SWARMING. 



420 



SWARMING. 



PRErARATIONS FOR SWARMING, TO REMADE 

 BY THE BEE-KEEPER. 



Every apiarist, even if he have but a cou- 

 ple of hives, should make preparations for 

 swarming, to some extent; for, even though 

 dividing (see Nucleus, also Increase) is 

 practiced, and utmost care used to prevent 

 swarms, there will always be a chance that 

 on« may come out unexpectedly. First of 

 all before the swarming season the wings of 



A LIVE BEE-IIAT. 



all qiieens should be clipped, and hives made 

 ready, extra combs placed in the honey- 

 house where you can put your hand on them 

 at any minute. We would also have some 

 colonies marked where we could get a comb 

 of unsealed larvae without very much trouble; 

 that is, make up your mind what hive you 

 are to go to, in case you should want such a 

 comb in a hurry. Bees will often swarm on 

 Sunday; and as we do not wish to work with 

 our bees on the Sabbath more than is abso- 

 lutely necessary, it behooves us to be at all 

 times prepared to take care of a swarm 

 vith very little trouble. We can remember 



having swarms on Sunday, when it became 

 necessary to hunt up a hive, decide on its 

 location, hunt up some empty combs, and 

 then look over colonies to find one with no 

 surplus boxes on, that we might get at a 

 brood-comb with as little trouble as possible 

 to put in the new hive, to prevent them de- 

 camping. All these things take time, and 

 more than one swarm has departed while a 

 hive was being made ready to receive them. 

 If you keep the wings of your queens clip- 

 ped as we have advised, you will need some 

 queen-cages where you can lay your hands 

 on them at a minute's notice, for there are 

 times when you need to step about as lively 

 as you would at a house on fire, so you do not 

 want to be bothered by hunting for things. 



MILLER QUEEN-CATCHER. 



The best queen-catcher, or, rather, cage 

 for confining the queen during the swarm- 

 ing season, is the Miller introducing-cage, a 

 cut of which will be found under Introduc- 

 ing. We will suppose that a swarm has 

 just issued, and that your clipped queen is 

 hopping around the entrance of the hive. 

 Your wife or attendant, feeling some hesi- 

 tancy about picking up so delicate an object 

 by her silken wings, can take a cage of this 

 kind and place the mouth directly over her. 

 In a moment, finding herself confined, she 

 will ascend into the cage. The little wood- 

 en plug is now inserted, when your captive 

 queen can be placed among the flying bees, 

 and the swarm hived as next described. 

 The cage is also used for introducing. See 

 Introducing. 



HOW to hive a swarm with clipped 

 queen; the plan we prefer. 



Under the general head of Queens, sub- 

 head Clipping, we have already given inti- 

 mation how swarming can be controlled to 

 a certain extent by clipping. Where the plan 

 of forcing the swarm ahead of time by brush- 

 ing or shaking* is not practiced, clipping 

 has come to be almost universal among 

 j comb-honey producers; for where queens' 

 ! wings are clipped, or they are prevented 

 from leaving the hive by the use of Alley 

 traps or entrance-guards (see Drones), a 

 great amount of labor will be saved. 



We shall assume that all queens in the api- 

 ary have their wings clipped. A swarm 

 comes forth. Go to the hive from which it 

 is issuing ; and, while they are coming out, 

 find the queen, which will be found, in all 

 probability, hopping around in the grass 



* This plan is described under Prevention of 

 Swarming a few pages further on. 



