310 



colonies to bring up the weakling's so that, 

 if I can reach the flow with all the colonies 

 of that winter in good condition, I feel sat- 

 isfied. Then, as mentioned before, I expect 

 more honej' if they do not swarm during 

 our short flow. 



I feel sure there are several practices the 

 beekeeper can follow that tend to increase 

 the number of colonies, and that may pre- 

 vent swarming. I will try to give them in 

 the order of their importance as they ap- 

 pear to me: 



1. Breed all queens from colonies that 

 have shown the least inclination to swarm, 

 using queenless and broodless bees to build 

 the cells, or at least to start them. 



2. See that no colony is crowded for 

 room up to the middle of the flow at least. 



3. See that each colony is blocked from 

 the bottom-board from % to one inch in 

 front, just before weather hot enough to 

 crowd them out begins. 



4. See that every colony is protected 

 from the direct rays of the sun from about 

 10 A. M. till about 4 P. M. 



5. See that every colony has comb built 

 in readiness for the first surplus that comes. 



It will not be necessary to dwell much on 

 any of these points except the first. 



The question of the strain of bees, as re- 

 lated to one's system of management has 

 not, in my opinion, yet had the considera- 

 tion its importance deserves. It is well 

 known, and acknowledged by a gi'eat many 

 practical honey-producers that almost all 

 manipulation has to be varied to suit the 

 characteristics of different colonies. Now, 

 if we want a certain plan of manipulation 

 to apply to all colonies we must have less 

 variation in our colonies; and in order to 

 handle the most colonies possible with a 

 given amount of labor we must apply one 

 manipulation or plan of treatment to all-— 

 manipulation here being considered only in 

 its relation to swarming. If there were no 

 variation in bees in regard to swarming, a 

 manipulation that would give us the desired 

 result with one colony would with all. 



It might be said that a manipulation such 

 as '' shook swarming " or any process that 

 cripples a colony or keeps it weak enough 

 to prevent swarming proves that that man- 

 ipulation answers the purpose. 



But for the locality I have in mind it is 

 not the purpose to have a part of a colony. 

 We want a full colony, all the bees one 

 queen will produce, and we want them to 

 stay in one hive clear thi'ough the flow 

 It may now be asked how large a colony 

 we may expect to have in this way, con- 

 sidering the nature of the bees. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



It has been my observation that a colony 

 is most likely to swarm about the time, or 

 very soon after, the bees have reached their 

 maximum breeding capacity, every thing 

 else being favorable. If this is right, a 

 colony or strain that reached the maximi;m 

 breeding early in the season would be that 

 much sooner jaast the swarming period ; and 

 if this earlier part of the season were less 

 favorable for swarming, owing to certain 

 weather conditions, then there would be 

 less tendency to swarm on the part of tliis 

 kind of strain. 



Then, again, many think that an over- 

 supi^h' of young bees in proportion to the 

 brood and honey to be cared for is likely 

 to be a prolific source of swarming. If a 

 strain reaches its maximum breeding early, 

 say about the time of fruit bloom, then the 

 dearth after fruit bloom discourages swarm- 

 ing, and so cuts down breeding that, wh^^n 

 the main flow begins, there are plenty of 

 old bees or fielders, yet no surplus of young, 

 nor can there be for a month. Such a 

 colony is just right for gathering and stor- 

 ing the most surplus, and is not in a condi- 

 tion to swarm. Is it not evident that, if 

 one bi'eeds a strain best suited to his "local- 

 ity," other " manipulations " will be more 

 etfective, and the variation in all colonies 

 be less marked? Of course, one should al- 

 ways take note of the variations of the sea- 

 sons. If, at fruit bloom, conditions should 

 be \ev\ favorable, increase might have to 

 be made in order to prevent swarming. But 

 the gain would come from the labor saved 

 at the time of the main crop, and this sav- 

 ing could be applied in " keeping moi'e 

 bees " as Avell as in more surplus per hive. 



Dunlap, Iowa. 



DOOLITTLE METHOD OF SWARM CONTROL 

 NOT A SUCCESS IN IDAHO 



BY E. F. ATWATER 



As soon as the essential features of the 

 Doolittle method of swarm control in the 

 production of comb honey had been pub- 

 lished the writer gave the method a test in 

 several yards, and that test has been re- 

 peated each season, although on a smaller 

 number of colonies. We have no hesita- 

 tion in saying that, if the method would 

 give the results in this locality that it gives 

 Mr. Doolittle in his own location, then it 

 would be, in many ways, the ideal plan for 

 out-yards and comb-honey production. But 

 we find that far too many of the colonies 

 shaken on the combs which had been above 

 the excluder will swarm again in less than 

 tliree weeks, resulting in poor super work, 



