SWAKMING. 



433 



SWARMING. 



queen is caged or removed would be too late 

 for service in gathering the harvest, hence 

 only consumers. 



On the other hand, there are those who 

 question whether the bees work just as in- 

 dustriously without a laying queen in the 

 hive. One difficulty abovit the plan is, that 

 it is almost impossible to be sure that no 

 queen-cell has been missed to give rise to 

 very undesirable complications. 



GIVING PLENTY OF ROOM AND RUNNING 

 FOR EXTRACTED HONEY. 



Many times bees will swarm because the 

 apartment for brood-rearing is limited. 

 Contraction and the queen-excluding honey- 

 board give the queen only a limited amount 

 of room, with swarming as the consequence. 

 For this reason it is desirable not to reduce 

 the brood-chamber too much. But whether 

 contraction is practiced or not, the fever 

 may be greatly allayed, and perhaps prevent- 

 ed altogether, by giving an abundance of 

 surplus room on the plan of tiering up. Do 

 not let the colony at any time feel ciowded 

 for space. Judicious tiering up, as described 

 under Comb Honey, will not only secure 

 more honey, but it will largely discourage 

 natural increase when not desired. When 

 running for extracted honey the problem is 

 much easier. Mr.N. E. France, of Platteville, 

 Wis., who produces enormous crops of hon- 

 ey, says he is troubled very little by exces- 

 sive swarming. He does not practice con- 

 traction, but allows the queen and bees 

 plenty of room. If the queen desires to ?o 

 above, she is allowed that privilege. Charles 

 Dadant & Son keep about 500 colonies in 

 large Quinby hives. These hives being so 

 large, the bees are but little inclined to 

 swarm. In fact, Mr. Dadant says, in the 

 American Bee Journal, page 311, Vol. XXV., 

 " For more than fifteen years we have dis- 

 pensed with watching the bees of our liome 

 apiary, numbering from 80 to 100 colonies. 

 As the yearly number of natural swarms 

 does not exceed two or three, the expense 

 of such watching would be far above the 

 profit." While large hives filled with combs 

 or foundation tend to prevent if not dis- 

 courage swarming altogether, for other rea- 

 sons other bee-keepers seem to prefer small- 

 er sizes, such as the Langstroth. See Da- 

 dant hive, under Hives. 



THE prevention OF SWARMING BY THE 



SHAKE-OUT OR BRUSHED-SWARM 



PLAN. 



The control of swarming when operating 

 for extracted honey, especially if large hives 



are used (or small hives with one or more 

 stories), is comparatively simple ; but when 

 one proposes to run for comb honey, and feels 

 compelled to use small brood-chambers be- 

 cause of the shortness of tlie season in this 

 locality, the problem has not been so easy of 

 solution. But in Germany, and lately in 

 America, a plan has come in vogue that 

 looks now as if it might give us control. 

 At all events, those who have tried it are 

 very enthusiastic in its praise, and feel that 

 for them, at least, the vexed question has 

 been settled for all time. The plan is, in 

 brief, this : 



After the honey-flow has begun, and per- 

 haps three or four days (not earlier) before 

 the colony is expected to cast a swarm, the 

 hive is moved to one side of the stand, and 

 an empty one, just like it, is put in its place.* 

 In this hive are placed frames having foun- 

 dation starters or frames with full sheets 

 —preferably the latter. But if neither is 

 available, empty combs may be used. The 

 bees of the parent colony are then shaken or 

 brushed in front of the entrance of the new 

 hive on the old stand. Some go so far as to 

 brush (dl the bees out of the old hive ; and 

 this ( an be done if the weather is hot and 

 the nights warm ; for young hatching brood 

 will soon be out to take care of the young 

 brood. The snpers from the parent hive are 

 next put on the new one. The parent col- 

 ony is then moved to a new location or left 

 by the side of the new hive with its entrance 

 facing in the same direction. In either case 

 the entrance should be contracted. 



If work is already partly begun in the 

 super, the bees will continue work, and rush 

 the honey above. In some cases it may be 

 advisable to use perforated zinc between the 

 super and brood-nest to keep the queen 

 below. 



The plan will meet favor, especially with 

 those in k calities where the season is short 

 and the honey-flow rapid; and it will doubt- 

 less enable many usually getting no comb 

 honey at all to secure a good crop. 



The question may be asked, " AVhat is 

 done with the parent hive and all its brood V"' 

 If left beside the new colony, the brood, 

 when liatched out, is sh.iken in front of the 

 new hive, so that at the last drive all the bees 

 that would have been hatched in the origi- 

 nal colony are now given to the brushed 



* Reports show that, if the colony is shaken or brush- 

 ed, from a week to ten days befoie a swarm would other- 

 wise issue, no good will be accomplished, and that the 

 bees will be likely to swarm. The shaking should not 

 take place he/ore the bees feel and show the desire to 

 swarm. 



