34 COMB HONEY. 
Some beekeepers accomplish a somewhat similar result by hiving 
two swarms together in a single hive body. 
When practicing contraction it is best to give the full amount of 
room at the time of hiving the swarm and to reduce the space three 
or four days later, as otherwise the bees are apt to ‘‘swarm out” 
because of their cramped quarters. Since contraction of the brood 
chamber is but a temporary expedient, it should not be continued 
beyond the time that its use is of advantage. If there should be a 
later honey flow, the brood chamber should be expanded in time to 
rear the bees for it. In any event, contraction should not continue 
so long as to interfere with securing the proper conditions of the 
colonies for winter (p. 21). Frames of foundation, empty combs, 
frames of brood or honey may be used to complete the set of combs 
when expanding the brood chamber, and these are usually given 
just before or at the close of the honey flow. Contraction of the 
brood chamber to less than one hive body, except in hiving swarms, 
is not usually advisable. 
Swarm Control by Manipulation. 
Swarm control by manipulation enables the beekeeper to operate 
a series of apiaries by visiting each at certain intervals, thus eliminat- 
ing the necessity of an attendant in each apiary during the swarming 
season. The fact that bees usually, by the construction of queen 
cells, indicate about a week in advance their intention to swarm, 
enables the beekeeper to control swarming by examining each colony 
once a week during the swarming period and forestalling the colonies 
that are making preparations to swarm. It is also possible to manipu- 
late all the colonies before any swarming occurs so that most of them 
go through the honey flow without swarming, thus eliminating the 
weekly examinations. 
Any manipulation for swarm control, whether applied after the 
colony has acquired the ‘‘swarming fever’’ or applied to all colonies 
alike previous to the swarming season, is based upon the single 
principle—a temporary disturbance in the continuity of the daily 
emergence of brood. This disturbance should occur just previous to 
or during the swarming season. In natural swarming the brood and 
the swarm are separated, the swarm being without hatching brood 
during a period of three weeks. The brood from which the swarm 
came may be allowed to emerge in a separate hive and the resulting 
bees may then be returned to the swarm (p. 29). In this way the 
swarming instinct is satisfied, at least temporarily, without materially 
decreasing the population of the colony. The beekeeper may antici- 
pate swarming by removing the brood from the hive, allowing it to 
emerge in a separate hive and finally returning these young bees to 
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