182 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



the swarm can be made as soon as the 

 colony is strong- enouj^h. But suppose 

 we work for comb honey and keep our 

 colonies in small hives (eig^ht-frame 

 Langstroth). We have given a sec- 

 tion super, and probably the bees have 

 already commenced to work in the sec- 

 tions. At such times we should prob- 

 ably get more section honey from this 

 colony if it would not swarm at all. 

 For this reason the proper way will be 

 to wait till the colony makes prepara- 

 tion to swarm, and as we do not want 

 natural swarms we make one artifici- 

 ally because a natural swarm would 

 come out a few days afterward any- 

 how. 



But in my opinion it is better to use 

 a larger brood chamber in the spring, 

 because we will raise a much stronger 

 colony in it wilh less work than in 

 these small hives. When the honey- 

 flow commences we make the shaken 

 swarm, no matter whether queen-cells 

 are started or not, ^nd hive it in a 

 small brood-nest (six-frame Langs- 

 troth size), and give- the section supers 

 to this swarm. Generally these col- 

 onies in large hives are not inclined to 

 swarm, consequently it is out of the 

 question to wait for queen-cells. The 

 shaking- of the bees here is not for the 

 purpose of anticipating swarming, as 

 in the former case, but to force the bees 

 into the sections by a contracted brood- 

 nest without combs. This leads us to 

 another question. 



2. Shall the shaken swarm be hived 

 on drawn combs, full sheets of founda- 

 tion, or on starters? 



About 18 years ago W. Z. Hutchin- 

 son published a little book in which he 

 described his experiments in hiving 

 swarms on combs, foundation, or 

 starters if worked for comb honey, and 

 at that time this little book settled the 

 question that it is more profitable to 

 hive swarms on starters only in a con- 

 tracted brood-chamber than in any 

 other way, and the reason was given 

 why it is so. As this is true now just 

 as well as eighteen years ago, and just 

 as well for artificial swarms as for 

 natural ones, it seems there could be 

 no doubt if comb honey is to be pro- 

 duced. Nevertheless, there is room for 

 a question. By the use of starters in 

 the brood-nest a small amount more of 

 section honey may be secured than by 

 the use of full sheets of foundation; 

 but in the later case nicer all-worker 

 combs can be secured without any loss 

 of time and labor. For this reason, at 

 certain times it may be more profitable 



to use full sheets of foundation in the 

 brosd-nest. Every bee-keeper has to 

 decide this question for himself. The 

 use of drone combs is alwajs a loss 

 except, perhaps, when extracted honey 

 is produced, and even then I would not 

 allow it. 



The use of empty combs or full sheets 

 of foundation has no influence on the 

 fact that sometimes natural or shaken 

 swarms come out and abscond 



3. This swarming-out of shaken 

 swarms on one of the following days, 

 or of starting queen-cells on a comb of 

 brood g-iven to them, is the most fre- 

 quently' raised objection to these 

 shaken swarms. 



If we shake or brush all the bees of 

 a colony with the queen into a hive and 

 set it on a new stand the old bees will 

 return to the parent hive on the old 

 stand; and as such a swarm, contain- 

 ing young bees only, will never think 

 of swarming out or starting queen- 

 cells, we can give to this swarm capped 

 or uncapped brood. If the same 

 swarm is set on the old stand, and the 

 parent colony on the the new one, the 

 bees act differently. The old bees re- 

 turning from the field, and finding a 

 nearly' empty brood-chamber, are very 

 uneasy; and if the swarming impulse 

 is already incited they will very prob- 

 ably swarm out or make preparation 

 to swarm. Some of the old bees may 

 enter neighboring hives and unite with 

 them; even the queen maj' be killed in 

 the general disturbance. To avoid 

 this, at least one frame of mostly un- 

 sealed brood should be given to the 

 swarm. This will keep the colony 

 together. 



Whether this frame of brood can re- 

 main with the swarm depends on cir- 

 cumstances. Some races or strains of 

 bees are more inclined to swarm than 

 others. In some localities the bees 

 swarm considerably more than in 

 others. Some years are more favor- 

 able for swarming than others. Last, 

 but not least, if the colonies are al- 

 ways kept in small hives they are more 

 inclined to swarm than if large hives 

 are used during development of the 

 colony and during swarming time. At 

 such times, which are favorable for 

 swarming, a large part of the shaken 

 swarms, if we let them alone, will 

 swarm out or will make preparations 

 to swarm, and refuse to do much work. 

 If, besides the brood, some honey is 

 given to the shaken swarm the prob- 

 ability of swarming out is still great- 

 er; and if the old colony has already 



