A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to the Interests of Honey Producers 

 $L00 a Bear 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON, Editor and Publisher 



VOL. XXIV. 



FLINT. MICHIGAN, MAY 1, 19n. 



NO. 5 



Methods and Plans that will Result in the Least 

 Amount of Swarming. 



D. R. HARDY. 



n^HE above sub- 

 ^ ject is, I be- 

 lieve, of vital im- 

 portance to the 

 extensive honey 

 producer; but so 

 much has been 

 said and w^ritten 

 on this topic by 

 "Top Liners " in 

 the business, that 

 it seems almost out 

 of place for me, a comparative beginner, 

 to advance any ideas that I may have 

 tried te work out; and I would not ven- 

 ture to do so, were it not at the earnest 

 request of Bro. Hutchinson. My position 

 might be defined as follows: 



We cannot reach perfection's goal alone 

 We must measure other's methods with our own; 

 Exchange ideas, read bee magazines, and then, 

 Gain more knowledge, touching elbows with our 

 fellowmen. 



I have yet to meet that bee keeper who 

 can adopt a rule or method, and not be 

 obliged to deviate from said rule or 

 method under certain conditions; but it 



must be conceded that there are certain 

 fundamental principles that must be ad- 

 hered to if we expect to succeed as honey 

 producers. The natural tendency of a 

 colony of bees with a good prolific queen 

 at its head, is to cast a swarm at, or a 

 little before, the main honey flow. 



Time was when most bee-keepers, and 

 some good ones, too, did not consider 

 that their bees amounted to much unless 

 they swarmed liberally. At the present 

 time, however, especially in Northern 

 New York, bee-keepers who have studied 

 conditions carefully are fast becoming 

 convinced that the strong, prosperous col- 

 onies, those that do not cast swarms, are 

 the ones that deliver the goods; and it is 

 the opinion of the writer that it is perfect- 

 ly practical to so manipulate the colonies 

 in our apiaries that we will eliminate, to 

 a large extent, the swarming impulse, and 

 the question often asked is, how to do it 

 with the least expense in time and labor. 



The desire to swarm is generally caused 

 by an over-crowded condition existing in 

 the brood chamber. It may be caused 



