(American IBqc Journal 



checking or preventing the causes tend- 

 ing towards the evolution of the 

 swarming fever. When a doctor has 

 truly diagnosed any particular disease, 

 he likes to discover the root cause for 

 its appearance; and then, not content 

 with simply applying the known reme- 

 dies to the actual part or organ af- 

 fected, he also tries to eliminate the 

 germinating influences or conditions 

 without doing which indeed his medi- 

 cines or curative appliances would 

 have little or no effect in bringing 

 about a permanent restoration to 

 health. 



The causes already given supply us 

 with some fundamental reasons for 

 bees swarming, and these may now be 

 grouped into three classes : 1st, Those 

 centering on the queen. 2d, Those re- 

 lating to the condition of the brood- 

 nest; and 3d, Extraneous circum- 

 stances relating chiefly to the hive, 

 locality, and surroundings. Under each 

 of these heads it may elucidate the 

 matter if we consider briefly the means 

 generally employed to prevent the 

 swarming bacillus from taking root 

 and growing. Assuming that when 

 working for extracted honey the bee- 

 keeper has the matter fairly well under 

 control, what will be said relates 

 mainly to those who work for comb 

 honey. 



Queens. 



1. Old queens are an undoubted 

 source of swarming. Young queens, 

 on the contrary, are distinctly averse 

 to taking any steps tending to unset- 

 tling the domestic arrangements of the 

 hive interior. Some authorities go so far 

 as to assert that a young home-bred 

 queen will not issue with a swarm dur- 

 ing her natal season. If not prepared 

 to go, the whole experience tends to 

 the conclusion that it holds good to a 

 very marked extent. 



2. Withdrawing the queen tempo- 

 rarily at the critical period has cer- 

 tainly a deterrent effect. Brood con- 

 gestion ceases, cells become available 

 for storing, nurses become active fora- 

 gers at an early date, and the interreg- 

 num causes a new set of circumstances 

 to prevail in the brood-nest. There- 

 fore when the queen is restored, the 

 whole force is intent on gathering and 

 storing honey, consequently all desire 

 for a trek has been suppressed, and a 

 sweet feeling of content follows her re- 

 introduction. The Spirit of the Hive, 

 aware of the necessity for strengthen- 

 ing their numbers by mere brood in- 

 stincts, the workers to clear and polish 

 all cells, will, in advance of her require- 

 ments, consign the honey upstairs 

 where the bee-keeper most desires to 

 have it stored. 



3. Temporarily caging the queen has 

 at least a moderating influence in re- 

 tarding preparations for the construc- 

 tion of swarm-cells. It acts on the 

 bees somewhat as did her withdrawal, 

 but may not be so good for herself; 

 and confining her on one or two frames 

 separated from the regular brood area 

 by some open divider might be more 

 effective. 



4. Cutting out embryo queen-cells 

 periodically is a distinct check, but it is 

 an upsetting job, and raises so much 

 disturbance, unless where special cir- 

 cumstances aid the operation, that it is 



not so extensively practiced as it was at 

 one time. The same may be said of 

 "inversion." In both cases good is 

 mixed with evil. 



0. Perhaps clipping the queen's wings 

 is depended upon more than any other 

 " cure," but it has no power to check 

 the instinct. 



6. Two or more queens in one hive is 

 a system only yet on its trial. Along 

 this path, however, there is food for 

 thought, and ample scope for experi- 

 ment. 



Brood. 



Closely allied to the question of the 

 queen is that of the brood. 



1. A congested condition in the 

 breeding chamber at once generates 

 the swarming impulse, and when it 

 synchronizes with several other prime 

 factors, the fever turns into a mania. 

 A timely withdrawal of one or more 

 frames of sealed brood, and the substi- 

 tution of a frame or frames of comb or 

 foundation, not only supplies the queen 

 with room for ovipositing, but affords 

 work for the bees eager to build, store 

 or nurse the new batches of larvae. 



2. Spreading the brood, timeously 

 carried out, at least partially carries 

 out the same end frequently, and will 

 be more fully considered in the con- 

 cluding article. 



3. The " Jones plan " is merely named 

 to be rejected as a cruel, gruesome and 

 unnecessary device. Practically the 

 same end can be secured with humane 

 treatment of the brood-nest. 



4. The close connection between the 

 appearance of drone-brood in a hive 

 and the inception and construction of 

 embryo queen-cells is very noticeable. 

