340 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 1. 



AFTER-SWARMS. 



"VVHEM TO CUT CEI-I,S ; ALLEY CORItECTED BY 

 DOOLITTLE. 



Probably there is nothing so perplexing 1o the 

 apiarist, nor, in fact, to the novice or the farmer, 

 with his few hives of bees, as after-swarms. 

 They are rarely wanted by any one, but are 

 ever present to annoy, unless they are prevent- 

 ed from issuing by the apiarist. With box 

 hives, and the i<nowledge of 30 years ago. very 

 few could do little else than let them issue at 

 will. They were often returned, only to issue 

 the next day. and often again on the same day. 

 The cry of "' bees swarming!" about as soon as 

 we were in the haytield, on some hot July morn- 

 ing, duiing the fifties, and "• bers swarming"' 

 all through the day. decided my father to let 

 this branch of agriculture alone: and as four- 

 fifths of these swarms were after-swarms, not 

 being wanted, they were the ones which gave 

 the verdict, or caused it to be given. But since 

 the frame hives came into general use, this aft- 

 er-swarming nuisance can be prevmted; but 

 in order to do this we must know the conditions 

 causing them to issue, and when they are to be 

 expccti^d. On page ^.58 of Gi,eaninos for April 

 1, I find these words over the name of Henry 

 Alley: •' A queen usually hatches on the eighth 

 day after the first swarm issues, and it is on that 

 day that the second swarm will come off." 



Now, fi-iend Alley is one of our oldest bee- 

 keepers, having had years of experience with 

 bees before many of us were born; yet he made 

 a mistake here, or else the types did not make 

 him say what he intended. After years of 

 study on this point, and the most careful watch- 

 ing, I find that, where the colony casting 

 swarms is in a normal condition, the egg in- 

 tended for a queen is deposited in the embryo 

 queen-cell from three to three and one-half 

 days before it hatches into a larva. This larva 

 is in the larval form from five and one-half to 

 six days, at which time the cell containing it is 

 sealed. After the cell is sealed it is in the chrys- 

 alis form seven days, making a period of about 

 sixteen days from the time the egg was deposit- 

 ed in the cell to the time the queen hatches. 

 When the queen first emerges from the cell she 

 is a white weak thing, unless kept in her cell 

 after maturity by the workers, as all who have 

 handled queens well know, and is no more fit for 

 leading out a swarm than she is for egg-laying; 

 but during the next 48 hours she gains strength 

 rapidly, so that, when she is about 30 to .36 hours 

 old, she begins to "pipe," or "peep," as it is 

 termed; and when she is from 48 to 60 hours old 

 she is ready to lead out a swarm, where there 

 are rival queens in other queen -eel Is. From the 

 above it will be seen that the second swarm 

 does not come on the day the young queen 

 hatches, but about two days afterward. This. 

 I believe, is according to Quinby in his "Mys- 

 teries of Bee-keeping Explained," which I have 

 always found to be very nearly correct on all 

 topics on which it treats. If any one objects to 

 my using the term "leads out a swarm," just 

 tell him that, with the first (or prime) swarm, 

 having the old queen, the bees seem to be the 

 leaders in the swarming movement: but with 

 all after-swarms the case is different, for with 

 these we find the young queen the first, or 

 among the first, to leave the hive. When a col- 

 ony is in a normal condition, or when an apiary 

 is not affected with the swarming mania, the 

 first swarm issues upon the sealing of the first 

 queen-cell, unless kept back by unfavorable 

 weather or circumstances. By issuing upon 

 the sealing of the first queen-cell, I mean this: 

 If the cell is sealed at some time dui'ing the 

 hours of 8 to 12 A. M., the swarm is likely to is- 



sue from 13 M. to 3 r. m. of the same day; but if 

 sealed from 2 p. m. to 8 a. m., then the swarm 

 will issue during the forenoon, so that, in this 

 latter cai^e, which is the usual one, the cell may 

 be sealed anywhere from one to eighteen hours 

 before the swarm issues. 



I have been particular in this matter, so that 

 we could know just when to cut off the queen- 

 cells to prevent these after-swarms. If we cut 

 off all the cells but one on the fifth or sixth day 

 after the issuing of the swarm, as has been rec- 

 ommended many times, we are not sure that the 

 cell left will hatch: and, furthermi,re, the bees 

 still have larviie young enough to convert into 

 queens, which they are almost sure to do, and 

 in this case they will often kill the queen which 

 hatches first, instead of allowing her to destroy 

 these later-started cells, when we not only have 

 as many after-swarms as we should have had, 

 had we not cut the cells; but we have also the 

 disadvantage of having queens reared from old 

 larva?, which, all concede, gives inferior queens. 

 Now, if we wait about this cutting of cells till 

 the eighth day we shall run no risk of the colo- 

 ny swai'ming; where the first swarm was not 

 kept back by foul weather, there will be no lar- 

 v;e young enough to convert into queens, and, 

 as a rule, the first young queen will be hatched, 

 when we can make a sure thing of the matter 

 if we are sure we cutoff all the queen -cells there 

 are in the hive. For these reasons I now wait 

 till the morning of the eighth day after a first 

 swarm has issued, when T opi'n the hive, take 

 out the first frame, and hastily glance over it 

 for nearly ripe queen-cells; and if none are 

 found I shake most of the bees off near the en- 

 trance of the hive, into which they will imme- 

 diately run, when the frame is closely inspected 

 for queen-cells, peering into every nook and 

 corner for them; for, should some small or 

 crooked one be missed, swarming would surely 

 result. All cells found are cutoff, after a frame 

 has been shaken to rid it of bees, for this shak- 

 ing of the young queens in their cells is almost 

 sure to kill them or cause deformity. The next 

 frame is treated the same, unless ripe cells are 

 found, in which case it is s(a outside the hive, 

 awaiting the finding of a cell from which a 

 queen has hatched, when all are cut off; but 

 should none have hatched, then the best one of 

 these ripe cells is saved and put back into the 

 hive. In this way we can make sure that no 

 swarm will issue, after the first, from this hive, 

 and it is the only certain plan I know of. 



G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Borodino. N. Y.. April 17. 



RAMBLE NO. 83, 



JOHN S. HAKBISON AS PIONEER, BEE-KEEPEK, 

 INVENTOR. AUTHOR. 



Mr. Harbison, who, since the year 1857, has 

 had such a prominent place in the apicultural 

 ranks, and an especial prominence in develop- 

 ing the honey resources of California, now re- 

 sides in an elegant home in tbe city of San 

 Diego, and with beautiful surroundings, such 

 as only this favored clime can produce. 



Mr. Harbison was born in Beaver Co., Pa., 

 Sept. 29, 1836. He is a thorough American, and 

 traces his lineage back through several genera- 

 tions. His grandparents were active patriots 

 in the Revolution, and in frontier service 

 against the Indians: and, besides their skill in 

 arms, the Harbison branch of the family gave 

 their attention to mechanical problems, and 

 were the first to erect a gristmill in the then 

 wilds of Western Pennsylvania. 



Mr. Harbison's early life was spent upon a 

 farm; and his father, being an extensive bee- 



