly wheel about, 

 and then return to the hive at our very feet. 

 While he gave us the credit of having some 

 supernatural power over bees, we felt ex- 

 tremely glad we had taken precautions to 

 clip all our queens' wings but a few days 

 before. After this we felt a little ])roud of 

 our control over these wayward insects, until 

 a fine swarm of Italians started oft' under 

 similar circumstances, and, despite our very 

 complacent, positive remarks, to the effect 

 that they would soon come home, they went 

 off and stayed " off." In a humbler, and, we 

 dare say, wiser frame of mind, we investi- 



gated, and found they had joined with a very 

 small third swarm of black bees, and had 

 just come from one of the neighbor's hives. 

 We tried to " explain," but it required a 

 five-dollar bill to make matters so clear that 

 we could carry back our rousing swarm of 

 yellow bees, and sort out the black unfertile 

 queen, that they might be made to accept 

 their own. Thus you see how many a slip 

 there is. in bee culture, between cup and lip, 

 and how very important it is that you keep 

 posted, and also ''post" yourself in some 

 conspicuous place near or in the apiary if 

 you allow natural swarming, and do not 

 want your golden visions— and bees — to take 

 to themselves wings and fly away. 



ABSCONDING FOK WANT OF FOOD. 



Perhaps bees of tener desert their hives be- 

 cause they are short of stores than from any 

 other cause ; and many times, in the spring, 

 they seem to desert because they are nearly 

 out. They issue from the hive, and alight in 

 a tree very much like a normal swarm dur- 

 ing the swarming season. The remedy, or, 

 rather, preventive, for this state of affairs, is 

 so plain we hardly need discuss it. After 

 they have swarmed out, and are put back 

 into the hive, give a heavy comb of sealed 

 stores; if that can not be obtained, feed 

 them a little at a time, until they have 

 plenty, and be sure that they have brood in 

 the combs. If necessary, give them a comb 

 of unsealed larvje from some other hive, and 

 then feed them luitil they have a great 

 abundance of food. One should be ashamed 

 of having bees abscond for want of food. 



ABSCONDING IN EARLY SPRING. 



This seems to occur jirst at a time when 

 we can ill afford to lose a single bee ; and, 

 worse still, only wlien our stocks are, gener- 

 ally, rather weak, so that we dislike the idea 

 of losing any of them. In this case they do 

 not, as a general thing, seem to care partic- 

 ularly for going to the woods, but rather 

 take a fancy to pushing their way into some 

 of the adjoining hives, and, at times, a whole 

 apiary will seem so crazy with the idea as to 

 become utterly demoralized. 



A neighbor, who made a liobby of small 

 hives— less than half the usual size— one fine 

 April day had as many as 40 colonies leave 

 their hives and cluster together in all sorts 

 of promiscuous combinations. To say that 

 their owner was perplexed, would be stating 

 the matter very mildly. 



Similar cases, though perhaps not as bad, 

 have been reported from time to time, ever 

 since novices commenced to learn the sci- 

 ences of bee culture ; and although cases of 



