THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



343 



nnd continue feeding rapidly enough to 

 complete the work in _'."> days. This gets all 

 of the work at the stai t in the sections, just 

 where you want it, and liaviug once begun 

 there the bees are more disposed to continue 

 the work than to go below. The brood 

 combs will be built slowly and tilled with 

 eggs as fast as built, therefore there will be 

 very little room for the feed in the brood 

 chamber. 



This method prevents any trouble from 

 swarming, which is sure to occur if feeding 

 is done with old colonies having full combs. 

 It is the only plan that has been even fairly 

 successful with me. If increase is not 

 wanted, unite back with the old colony with 

 the young queen when done feeding. 



Does feeding interfere with the field work 

 when bees are able to get honey from the 

 flowers ? This was a question of much im- 

 portance with me, and one over which I was 

 considerably disturbed when I was feeding 

 100 or more colonies, but I am satisfied 

 that the bees give the nectar in the flowers 

 the preference at all times. Let any one 

 who thinks differently try feeding in the open 

 air during a honey flow — even the choicest 

 and most tempting bits of honey will be re- 

 fused for the nectar in the flowers. In order 

 to satisfy myself on this point I left on sev- 

 eral feeders until the height of the honey 

 yield. As the flow of honey increased they 

 received less attention, and finally were 

 abandoned entirely. 



The feeder is the first and most important 

 consideration in the work of feeding bees. 

 A proper feeder should not require the open- 

 ing of the hive, or cause any disturbance of 

 the bees in feeding or re-filling the feeder. 

 There should be no daubing or smearing of 

 bees, not even of their feet. " No admit- 

 tance except on business, " should be the 

 notice for the benefit of robbers. Outsiders 

 should not be able at any time to even sam- 

 ple the feed. Rain or wet should not be able 

 to affect the feed or the feeder. The feed 

 should be in sight to enable the bee-keeper 

 to see at a glance just what each colony 

 is doing. If feeding cannot be done with- 

 ont exciting the bees to robbing or maraud- 

 ing, it will surely be unprofitable and would 

 better not be done at all. I have never been 

 able to make feeding a practical business 

 until I succeeded in devising a practical 

 feeder with the requirements I have describ- 

 ed. 



East Townsend, Ohio. Dec. 4, 1895. 



Swarming, its Causes and Control. 



K. O. AIKIN. 



VTTHE swarming 

 \L question will 

 not down. Many 

 theories as to its 

 cause, and many 

 plans to control it, 

 have been advanc- 

 ed. We evidently 

 do not know all 

 the factors, or else 

 we are not able to 

 apply the remedy. 

 There are known 

 methods by which we can control swarm- 

 ing but they are hard to apply. 



In the American Bee Journal, Nov. 14th 

 18;)r), page 731, I find the following sentence 

 by Mr. Adrian' Getaz : " Excepting the 

 case of loss or failure of queen, queen cells 

 are constructed only when three conditions 

 are present, viz. : 1st, a honey flow ; 2ud, a 

 number of young bees ; and ord, the laying 

 of the queen restricted by either the lack of 

 space (or rather, empty combs), or a fail- 

 ure in the fecundity of the queen. " In the 

 article from which I quote, he advances the 

 theory that the bees have a surplus of larval 

 food which is used in the construction of 

 queen cells, hence swarming results. 



But what causes this surplus of larval 

 food ? I can see a reason in the activity 

 and stimulus of the honey flow, the greater 

 number of nurse bees, and the surplus 

 augmented by a decreased amount of brood 

 caused by crowding the queen ; but, if these 

 are the causes of the building cells, why do 

 they not continue to build them till the close 

 of the flow ? 



Extended observations prove, that if the 

 colony can be gotten safely past the first 

 part of the flow (or through the first ten 

 days or two weeks) without swarming, we 

 may have present all the conditions named, 

 and swarming will decrease 25 to 75 percent. 

 Mr. Getaz mentions my own experience, 

 when my flow came in Aug. and Sept., that 

 I had very little swarming ; but when the 

 conditions changed (in the same locality), 

 so that I had a flow in June — white clover — , 

 swarming became very troublesome. Mr. 

 Getaz's three conditions were all present in 

 those fall flows, and usually some of the hot- 

 test weather of the season ; yet, with all the 

 flow, many young bees, and the crowded 



