AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



461 



try it and be convinced. If you do not 

 thinif I can walk into an apiary of 100 

 colonies, and in less than three days' 

 work knock the swarming business in 

 the head, give me a chance and I will 

 convince you, unless I happen to miss 

 some cells like you are apt to do. But 

 that must come under the head of an 

 exception, and not a rule. 



Here is another good remedy. But 

 first I will say where there is trouble 

 there must of necessity be a cause, then 

 remove the cause and a cure is easily 

 affected. Well, the cause of swarming 

 is sealed brood, sealed queen-cells, and 

 sealed drone-cells. Now keep the sealed 

 brood away until the swarming-fever is 

 over, and no swarming will take place. 



I wish you to understand that bees do 

 not swarm naturally with unsealed 

 brood, so the main cause of swarming is 

 an abundance of sealed worker-brood, 

 sealed drone-brood, and of course when 

 this is the case they are in a prosperous 

 condition, or they would not have the 

 hive full of sealed brood. Then this is 

 the cause — remove it, and a cure is ef- 

 fected. 



You are heard to ask, " What will I do 

 with that sealed brood?" Well, in large 

 apiaries I have always found some weak 

 colonies that can be built up and made 

 equal in bees to the balance, and made 

 ready for the honey-flow, but if such is 

 not the case, put your sealed brood off 

 into empty hives, protect from ants and 

 sun, and leaving a few bees to care for 

 it, is best. Do not let them rear a 

 queen, and when the bees have all 

 hatched out, take them and the empty 

 combs they occupy, and put back with 

 the old queen and old hive where they 

 came from, removing all the brood as 

 before. Put on the sections, get a crop 

 of honey before they get another hive 

 full of sealed brood, and let the bees 

 know that you can beat them at their 

 own game, and don't be one bit afraid 

 of their swarming until they get a lot of 

 sealed brood, for they won't do it if there 

 are two bushels of them. 



Now you may say all this is a heap of 

 work and bother, which I will admit 

 that it is, and I love to see my bees 

 swarm too well to practice it much, but 

 it is a remedy for swarming, just the 

 same, and wnen I am determined to pre- 

 vent a colony from swarming, I can do 

 so by the above plans. 



I have kept down swarming by keep- 

 ing all the queen-cells torn down, by 

 going through the hives once a week 

 until the swarming season was over. I 

 know that it has been reported that bees 



do sometimes swarm without having 

 queen-cells started at all, but it must be 

 exceptions and not a rule when they do 

 so. I never had a natural swarm to is- 

 sue in all my :^0 years of bee-keeping, 

 without starting cells first, and seldom 

 until one or more queen-cells were sealed; 

 but I have a few times had swarms is- 

 sue before any queen-cells were sealed. 

 I am of the opinion that those who re- 

 ported swarms without any queen-cells 

 started at all, were not natural swarms, 

 as I have often had pretty fair colonies 

 swarm out on account of starvation and 

 other causes, and also there would be a 

 few young bees left in the hives, but 

 they were only what we term " pauper 

 swarms." It may be that Italian bees 

 sometimes swarm without making any 

 preparations, but it has never come un- 

 der my observation. 



BEST PLAN OF INCREASE. 



To close this swarming question, I will 

 add that unless you have all the bees 

 you can possibly handle and care for, I 

 would allow them to swarm one time 

 each, or divide them artificially, which 

 means about t^e same thing in the 

 South ; for if you take away the largest 

 part of the brood with the new colony, 

 leaving the old queen on the old stand, 

 and give empty frames, or frames of 

 comb foundation, if done just at the 

 proper time, it is as near natural swarm- 

 ing as anything I know of, and the 

 proper time is just at the time they be- 

 gin to prepare for natural swarming by 

 starting queen-cells. I do not wish to be 

 understood that the starting of what we 

 call "stubs " of queen-cells in nooks and 

 corners, etc., but when the cells have 

 eggs in them, and the bees commence to 

 build them out. Then take the brood, 

 queen-cells, and all to a new stand, 

 leave the old queen a frame or two of 

 unsealed brood, and shake off some 

 young bees on the old stand. The bees 

 will then take care of and finish up those 

 natural cells, and you have natural 

 queens, and just as good as natural 

 swarming. Of course only allow one 

 cell to remain in the new colony, lest 

 they cast a swarm— leave a nice large 

 one. This is really my best plan of in- 

 crease, as I have stated before, and one 

 that will likely give satisfaction. 



The next lesson will be different races 

 of bees, queens, etc. 



Jennie Atchley. 

 (To be continued.) 



Have You Read the wonderful Pre- 

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