V , 



ESTABLISHED -1^61 

 'the OLDEST BEE-PAPER -AMER 



Pufyllsh^d WeeJcly* at ^1,00 per a-nnum. 



Sample" Cop>' sent on -Application, 



36th Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., JUNE 11, 1896. 



No. 24. 



Working for Comb Honey — Swarming, 



By G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



In my last article on working for comb honey, I spoke in 

 brief about swarming, told something of when it should be 

 done, how after-sw^rming could be prevented, and something 

 about putting on sections. In this I will tell more minutely 

 about how I manage swarms and swarming, and also how I 

 often make an artificial increase with those which do not 

 swarm up to the latest date that would make natural swarm- 

 ing profitable. 



If we have worked along the lines given in previous arti- 

 cles, our hives will be well filled with bees in time for the 

 honey harvest, and in order to meet with the best success 

 swarming must be done up before the height of the season 

 arrives, as I have already hinted at. Some seem to think that 

 a larger amount of section honey can be secured where bees 

 are not allowed to swarm, but I think this a mistaken idea, 

 for the swarm and old colony, if rightly managed, will do as 

 much separately as they would kept together, and, beside, if 

 we tried to keep them together by cutting out queen-cells, 

 etc., we would only delay swarming so it would come during 

 the last half of the honey harvest, when it would be the most 

 detrimental to our interests. 



AH of my early swarms are hived singly In a hive having 

 five empty combs in it, as I usually have plenty of such on 

 hand, and the sections transferred from the parent colony to 

 the new swarm. At the end of 21 to 24 days, these five 

 combs are spread apart and four empty combs put in each 

 alternate space, so that there is no danger of these early 

 swarms swarming again, and thus room is also given for the 

 storing of sufficient honey for wintering. My hive holds nine 

 frames, and the insertion of these four combs fills out the 

 hive. If I used any other number of combs I would insert a 

 number to make the full capacity of the hive, at this time. 



By early swarms, as spoken of above, I mean those which 

 come from 10 to 15 days before the honey harvest. Those 

 coming from 5 to 8 days later are united so two are placed in a 

 hive filled with comb foundation, the sections being set from 

 the old colony which Is moved away, on the doubled swarm. 

 In this case one of the hives casting a swarm is taken to a 

 new location, and the old queen belonging thereto Is put back, 



hiving the double swarm on the stand it previously occupied. 

 The hive furnishing the queen for the doubled swarms, is not 

 disturbed in eight days, when it is treated as I gave In my 

 last article on this subject. All that have not swarmed at 

 the commencement of the honey harvest are made to swarm 

 in this manner : 



A hive is filled with frames of empty combs and placed 

 upon the stand of one of the colonies which have not swarmed, 

 and all the sections are taken off and placed thereon ; then 

 all the bees are shaken and brushed off their combs of brood 

 and honey in front of this prepared hive. Thus, we have the 

 queen, bees, partly-filled sections, etc., which makes a colony 

 ready for business at once. Previous to this, nuclei have been 

 formed, so that I have plenty of laying queens to use as I may 

 need them. 



I now take all the combs from which the bees were 

 brushed except one, and arrange them back in the hive, car- 

 rying it to the stand of another colony which has not swarmed. 

 I next take the comb of brood which was left out, and go to a 

 nucleus, taking out the frame having the laying queen on it, 

 and put the comb of brood in its place. I now take the frame, 

 bees, queen and all, and set it in the place left vacant for it 

 when arranging the combs of brood. I next put on the proper 

 amount of sections, and when all is complete move the colony 

 not having swarmed to a new stand and set the prepared 

 hive in its place. Thus I have a laying queen and enough of 

 her own bees to protect her, combs full of brood, and all of 

 the field or old bees from the removed colony, which makes a 

 colony which is ready to go into the sections In a few days. 

 The removed colony has simply lost the old or field bees, so as 

 to stop the swarming impulse, and in a week will be ready for 

 work in the sections again. 



All colonies allowed to swarm naturally rear their own 

 queens, contrary to the advice generally given, "that no col- 

 ony should be allowed to go queenless at this season of the 

 »year by waiting for queen-cells to hatch," for, after repeated 

 trials, I have come to the conclusion that better results can 

 be secured by allowing the old colonies to rear their own 

 queen than by giving them a laying queen immediately after 

 swarming. As there is plenty of room given for storing in the 

 brood-chamber as fast as the young bees hatch out, the honey 

 Is mostly stored below till the queen is fertilized, when it is at 

 once removed to the sections to give her room to deposit eggs. 

 In such cases I have frequently had a whole set of sections 

 (60 pounds) filled and completed in 12 days. 



As there is little honey secured in this locality after Aug. 

 10, if a laying queen was kept in the hive all of the time, the 

 bees from her eggs would hatch in a time to only swell the 

 number of consumers without being any profit, and much 

 honey would be used in feeding the larvae for these useless 

 consumers; besides, such a colony usually takes the swarm- 



