Swarm Contra 31 
chamber at the time of hiving the swarm may cause the bees to 
swarm out. 
Contraction of the brood-chamber forces the bees to do most of 
their work in the supers; therefore a good crop of honey may be 
obtained in this way even during a short honey-flow, but after the 
honey has been removed from the hive at the close of the season such 
colonies are practically without stores and should either be reunited 
with the parent colony or supplied with a sufficient quantity of honey 
for fall and winter stores. This can be done easily by leaving for 
the bees a second hive body with combs which are practically filled 
with sealed honey. 
Combs of honey and combs containing only sealed brood, together 
with honey and pollen in the new brood-chamber, have au effect simi- 
lar to that of contraction of the brood-chamber. Combs with most 
of the honey sealed should not be used for this purpose unless they 
are placed at the sides, since such combs in the middle of the new 
brood-chamber may cause a stagnation of colony activity (pp. 13 
and 15), 
SWARMING OUT. 
After a swarm has been hived it sometimes deserts the new hive or 
“swarms out.” This may occur the day the swarm is hived, or the 
next day, and sometimes even on the third day after hiving. It may 
occur either with natural swarms or with artificial swarms. Swarm- 
ing out apparently is often caused by a lack of room in the new hive 
or by discomfort from some other cause, though occasionally a newly 
hived swarm may leave the hive when no cause for their dissatisfac- 
tion is apparent. This trouble may be prevented or greatly reduced 
by placing an empty hive body, without frames, below the new brood- 
chamber for two or three days, by providing ample ventilation and 
shade for the new hive at the time of hiving the swarm, and by using 
one or more empty combs which have been used previously for 
brood-rearing in the new brood-chamber instead of frames of founda- 
tion exclusively. Combs of unsealed brood are not recommended for 
this purpose. Entrance guards or queentraps may be placed on the 
entrance of the new hive for a few days to prevent the queen escap- 
ing, if newly hived swarms are inclined to swarm out, but the trouble 
usually can be prevented by making provision for the comfort of the 
bees, especially for the first day or two. 
When artificial swarming is practiced (p. 34) in comb-honey pro- 
duction, swarming out can be prevented by taking away the combs 
of brood in two installments, with an interval of three or four days 
between. In the first operation half or more of the brood should be 
taken away and frames of foundation given in their place, and three 
or four days later all the remaining combs of brood should be 
removed. 
