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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June, 1919 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



have been ready to declare the queen 

 "slow" and a fit subject for decapitation, 

 while an inferior queen because of a greater 

 population and a preponderance of stores 

 would have been permitted to survive and 

 propagate her kind. 



An orthodox statement that will bear 

 scrutiny is that a colony with a clipped 

 queen will kill her after oiie or two attempts 

 at swarming. Clipped queens frequently 

 disappear at swarming time; but, in my 

 opinion, it is usually because the bees swarm 

 unobserved and the queen fails to find her 

 way back. It must be remembered that a 

 queen with wings clipped on one side only 

 will sometimes get as far as two or three 

 rods from the hive. 



While in the critical mood permit me to 

 have one little poke at friend Holtermann, 

 regarding his "Best and Cheapest Way to 

 Eequeen," told in June Gleanings, last year. 

 Quoting A. D. Hall, Watertown, N. Y., he 

 says: "If he wanted a queen from the colo- 

 ny, he would go to the colony, kill the queen, 

 and remove every cell but one of the best. 

 In that way he overcame the swarming im- 

 pulse and saved time and manipulation. ' ' 

 I hope Friend H. will forgive me, but I rise 

 to remark that no better scheme could be 

 devised to cause a colony to swarm. I know, 

 for I tried it many times in my days of ac- 

 quiring ' ' experience. ' ' My notion was to 

 destroy the inferior queen and cells and to 

 give a cell from the best stock. At least 

 nine times in ten, may I not say ninety-nine 

 times in a hundred, a new batch of queen- 

 cells would be started and the bees would 

 swarm either at the time of the queen's 

 mating or when the cells were being capped. 

 If any failed in their duty, they swarmed 

 when the new batch of queens emerged, 

 some of them several times in order to be 

 sure that their program was properly carried 

 out. 



"Best Swarm-control Plan," by lona 

 Fowls, June Gleanings, 1918. I have used 

 this plan the last eight or ten years with 

 several hundred colonies, and have for the 

 most part found it very satisfactory. How- 

 ever, about five to fifteen per cent of the 

 colonies so treated will start queen-cells on 

 the one frame of brood below the excluder, 

 depending on the season. Also, if the clover 

 flow continues more than three weeks, as in 

 1918, the queen again fills the brood-cham- 

 ber and swarming is apt to occur; likewise, 

 if there is an August flow. To manipulate 

 several hundred colonies in July, with 150 

 pounds of honey in the supers and a "bar- 

 relful" of bees, is something of a job, and 

 it is here that some of us fall down. If cells 

 are started at this time, it is preferable to 

 remove all brood, using it to build up nuclei 

 for the fall flow. 



For comb honey there is probably nothing 

 better than the ' ' shook swarm ' ' method. 



but don't make the mistake of leaving part 

 of the brood. Remove every cell and use 

 mostly foundation below. 



Valparaiso, Ind. E. S. Miller. 



[The percentage mentioned in the next-to- 

 the-last paragraph may be cut down consid- 

 erably. When we first used the swarm-con- 

 trol plan given in the June, 1918, Gleanings 

 we had an experience similar to Mr. Miller's 

 — some colonies building queen-cells in the 

 lower story. We noticed many young bees 

 (nurse bees and cell-builders) left in the hive 

 below at the time of manipulation, and these 

 we came to believe the true cause of the 

 trouble. Since then we have taken pains to 

 get these bees out of the lower and into the 

 upper story where they may build queen- 

 cells to their hearts' content. Below we 

 have only field bees that have no inclina- 

 tion to start cells. .This we have found a 

 much safer arrangement. — Editor.] 



PREVENTION OF SWARMING 



This Beekeeper Says He Has Not Seen a Swarm 

 in Two Years 



The proper time to manipulate a colony 

 to head off swarming is before the flow 

 starts. In doing this I proceed as follows: 

 By May 20, or as near that as possible, I 

 equalize brood according to Dr. Miller's 

 plan, so that each colony will have at least 

 five brood. By a "brood" I mean a comb 

 at least two-thirds full of brood. 



One thing that will encourage swarming 

 is the inequality of the colonies in the 

 amount of brood they have early in the sea- 

 son. Suppose one of the best ones has six 

 or seven brood by May 20, and they are not 

 reduced. I would almost guarantee they 

 would swarm, perhaps before the flow. In 

 other words they would grow to storing 

 strength altogether too soon. Now, some 

 of my hives are eight-frame and some 

 twelve-frame. We will take the twelve- 

 frame. If they have plenty of stores, and 

 honey is coming in, they are going to in- 

 crease right along and have six brood. In 

 a few days there will be brood in two more. 

 I immediately give another story of combs. 

 They are, as a rule, safe now until the flow 

 starts — about June 20. (In the case of the 

 eight-frame hives it may be necessary to 

 give three stories before the 20th.) At this 

 time we may have from eight to twelve 

 brood. We now arrange for the storing of 

 the crop. I first take nearly all the brood 

 from the brood-chamber except two or three 

 combs which contain the least brood, filling 

 the rest of the brood-chamber out with 

 black empty combs, put on the excluder, on 

 top of this a body of empty combs, and on 

 top of this the body containing all the rest 

 of the brood. In a few days, if the weather 



