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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Nov. 15. 



6a^ QaEgwi@]\i-B®^, 



With Replies from our best Autfiorities on Bees. 



Question 172. Which will do the best work 

 — a colony allowed to swarm (counting in the 

 work of the swarm), or one kept from sivarming 

 by having its queen caged or removed ? 



I believe one allowed to swarm. 



Ohio, N. W. A. B. Mason. 



In an average season, one allowed to swarm. 

 Illinois. N. W. C. Mks. L. Haekison. 



The colony allowed to swarm, if managed 

 right, I think will give the best resnlts. 

 Ohio. N. W. H. R. Boakdman. 



This depends. I should usually prefer no 

 swarm if the colony kept actively at work. 

 Michigan. C. A. J. Cook. 



A colony kept from swarming does the best 

 work, every time. But I want no queen caged 

 nor removed. 



Ohio. S. W. C. F. MUTH. 



The one allowed to swarm, if managed right- 

 ly. The management to keep from swarming 

 is why the latter is not so good. 



New York. C. G. M. Doolittle. 



Ordinarily, where the working season is suflfi- 

 ciently long to allow the swarm to get into good 

 working order for the main flow of honey, the 

 swarming colony is best. 



California. S. R. Wilkin. 



We are opposed to natural swarming, but we 

 do not cage nor remove the queen. We give 

 our colonies empty combs to prevent swarming. 

 But the hives generally used in this country 

 are too small for such a purpose. 



Illinois. N. W. Dadant & Son. 



If there is a heavy fall crop, the swarmer 

 might do best. In my locality I would risk the 

 one made queenless, but I'd much rather risk 

 one with a queen, if it took no swarming fever 

 all summer. 



Illinois. N. C. C. Miller. 



I think the colony without the swarm. Use 

 a hive large enough to accommodate the in- 

 crease, and give them all the room to work in 

 the one hive, with all the combs they can use 

 for honey and brood, and then extract. 

 L Wisconsin. S. W. ' E. France. 



That depends on what is meant by the " best 

 work." If the question means what it says, the 

 former. If the most work is meant, that de- 

 pends on the season, locality, character of hon- 

 ey flow. etc. 



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



This is a knotty question. I can't answer it, 

 as there are so many variations in seasons and 

 localities. I have experimented much in this 

 line, and am not fully decided yet which is best. 

 I hope to learn something this yc^ar more def- 

 inite. 



Vermont. N. W. A. E. Manum. 



All depends upon the locality; that is, on the 

 time of blooming of such flowers as you depend 

 on for your surplus crop. I think that is the 

 rule in most localities (counting the value of 

 the increase), that the increase method is the 



best. , Now. remember I do not say this to any 

 person having a practical, mechanical method 

 of preventing increase which is safe and sure; 

 but as no one has, so far as I know, I will let- 

 the answer stand. 

 Michigan. S. W. James Heddon. 



That will depend on the season and i)asturage. 

 If white clover is the only source of surplus.it 

 is possible that the colony that does not swarm 

 may gather the most honey; but if the honey 

 season is a long one, with a favorable place for 

 fall flowers, the colony allowed to increase will 

 be far ahead. 



Wisconsin. S. W. S. I. Freeborn. 



I do not believe in caging or removing queens 

 to prevent swarming. It has always seemed to 

 me like adopting a woi'sc evil than the one we 

 fly from. For extracted lioney we find there is 

 no necessity for removing the queen. If run- 

 ning for comb honey, we would allow the swarm 

 to issue, and manipulate so as to give the new 

 swarm all the working force. 



New York. E. Rambler. 



This will depend on circumstances — princi- 

 pally on the honey harvest, whether early or 

 late, and whether you remove and return the 

 queen at the proper time. Caging the queen in 

 the hive is a lazy substitution, and will not kill 

 the swarming fever. I have said that a swarm 

 without a queen would work with greater en- 

 ergy than one with a queen, but having a desii'e 

 to swarm. I repeat this, because I have been 

 misquoted. 



New York. C. P. H. Elwood. 



I do not practice the method referred to, and 

 therefore can not say how far it succeeds and 

 how far it fails. I suppose, however, that the 

 relative crops of colonies which do not swarm, 

 as compai'ed with colonies that do swarm and 

 colonies that are divided, is what the questioner 

 is after. Where the surplus season closes early 

 in July, the most may be expected of colonies 

 not increased — yet with many excejjtions. 

 \Vliere good heavy rnns in August and S(>p- 

 tember occur, the most may be expected from 

 colonies that increase. One year of my bee- 

 keeping, the yield per colony was three times 

 the usual average. That year I increased 17 

 colonies to 73. The best yield was from a colo- 

 ny made into seven by division — they raising 

 their own queens. 



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



These answers are interesting, and I believe 

 P. H. Elwood hits the nail on the head when he 

 says that a swarm icithout a queen will work 

 with greater energy than one with a queen 

 having a desire to swarm. Granting that bees 

 will work more energetically after they have 

 swarmed, and are in their new home, it is very 

 possible that the same bees have lost time just 

 preparatory to swarming, and while the swarm- 

 ing impulse was upon them; and Mr. El wood's 

 point is, that, if it should be taken away from 

 them entirely, they will average better. This 

 is an exceedingly interesting and practical 

 question, and if swarming can be controlled in 

 some such way in out-apiaries, as Mr. Elwood 

 and Hetherington do. it means that we can dis- 

 pense with liired help to watch them, or, in the 

 absence of such help, the loss fi'om runaway 

 swarms. E. R. 