 Therefore, everything possible should 

 be done to keep the brood-nest all- 

 worker comb. If a few drone-cells are 

 desired, provide them only in the outer 

 frames. 



.5. Doubling the brood-frame capacity 

 by placing a second body above or be- 

 low the first, and giving the queen the 

 whole range of, say, 20 frames, is one 

 of the best aids to swarm prevention. 

 But queen and bees have here ample 

 scope for their energies. Double early 

 in the season, and contract later. 



6. What is known as the " Simmins 

 method" is credited with a power to 

 check swarming. Using a long com- 

 bination hive some half-dozen frames 

 in front are fitted with starters only, 

 and this space is never allowed to have 

 its combs completed, nearly full frames 

 being regularly witlidrawn and others 

 substituted. The theory here is that 

 bees never kept the swarming instinct 

 with this empty space in front of the 

 brood-nest. 



7. What is known as a non-swarming 

 chamber, simply a shallow-frame body, 

 is placed below the regular brood- 

 frames, and as fast as bees build out 

 the combs, the case is raised above and 

 replaced by another set of frames. 

 Theoretically, both these systems should 

 work efficiently, but practical dith- 

 culties arise, while at best they cause 

 hard labor. 



Hive, Etc. 



The third set of circumstances and 

 mode of procedure hinge around the 

 hive, its surroundings and location. 

 Heat being one of the chief factors 

 causing swarming, any moderating in- 

 fluence must aid in checking the desire. 



1. Shade is one of the main requisites. 

 With a very high temperature, no cool- 

 ing breath of air about, and a broiling 

 sun beating in full force on the bees' 

 domicile, conditions are bound to be 

 very irksome to the inmates. There- 

 fore, every known mode of shading 

 and cooling the hive should be tried. 



2. Ventilation of the brood-body is 

 essential in such circumstances. Wedge 

 up not only the hive front, but the 

 whole fabric, so that a current of air 

 can play all under the overheated bees 

 and combs. The fanners can then 

 drive out the foul air and introduce a 

 supply pure and fresh, not only at the 

 entrance, but all around from front to 

 rear. 



.3. Ventilating supers is no less a 

 necessity in periods of very excessive 

 heat. If the roof is tilted aside, and 

 the coverings eased up, the bees find 

 immediate relief, and their toil is car- 

 ried on in a way which makes life more 

 worth living. Further, better and more 

 efficient work can be overtaken. 



4. Ample room in the supers hinders 

 congestion above and below, affords 

 timely employment for lately hatched 

 bees, hitherto hindrances and not 

 helps, and secures a more bearable 

 temperature. A "c'ooler" case given 

 above the other supers sometimes in 

 advance of the bees' requirements, is 

 looked on in this locality as one of the 

 best aids to prevention. 



."). "Shook" swarming fairly "takes 

 the bull by the horns," and. at least 

 sometimes, puts and end to the desire 

 to seek strange fields and pastures new, 

 but it has not " caught on " much over 

 here. 



(j. Somewhat akin to this drastic 

 treatment was a mode of procedure 

 frequently practiced by our forefathers. 

 They, instead of going through the 

 process of shaking, simply changed 

 hives. They carried the " boiling over " 

 colony to the stand of a weak one, and 

 replaced it by the weakling; thus al- 

 most in an instant, as they fondly hoped, 

 checking swarming and equalizing 

 forces so that both would be fit for sur- 

 plus gathering. 



7. Several swarm catchers are on the 

 market fairly efficient in their action, 

 but their cost, the hindrance the ex- 

 cluder-zinc proves to the busy toilers, 

 and the trouble they sometimes entail, 

 rather rule them out of court for the 

 extensive bee-keeper. 



8. Never, if possible, use excluder- 

 zinc over frames when working for 

 comb honey. If they are not in the 

 full sense honey-excluders, they are 

 swarm generators. Anything checking 

 free intercourse must impede progress, 

 and imdoubtedly by hindering upward 

 ventilation they help to bring about the 

 swarming fever. 



BanfT, Scotland. 



"Why Are These Things So?" 



BY F. DUNUAS TODD. 



Mr. Doolittle asks an important ques- 

 iton, on page i6, but doubtless the editor 

 is sorry he ever allowed it to go into 

 print, for the odious word "socialist" oc- 

 curs in the article at least two times, and 

 everyone of the readers marching under 

 the banner qualified by that word will 



