272 Beekeeping 



of the improvement of stock by selection and he attributes 

 much of his success to his efforts in this line. 



REMEDIAL MEASURES 



The preventive measures previously mentioned are usually 

 sufficient to control swarming in a colony used in extracted- 

 honey production but, in the crowded conditions of the 

 comb-honey hive, in a good season, there will probably be 

 some colonies that will persist in their preparations to 

 swarm. In a poor season, when the colony lacks the stimu- 

 lus of nectar coming to the hive, it has not the conditions nor 

 the number of bees necessary for swarming, but when con- 

 ditions during early brood-rearing are favorable and when 

 there is abundance of nectar during the main honey-flow, 

 there is also usually a larger population, and preparation for 

 swarming may be begun and often completed in most of the 

 colonies in the apiary. It then rests with the beekeeper so 

 to manage these colonies that, by keeping the bees together 

 and by keeping them in working condition (p. 85), he may 

 obtain practically as large a crop as if swarming had not 

 occurred. He now aims not so much to prevent swarming 

 as to satisfy the instinct and to overcome the evils incident 

 to division of the working force. The method to be adopted 

 depends largely on the size and location of the apiary. If 

 the bees are all in one apiary, where they are under the 

 immediate care of the beekeeper every day, the bees may be 

 permitted to swarm naturally but, in comb-honey produc- 

 tion especially, colonies in out-apiaries can be expected to 

 produce more, without the loss of swarms, if by some reme- 

 dial manipulation the swarming tendency is controlled to suit 

 the convenience of the beekeeper. If an assistant is kept at 

 each apiary, it becomes essentially like the home apiary, 

 but it rarely pays to keep so much help. 



Control of natural swarms. 



Swarms which issue may be managed in several ways. 

 (1) They may be allowed to fly into the air and cluster on 



