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miES m 



methods Used to Prevent tlic 

 Swarming of Bees. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



Qwery 688 Whieb do you find the liest 



plan to prevent swurmiag— giving abundant 

 TOom bv tiering one set of combs above the 

 other or giving the necessary room below, all 

 on one level 'i ' Or what other preventive do 

 you use '/—England. 



Give room above.— A. B. Mason. 

 Extracting is the only efifective method 

 that I have tried.— R. L. Tatloh. 



By putting one set of combs above the 

 other.— H. D. Cuttixg. 



Tiering up above. Giving room below, 

 or on one level, is not practical, though it 

 is practicable.— Dadamt & Son. 



I think it is about six of one and half- 

 dozen of the other, as to which plan is used. 

 —J. P. H. Brown. 



The upward tiering-plan, as you describe, 

 increasing the storing-room to the capacity 

 of the colony.— J. JI. Hambaugii. 



Either plan works well for extracted 

 honey. Neither will secure the desired re- 

 sult, when working for comb honey.— G. M. 



DOOLITTLE. 



Tiering is, in my judgment, the better of 

 the two. It would take too long to describe 

 other methods and devices that we prac- 

 tice.— Mrs. L. Harrison. 



I never had any success with either plan. 

 Keep the queens' wings clipped, an*l de- 

 stroy all queen-cells as long as the swarm- 

 ing-fever lasts.— P. L. Viallon. 



Why try to prevent swarming at all; 

 Ton can keep them back for a time, by 

 giving plenty of room, either at the top or 

 the sides, if "given before they start queen- 



CeUs.— C. H. DiBBERN. 



I have never used the second plan men- 

 tioned. The first succeeds in perhaps one- 

 half of the number tried. If tiered up at 

 just the right time, swarming is controlled 

 in a majority of cases.— Eugene Secok. 



I find the best and only satisfactory 

 manipulation to prevent swarming, in the 

 divisible brood-chamber, and worked by 

 alternating the upper and lower halves of 

 that brood-chamber— of course, always 

 furnishing plenty of surplus room at the 

 same time.— James Heddon. 



I do not know how to prevent swarming. 

 Increase of room for the queen will help, I 

 think, and I do not think that it makes any 

 diflference whether you give her room by 

 tiering up, or spreading horizontally.— C. 

 C. Miller. 



Giving room below seems most effective; 

 but "tiering up" is most useful to the 

 keeper of bees. The successful bee-keeper 

 studies to attain what he wants first. What 

 the bees want, is a secondary matter.— J. 

 M. Shuck. 



If combs are to be built by the bees, room 

 above the brood-nest will be more effective 

 than below. An upper story from which 

 the honey is extracted as soon as it is suffi- 

 ciently evaporated, and abundant ventila- 

 tion, will generally prevent swarming. I 

 have found ventilation at the top of the 

 hive, of great advantage.— M. Maiiin. 



I am careful to " tier up " as fast as the 

 increasing colony needs the room. No neg- 

 lect is adjpissilile at this time. The "tier- 

 ing " 1« f^ done above the brood-depart- 

 ment 6lffhe hive, until a swarm issues; if 



the top tiering does not prevent swarrning 

 entirely, then I tier downward; that is, I 

 place a super with combs, guarded with a 

 metal queen-excluder, below the l>rood de- 

 partment, and send the swarm back home. 

 This management separates the queen from 

 the old brood department, and compels her 

 to commence anew below.— G.W.Demaree. 



A combination of both; but I find the best 

 plan is that of close-working frames in the 

 brood-chamber, only bee-space apart. This 

 plan prevents swarming, and the building 

 of bridge-combs; and also forces the bees 

 into sections, as soon as they are put on. — 

 J. E. Pond. 



Much room by tiering up tends to re- 

 strain swarming. With the best hives, it is 

 impossible to give room horizontally, and I 

 do not think that it would be any advan- 

 tage if we could. I once used the long 

 [New Idea] hives, and could not see that 

 they were an advantage. Removal of the 

 queen is the best way to certainly prevent 

 swarming. — A. J. Cook. 



A large, roomy hive is the best preven- 

 tive against swarming, next to the frequent 

 use of the extractor. The room should be 

 given above the brood, always: for it is the 

 instinct of the bees to store there, and they 

 do so to the best advantage. If plenty of 

 empty combs are placed above the brood 

 on all hives, there will be few swarms that 

 will issue, even in a good honey-flow.— G. 

 L. Tinker. 



Either plan will give relief to the colony, 

 and sometimes prevent swarming— but 

 neither can be relied upon at all times to 

 keep the colony from sending out a swarm. 

 -The Editor. 



Yes; use sections as long as you can keep 

 them clean and nice. Why is not one 

 clean, nice section, just as good as another? 

