328 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



drones, finally make preparations for 

 swarming. But above all was the ten- 

 dei.cy of drones from other colonies to 

 enter these hives. Drones, unlike 

 worker bees, are liable to enter hives 

 in the vicinity of those in which they 

 were reared. Thisconting-ency restores 

 the normal condition to colonies hav- 

 ing- no drone comb, thus counteracting- 

 the influence which would result from 

 using worker cells exclusively. Thus 

 the theory was disposed of. 



Inasmuch as unlimited room outside 

 the brood apartment will not prevent 

 swarming, the writer concluded to ex- 

 pand the brood nest, without increas- 

 ing the brood area. This, as the out- 

 come of having made wooden combs, 

 was to construct them without a septum 

 or base. In other words they were 

 open at both ends; which left ceils 

 which could not be filled with honey. 

 These were introduced between, and 

 alternated with, the regular combs o^ 

 the hive, thus expanding the colony 

 without increasing the area of brood 

 cells. This departure largely reduced 

 the crowded condition, and greatly re- 

 tarded swarming; and was the first 

 evdence to my mind that swarming 

 could positively be controlled. How- 

 ever, these perforated dummies were a 

 barrier to the queen in her passage 

 from comb to comb. As a result, the 

 queen would frequently be found occu- 

 pying but three or four combs, in 

 which case the colony would endeavor 

 to supersede her, and swarming would 

 be the result. 



To overcome this objection, these 

 perforated dummies were made in 

 three divisions, separated by a ^-inch 

 space running horizontally from end 

 to end. The result of this change was 

 another step in advance. However, 

 after two or three seasons' experiment- 

 ing with dummies, which were made 

 of different depths and thicknesses, 

 but little gain was made. 



Following these experiments, was 

 a radical change. That suggested to 



the mind of the writer was the sub- 

 stitution of slatted frames for the per- 

 forated ones. These gave the queen 

 absolute freedom in her passage from 

 comb to comb at any point desired. 

 The first of these slatted frames were 

 made one-half inch in thickness, and, 

 with a result that retarded swarming 

 in all colonies, and prevented, perhaps, 

 a quarter of them from swarming. Be- 

 lieving in the ultimate success of such 

 slatted frames, an additional thickness 

 was decided upon the following season, 

 and three-quarters of an inch was 

 established for the experiment that 

 season. While the results were more 

 favorable, it was evident that an in- 

 crease in thickness was requisite; so 

 one inch was adopted, which gave still 

 better results. For the following sea- 

 son one inch and a half was decided 

 upon, together with a few about one 

 inch and a quarter. The results of 

 these were favorable to the greatest 

 width, one inch and a half being the 

 same spacing as natural combs. How- 

 ever, fully one half of the colonies 

 swarmed during an excessive honey 

 flow. 



As a further means of overcoming 

 this tendency, dummies were placed at 

 the sides of the hives, in addition to 

 alternating them with the brood combs. 

 Still (he result was not satisfactory; 

 frequently as many as half the colonies 

 would swarm. 



The reader cannot but realize the 

 great difficulties and expense attend- 

 ant upon producing inventions. These 

 changes were made to fit from forty to 

 fifty colonies annually. And, to add 

 to the difficulty, but one experiment of 

 the whole can be made in a year. To 

 test it upon a few would not afford a 

 ■proper average for correct results. 



Noticing the tendency of bees to enter 

 supers more freely where the passage- 

 way happened to be directly above the 

 space between the combs, also, that 

 more honey was stored above such 

 direct communication, suggested the 



