1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



981 



swarms for the production of section honey. 

 We have different ways to form swarms by 

 forcing', which are exactly like natural 

 swarms in every respect. 



1. 1. — For increase. — Gravenhorst's "Feg-- 

 linge." — I translated this by "brushed 

 swarms " many years ago; nevertheless it 

 is not important at all whether the bees are 

 brushed or shaken from the combs. I gen- 

 erally use both manipulations. All the 

 bees with the queen are brushed or shaken 

 into a new hive on a new stand. The 

 brood-combs remain on the old stand, and 

 a large part of the old bees will return and 

 care for the brood. A queen is introduced. 

 The swarm can be used for section honey, 

 the old colony for extracted honey. Here I 

 will remark that, if the bees fill themselves 

 with honey, and are kept in a swarm clus- 

 ter for some time, only a few of the old 

 bees will return to the old stand. 



2. — Gravenhorst's "Fluglinge," alighted 

 swarms. — A brood-comb with the queen is 

 taken from a strong colonj'^ and set into a 

 new hive; and this hive is filled with frames 

 with starters; the young bees from another 

 brood-frame are shaken into this hive, which 

 is closed now and set on the old stand. 

 The old hive with the remaining brood- 

 combs is set on a new stand and a young 

 queen from a nucleus is introduced. 



3. — Gathered swarms. Take a swarm- 

 box as described by H. Alley in his Hand- 

 book, or a somewhat larger nucleus-box, as 

 recommended by Doolittle; shake bees into 

 it from different colonies, as they may lie 

 out on some hives, or from supers, or from 

 brood-combs, etc. The box is set into a 

 cellar or other dark place for about ten 

 hours; now drop any queen, old or young, 

 fertilized or unfertilized, in among the bees. 

 She will be accepted, and in a short time 

 the bees will form a cluster in the box, and 

 at evening they can be transferred to a new 

 hive on a new stand like a natural swarm. 



II. — For strengthening other colonies. — A 

 strong colony is shaken or brushed from all 

 the brood-combs; the bees remain on the 

 old stand; the brood-combs are used to 

 •strengthen some colonies in the yard which 

 are weaker than the average. 



III. — If some colonies are worked for the 

 production of extracted honey alone, and 

 can not be kept from swarming in any oth- 

 er way, during a good honey-flow, Graven- 

 horst recommended more than 20 years ago 

 to brush the bees on empty combs and to 

 use the brood-combs somewhere else. 



IV. — We still have another way to form 

 forced swarms. We make two artificial 

 swarms in such a way that the brood-combs 

 of both colonies together can be set on the 

 old stand of one of these colonies. In 10 to 

 16 days afterward, this colony will cast an 

 after-swarm naturally. This swarm can 

 be formed artificially too with a young 

 queen, as described above; has mostly 

 young bees, and is quite like a good after- 

 swarm. 



To all these swarms we should give one 

 comb of brood because the bees will quiet 



themselves better. If starters only are giv- 

 en, this brood-comb should be removed the 

 next day, because the swarm will build 

 better combs and less drone comb without 

 any brood. A sufficient space should be 

 given at first, and, if contraction is desired, 

 do it when the bees have commenced cell- 

 building and some larvae are in these cells. 

 The different ways of forming forced 

 swarms without brood have different ad- 

 vantages under dift'erent circumstances. 



These artificial swarms can be used in 

 different combinations. For instance, to 

 prevent swarming in out-apiaries I use the 

 following management, which Doolittle rec- 

 ommended some years ago: The strongest 

 colonies are brushed or shaken on starters 

 on the old stand. The brood-combs and a 

 queen from a nucleus in a Miller cage, 

 closed with candy, are set on the place of 

 another strong colony, and this is set on 

 a new stand. In this way swarming is 

 prevented in too strong colonies. 



For comb honey we need very strong 

 swarms, so we can shake all the bees from 

 two colonies into one hive and set this 

 swarm on the stand from which it received 

 the queen. The brood-combs of both colo- 

 nies are set on the stand of the other colony, 

 without the queen. With the queen, if she 

 is a good one, and one or two brood-combs, 

 we can fonn a nucleus. Ten days later 

 this colony is brushed off, and the old or a 

 young queen introduced. So we have two 

 strong colonies which can be used for comb- 

 honey production, and a number of combs 

 containing capped brood, which can be 

 used for quickly strengthening nuclei or 

 other weak colonies. 



If comb honey exclusively shall be pro- 

 duced we use the method recommended by 

 me about two years ago. Another way, 

 which I read in the Progressive Bee-keeper, 

 and which is used in Colorado, is to unite 

 automatically (see article of E. F. Atwater, 

 in Gleanings for Oct. 15). It seems prac- 

 ticable to me; but I can't see, as yet, great 

 advantages gained in comparison with us- 

 ing Heddon's plan. It is not necessary to 

 discuss some other possible combinations. 



Now a few words about the advantages 

 of this management. 



1. That a forced swarm, if correctly made, 

 will work with about the same vigor as a 

 natural swarm, is conceded by most writers 

 who have tried them. Why this is so, and 

 how the swarm should be formed, is fully 

 explained by Gerstung's theory. It is a 

 certain physiological condition of the bees 

 which causes the swarming impulse, and 

 this same condition must be incited in the 

 forced swarm afterward. 



2. That swarming can be practically pre- 

 vented if we use large hives in the spring 

 till the main honey-flow commences, and 

 then bring the colony into the condition of 

 a swarm, is proven for me sufficiently, as I 

 used this method for many years in two 

 out-apiaries, which I do not visit oftener 

 than once everj? week, and sometimes not 

 even as often as that. 



