THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



57 



as the first, if you find any colonies mak- 

 ing preparations to swarm. This treat- 

 ment will prevent all swarming^, and 

 enable the bee-keeper to keep his whole 

 force of workers together during the 

 honey harvest. The bees at once begin 

 to drag out the headless brood 'and 

 scatter it far and wide, and in from 

 twelve to twenty-four hours every vestige 

 of brood operated upon will be removed 

 from the hive. The bees will polish up 

 the cells from which they have removed 

 the dead brood, and the queen will .begin 

 laying in them at once instead of the 

 bees plugging them full of honey as 

 might be expected. The bees start to 

 work at once with all the vim and energy 

 of a prime swarm, without any further 

 attempt to swarm out. It is simply 

 wonderful how quickly a hive full of 

 loafers can be transformed into the most 

 energetic workers. 



Now let us see what the advantages of 

 this method are as compared with the 

 methods previously published. 1st. It 

 'starts the bees to work immediately and 

 there will be no loafing, sulking or ab- 

 sconding of swarms, as so frequently 

 happens with shook-swarming or other 

 well known methods of swarm control. 

 2nd. It represents the saving of an 

 endless amount of labor as compared 

 with other methods. Five to ten minutes- 

 is ample time for the first operation and 

 still Ipss if a second is needed. The bees 

 of that colony are then effectually cured 

 of all swarm preparations for that season. 

 As a time-saver it is without a parallel 

 in bee-keeping. Manipulation takes time 

 and has a money value to the bee-keeper. 

 It takes an enormous amount of time to 

 carry out some of the non-swarming 

 systems, and when handling colonies by 

 the hundred it takes a large share of the 

 honey crop to pay for the time spent in 

 useless manipulation. 3rd. The treat- 

 ment is especially adapted to the comb 

 honey producer's needs, making it as 

 easy to raise comb as extracted honey. 

 The whole of his working force can be 

 kept together throughout the honey flow 

 without any desire to swarm, and every 

 comb honey producer will readily under- 

 stand what that means. Out yards can 

 be established, and comb honey raised 

 cheaper and with less labor than ex- 

 tracted honey is today, with present 

 methods. 



As a rule, give the treatment to the 

 comb honey colonies at the time you put 

 on the second super which should be 

 given when the first super is about half 

 to two-thirds full. This is about the time !; 

 the bees usually make preparations toil 



swarm. The first super should be given 

 about ten days before the honey flow is 

 on. When you have all the bees you 

 want, give them the treatment, paying 

 no attention to whether they are making 

 preparations to swarm or not. In either 

 case they will not swarm. Give the 

 treatment to all the. colonies that are full 

 of bees. Then, on the next round, notice 

 all the colonies that are working ener- 

 getically and let them sevferely alone un- 

 less they require more super room; and, 

 if so, give it to them. You can rest as- 

 sured that there are no swarm prepara- 

 tions—no need of making an examina- 

 tion of the brood nest. If any colonies 

 are found loafing, hanging out, or work- 

 ing in a listless, half-hearted way, and 

 have not accomplished much in the supers, 

 open the hive and examine the brood 

 nest, as swarm preparations are under 

 way. Give them the second treatment ■ 

 at this juncture, and you will have 

 "knocked swarming in the head" for the 

 season as far as that colony is con- 

 cerned. The comb honey producer can 

 feel that he is master of the situation, 

 being able to run his bees and not have 

 his bees run him. 



4th. It is equally adapted to the pro- 

 ducer of extracted honey. While it is 

 true that in raising extracted honey, 

 swarming is more- easily controlled if 

 supers are given early and often enough 

 so that there will be .an abundance of 

 room at all times and no crowding. But 

 in order'to carry it into effect the queen 

 must be allowed to roam through the 

 supers at her own inclination. When the 

 brood chamber becomes crowded she 

 establishes a brood nest in'the first super 

 and sometimes in the second, and as the 

 honey season advances there will be 

 preparations for swarming in spite of 

 the abundance of room. It is a well 

 known fact that a swarm of bees with a 

 crowded brood nest will swarm even if 

 hived in a barrel or an attic, as the room 

 outside the brood nest proper cuts no 

 figure. And look at the conditions when 

 the bees are managed by giving them 

 plenty of super room. As soon as the 

 queen moves to the first super the bees 

 will commence plugging the old brood 

 nest full of pollen as fast as the young 

 bees hatch out, and you have a lot of 

 pollen clogged combs on your hands. 

 The brood nest will generally be found 

 empty of honey, requiring the feeding of 

 the bees to supply stores for winter. If 

 an excluder is u^ed the bees will fill up 

 „ the brood nest with winter stores, the 

 j|same as when raising comb honey, and 

 |are not inclined to store everythingabove. 



