1890 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



567 



not 



elude that your humble servant has 

 made such a very big mistake after all. 



What I have said has, of course, no refer- 

 ence to a manufacturer selling out his pro- 

 cesses with his business and good will, to a 

 purchaser, as is right and proper. But sell- 

 ing secrets broadcast, and advertising them 

 broadcast, with or without a promise to tell, 

 is an entirely different thing. 



6ai^ QaEg3Fi0]\[-B@;^, 



With Replies from our best Authorities on Bees. 



AU queries sent In for this department should be briefly 

 stated, and free from any possible ambiguity. The question 

 or questions should be written upon a separate slip of paper, 

 and marked, "For Our Question-Box," 



Question 165 — Si(pp"sc that, at the heginniiig of 

 the honeij harvc»t, I remove the queen of a colony he- 

 fore the lues yet the swarming fever, and give them a 

 young queen that has juM commenced to lay, how long 

 after giving the rjonng queen can I feel secure against 

 that colony swarming'! 



We do not know. We never try such means. 

 Illinois. N. W. Dadant & Son. 



From my experience I would say it retards them 

 almost none. 

 California. S. W. R. Wilkin. 



I do not believe any one can answer this. It 

 varies greatly with queen, bees, and season. 

 Michig-an. C. ' A. J. Cook. 



There is no safety with a young- or old queen. 

 A swarm may issue at any time, other things be- 

 ing favorable. 



Ohio. S. W. C. F. MuTH. 



In a season when the swarming fever runs high 

 it does not check them long; in other words, it 

 doesn't pay to make the change. 



New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



It depends upon the weather and honey-flow. If 

 the above conditions are favorable, they will be 

 ready to swarm in ten days. 



New York. E. Rambler. 



Just so long as the bees do not swarm. With me, 

 with the Italian bee the above has little or no in- 

 fluence toward preventing the swarming fever. 



New York. C. G. M, Doolittle. 



I have not tried the plan enough to say definitely. 

 It would depend on the size of tbe colony, size of 

 hive, character of the honey-flow, and several oth- 

 er things. 



Illinois, N. C. J. A. Green. 



I don't believe that taking away one queen and 

 then giving them another laying queen will prevent 

 swarming. I have had several swarms come off 

 with young queens just after they commenced to 

 lay. In some cases not over a dozen eggs were laid. 



Wisconsin. S. W. E. France. 



Giving a young queen as described will greatly 

 lessen the chances of swarming for the season, but 

 it is not a positive cure, for at certain times the 

 swarming impulse is so strongly developed that 

 nothing but the removal of the queen will control it. 



Wisconsin. S. W. S. 1, Freeborn. 



It would be a very practical way of lessening the 

 swarming, but it can not be considered an entire 

 preventive. Bees sometimes astonish us by the 

 way they have of doing things; and especially is 

 this tbe case in regard to swarming. 



Ohio, N, W. H. R. Boardman. 



I can only guess at it. Perhaps in most cases 

 they would not swarm that year, and at the earliest 

 I should not expect them to swarm within four 

 weeks. If the bees already had the swarming fe- 

 ver they might swarm within a day or two. 



Illinois. N. C. C. Miller. 



If your colony has been building up rapidly, and 

 has a huge lot of brood, many young bees, and 

 comparatively few old ones, your remedy wouldn't 

 work, I think. At least in my apiary I should ex- 

 pect them to swarm very much the same as if no 

 change had been made. The swarming difficulty is 

 a much tougher problem than some of the breth- 

 ren estimate it. 



Ohio, N. W. E.E, Hasty. 



I have never tested it— that is, while I have fre- 

 quently given young queens to colonies in tbe ear- 

 ly honey-flow, I have never noted or made a record 

 of any difference in the swarming time, from that 

 of other colonies that were not touched; hence I 

 conclude that the strength of the colony, honey- 

 flow, climatic conditions, etc, have more to do with 

 the time of swarming than any change of queen. 



Illinois. N. W. C. Mrs, L. Harrison. 



That depends upon circumstances— that is, on 

 the condition of the colony and the season. I have 

 known it to prevent swarming entirely with some 

 colonies, and with others they would swarm in 

 from six days to two weeks after introducing the 

 young queen. It is safer to leave them queenless 

 12 or 15 days, then give them a virgin queen, and 

 you are pretty safe against swarming. 



Vermont. N. W, A, E. Man0M, 



If the bees are shaded, and have plenty of room, 

 usually the colony thus treated will not swarm at 

 all that season, but sometimes they will; and it is 

 the " sometimes" and the labor, trouble, and ex- 

 pense of the method, which are the reasons it is not 

 in vogue to-day, notwithstanding it is over a dozen 

 years old. I remember one leading bee-keeper who 

 experimented on this line, carefully, over fifteen 

 years ago, and he gave it up, and so have all who 

 have followed him, 



Michigan. C. James Heddon. 



Well, I am a little surprised to see so few 

 favoring a young queen to discourage 

 swarming. JFriend Freeborn seems to be 

 almost the only one to give us any kind of 

 encouragement ; and 1 should rather gather 

 from the answers, that the condition of the 

 colony has more to do with it than the age 

 of the queen. JJy the way, has not this 

 question some bearing on the matter of pre- 

 venting the building of drone comb by giv- 

 ing the new swarm to the young queen? 

 You will remember that friend Hutchinson, 

 in his book, thinks young queens are quite 

 an advantage where bees do not have foun- 

 dation in the brood-nest in hiving a new 

 colony. 



