Swarm Control. rf 
combs for some time after emergence before going to other parts of 
the hive or to the field. 
In some cases failing queens may be superseded during the swarm- 
ing season, and swarming may result from the presence of queencells 
begun in response to the supersedure impulse. Throughout this dis- 
cussion of the factors which influence the tendency to swarm only 
normal swarming is included. Swarming through supersedure of 
queens, afterswarming, and swarming out because of hunger or ad- 
vanced stages of brood disease have factors in the cause which do not 
apply to ordinary swarming. 
INFLUENCE OF HEREDITY. 
The variation as to swarming in different races of bees, and even 
within the race, has suggested the possibility of producing a non- 
swarming strain of bees. Considerable effort has been expended in 
this direction by breeding only from those colonies which show the 
least disposition to swarm, on the theory that the swarming instinct 
can be bred out. It is not possible to measure accurately the progress 
that has been made in this direction, largely because the breeder, 
during years of careful selection in breeding, may at the same time 
have modified his methods unconsciously, so that the bees swarm less 
because of better management. Considerable progress may have been 
made in reducing swarming by the elimination of undesirable stock, 
and it certainly is advisable to select as a breeding queen one whose 
colony shows little tendency to swarm, other factors being equal. It 
is a good rule to replace the queen of every colony that persists in 
swarming without sufficient cause by a young queen reared from the 
best breeding queen available. There is, however, no reason to expect 
that swarming will ever be eliminated by breeding alone. 
INFLUENCE OF THE HIVE AND COMBS. 
Some of the variation among colonies in the tendency to swarm is 
due to a difference in the hives and the combs. The size and shape 
of the brood-chamber, the character and arrangement of the combs, 
the facility with which the bees can ventilate every part of the brood- 
chamber and supers, and the ability of the bees to control the tempera- 
ture of the air within the hive during hot weather are important 
factors which influence the tendency to swarm. Various hives, there- 
fore, have been devised with the view of eliminating swarming. 
SIZE OF THE BROOD-CHAMBER. 
Usually there is more swarming from hives that have small brood- 
chambers than from those that have large brood-chambers. Under 
favorable conditions a good queen will increase the number of eggs 
which she lays in the spring, as the number of workers to take care of 
the resulting brood increases, until 70,000 or more cells may be occu- 
