CARE AND MANAGEMENT OF BEES. 56 1 



season, when a second swarm may be cast with very good prospects 

 of success. " Buckwheat " swarms, or swarms that come out while 

 the buckwheat is in flower, are common, and if there is abundance 

 of feed will lay up a full store during the balance of the season. 



SYMPTOMS OF SWARMING When a colony is intending to 

 swarm they will not, as a general thing, be working like the rest, 

 and quite likely on the day they are intending to swarm, compara- 

 tively few bees will be seen going out and in the hive. Clustering 

 outside the hive is often but not always a symptom of swarming. 

 Where you have movable combs the times of swarming can easily 

 be detected. Bees do not, as a rule, swarm till they have got their 

 hives pretty well filled up and have multitudes of young bees hatch- 

 ing out daily. The presence of queen-cells is generally considered 

 an indication of the swarming fever. 



PREPARATIONS FOR SWARMING Every apiarist should always 

 be prepared for a swarm, for even where artificial swarming is 

 practiced and the utmost care used to prevent any other, the 

 chances are that a swarm may come out unexpectedly. There 

 should be at least one hive in readiness, fixed where it is intended 

 the next colony shall stand. It should be banked around with 

 cinders and sand, and fixed as nice and level as an occupied hive. 

 Have some extra combs ready where you can put your hand on 

 them, and also if possible have a hive arranged so that a comb of 

 unsealed larvae can be got at without much trouble. 



ARTIFICIAL SWARMING This should be undertaken only 

 when the nights are warm and honey abundant in the fields. To 

 divide them, have a hive at hand, of the same size and pattern as 

 the others. Then from four hives take two frames each and place 

 them in the new hive, supplying their place in the old with empty 

 frames. Then move an undisturbed hive to a new place a rod or 

 more away, and place the new hive where the old one stood. This 

 should be done in the middle of a fine day, when many bees are 

 absent in the fields. These will come to their old place and find it 

 strange ; but, as it contains stores and eggs from which to rear 

 another queen, they will remain contented in their new home 

 This may be repeated every two weeks, until you have secured suf- 

 ficient room, and no hive will think of swarming. 



Alighting Boards for Hives If a hive be placed upon 

 a stool or " legs," with the grass growing thickly about it, the labors 

 of the honey -gatherers are seriously interfered with, and many of 

 the bees are " gathered in " by toads, spiders, and other enemies. 

 Each hive should have an alighting board, about two inches wide, 

 to receive the bees returning with their bounty from the flowers. 

 It is a good plan to have the front of the hives thoroughly clear of 

 weeds and grass, and covered with clear sawdust or white sand. 

 This will enable you to watch the queens in natural swarming, and 

 also to note when "robbing" is going on. 