 —J. E. Pond. 



If they have been used in wide frames, 

 they will not be soiled, and may be used 

 again; especially the partly-filled sections 

 at the close of a honey-flow.- G. L. Tinker. 



It may pay, but if they have been used 

 more than once, they are usually too much 

 soiled for a first-class appearance. That is 

 one of the stumbling-blocks of comb-honey 

 production. — Dadant & Son. 



In the first place, "they will not clean." 

 If you just want them for your own use, 

 they will do ; but if you expect to sell the 

 honey, do not use them.— H. D. Cutting. 



It pays me well to use them, since learn- 

 ing soinewhat more how to manage them. 

 The honey is not quite as nice as that in 

 newly-built combs, but the quality can be 

 improved by leaving the sections on the 

 hives until the nectar is thoroughly evap- 

 orated. If this is done, the nectar will keep 

 as well as any.— G. W. Demaree. 



We doubt whether it would not cost more 

 to make them " clean and sound," than they 

 are worth. They cost so little that we do 

 not think it would ever pay to use them a. 

 second time. — The Editor. 



Using Sections After the Honey 

 Has Been Removed. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



Query 689.— Will it pay to use sections the 

 second time, or after the honey has been taken 

 out, provided they are clean and sound y— E. C. 



Yes.— C. C. Miller. 



Yes.— M. Mahin. 



Yes.— J. M. Hajibaugh. 



Yes! Yes* YES! Always!— G. M. Doo- 

 little. 



Yes, i£ they are clean and sound. — R. L. 

 Taylor. 



No, sir, not if you are going to sell the 

 honey. I doubt if it will pay, anyway.— 

 Jame's Heddon. 



Ordinarily, it will not; but if they are 

 clean and sound, it will. — Mrs. L. Harri- 

 son. 



Yes, if they arc clean and sound; but 

 they never are.— J. M. Shuck. 



If perfectly clean, they are just as good 

 as new ; but if soiled, they might better be 

 thrown away. — Eugene Secor. 



Certainly. Some such were exhibited by 

 Mr. H. D. Cutting, at the last Michigan 

 State Bee-Keepers' Convention, and looked 

 as good as new.— A. B. Mason. 



Why not? Though usually it does not 

 pay to bother with old sections.— A.J.Cook. 



No. After sections have been used once, 

 they never can be made to look as neat and 

 as clean as new ones. — P. L. Viallon. 



Yes, if they are neat and clean. If filled 

 with comb, shave it down so that the cells 

 will be only about >^-inch deep.— C. H. Dib- 

 bern. 



If they are clean, use them. As many 

 manufacturers of sections are now making 

 them "just for the fun of the thing," it will 

 not pay any one to use a soiled section. — J. 

 P. H. Brown. 



Hees Wj-ins in tlie Cellar — W.W. 



Parker, Sechlerville, Wis.,ouFeb. 10, says: 



I have 19 colonies in the cellar; the win- 

 ter has been so unusally warm that it is 

 impossible to keep them quiet, conse- 

 quently there are lots of dead bees, both in 

 and out of the hives. Would it better their 

 condition to take them out, put them into 

 a larger box, and fill in with chaff? Oris 

 it less risk to let them alone * 



W. W. Parker. 



By request. Dr. C. C. Miller answers Mr. 

 Parker's questions as follows: 



A warm time is rather a ti-ying time in 

 the cellar. I am inclined to believe that I 

 should try to keep them in a little longer, 

 if they can have good air in the cellar. 

 Open the windows and doors at night, so 

 that they will be thoroughly aired, when- 

 ever it is warm enough so that it does not 

 cool the cellar too much ; and it may be 

 well even to let the cellar remain open ia 

 the morning until the bees trouble by fly- 

 ing out. I have sometimes put ice in the 

 cellar, toward spring.— C. C. Miller. 



,^^ Frank Vincent, the well-known trav- 

 eler author of the recently published book, 

 " Around and About South America," and 

 of a forthcoming work on Central America, 

 furuishes an elaborate leading article on 

 " The Republics, of Central America," in 

 the March number of " Frank Leslie's Pop- 

 ular Monthly." Guatemala, Honduras, 

 Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica are 

 graphically described, with numerous and 

 beautiful illustrations, making a contribu- 

 tion of the highest intrinsic interest, as well 

 as of peculiar timeliness in connection with 

 the work of the Pan-American Congress. 

 Other illustrated articles offer attractions 

 in a variety of directions. 



Xlie Most Vivid and startling pict- 

 ures of the terrible tragedy in Washington, 

 which resulted in the death of two of the 

 members of Secretary Tracy's family, are 

 found in "Frank Leslie's Illustrated News- 

 paper" this week. Other pictures include 

 one in reference to Gen. Sherman's seven- 

 I tieth birthday. 



