MAY 1, 1913 



289 



General Correspondence 



THE SWARMING PROBLEM IN THE NORTH 



Making Increase ; Making up Winter Losses 



BY E. D. TOWNSEND 



The prevention of swarming when work- 

 ing bees for either comb or extracted honey 

 is a matter wliich should be given attention 

 earlier in the season than many suppose. 

 It is a case where the old adage, " An ounce 

 of prevention is worth a pound of cure," 

 applies forcibly; for if one can get his 

 bees strong, and still keep them free from 

 the swarming fever until the opening of the 

 clover or rasi^berry flow in June, with ra- 

 tional handling during the honey-flow, but 

 little swarming should result. 



A MILD SYMPTOM OF THE SWARMIXG FEVER. 



One indication of the swarming fever is 

 the early rearing of drones in spring. This 

 symptom is not of a very severe type, as it 

 will be noted that swarms with but a mod- 

 erate number of bees rear drones the same 

 as the more powerful colonies during the 

 spring months. At this time the swarming 

 fever is so mild that subsequent events or 

 conditions will determine whether the colo- 

 ny will swarm or not during the season. 



A CRITICAL PERIOD IN SWARM PREVENTION. 



In the North the period of three or four 

 weeks jjrevious to the opening of the clover 

 or raspberrj' flow of honey is a critical pe- 

 riod — the time of our main surplus-honey 

 flow. We have practiced for years the pro- 

 tecting of our bees either out of doors, in 

 packed or chaff liives, or papering those 

 wintered in the cellar, until after the dan- 

 ger of freezing nights was over, which in 

 this location is from May 20 to 2.5. 



We have a system of uniting our very- 

 weak colonies with our very best ones, set- 

 ting one above the other, without excluder. 

 To digress still further I will say that, at 

 this uniting, stores are ecjualized — i. e., a 

 weak colony containing considerable honey 

 is carried and set either under or over (as 

 my judgment suggests) a colonj- containing 

 a normal quantity of bees, but short of 

 stores, or vice versa. There are still some 

 colonies not very populous that are worth 

 saving. It will paj^ to protect these in some 

 way during the cold i^eriod of spring. 



How to carry the populous colonies of 

 bees through the period of three or four 

 weeks previous to the opening of the main 

 honey-flow without their acquiring the 

 swarming fever is the proposition in swarm 

 control during the season. Swarming-fever 

 prevention at this period is secured by giv- 



ing the more populous colonies an abun- 

 dance of comb room so that they will never 

 feel the least bit cramped for room. This 

 is the key to swarm prevention previous to 

 the opening of the honey-flow. More and 

 more each year we are practicing giving a 

 set of emptj' combs to each good colony 

 some little time previous to the opening of 

 our main flow of honey in June. 



We start out by giving sets of brood- 

 combs where swarms have died out, or gome 

 where weak swarms were united the pre- 

 vious fall. As we never extract from these 

 brood-combs, they usually contain consid- 

 erable honey and bee-bread, which is valu- 

 able at this time. 



EACH COLONY CARED FOR ACCORDING TO ITS 

 INDIVIDUAL NEEDS. 



If a colony is found in May with a good 

 stock of bees, but which for some reason or 

 other is short of stores to carry the bees 

 over to the opening of the main honey-flow, 

 we place, in tliis extra set of combs we are 

 giving them, honey to supply their wants. 

 Those stories of brood-combs wliich we give 

 early are placed under the colony, while 

 those given later in the season are placed 

 above a queen-excluder (on top), for they 

 are our regular extracting-combs. 



While we strive to have our covers fit 

 reasonably tight, thus preventing any con- 

 siderable direct draft through the colony, 

 the summer entrance should be used. In 

 most cases this large entrance, coupled with 

 a full ten-frame set of combs underneath, 

 will i^revent the swarming fever. A colo- 

 ny of bees free from the swarming fever 

 is worth two colonies that are " sulking " 

 at the opening of the surplus flow in June 

 on account of the swarming fever. 



The handling of the surplus recej^tacle 

 during the honey-flow is w^orked on the 

 plan of giving plenty of room during the 

 first three-fifths of the season, or allowing 

 the remaining two-fifths of the honey-flow 

 for finishing. 



HOW WE MAKE UP OUR WINTER LOSSES ; ALSO 



HOW WE MAKE OUR INCREASE OF 



COLONIES. 



After managing our bees to the best of 

 our ability, without going to the trouble of 

 shifting combs about from colony to colony, 

 some few colonies will swarm unless we 

 utilize them for increase. As our bees are 

 mostly in outyards, where a part of them 

 are left without a keeper each day during 

 the season, on account of there being more 

 yards than help, if the bees were allowed to 

 cast many swarms a considerable loss would 

 occur. 



