Tmm 2EMMMicji;r« seeb jouieKiciu. 



549 



Best HcIIiocI of Preventing the 

 Swarming of Bees. 



Written for the American BeeJowmal 



Query 724.— What is the best method to 

 prevent swarming — to clip the queen's 

 wings, or to use a device which will prevent 

 her from leaving the hive ? — N. S. 



I prefer a good queen-trap. — G. L. Tinker. 



Neither will prevent it. That is not the 

 reason we clip the queen's wing. — Eugene 

 Secor. 



Neither plan would have any influence to 

 jsrevent swarming. As a convenience to 

 aid in hiving swarms, I prefer to clip the 

 queen's wing.— R. L. Taylor. 



Neither of these will prevent swarming 

 in the least. If you wish no swarms, run 

 your apiai-y for extracted honey. Swarm- 

 ing and producing honey in sections go 

 together.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Much depends on where the apiary is — if 

 the ground is infested with ants. I should 

 prefer the device to prevent her leaving 

 the hive, instead of clipping her wing. — J 

 P. H. Brown. 



I like a modification of Alley's trap, that 

 allows the queen to pass up near the top of 

 the hive on the outside, and there remain 

 until the swarm can be hived.— J. M. 

 Shuck. 



Neither one will prevent swarming. 

 Either of the above methods will work. 

 Some prefer to clip the queen's wing, while 

 others use a queen-trap ; but the great 

 majoi-ity just "let her rip."— H.D. Cutting. 



Give sufficient room by expansion, to 

 accommodate the bees, and keep their 

 attention turned to storing honey. I do 

 not clip the queen's wings, or use any de- 

 vices.— J. M. Hambaugh. 



Use hives giving to the queen at least 

 80,000 worker-cells, and add surplus 

 combs a little before the honey crop, add- 

 ing combs as needed. If you want your 

 queens killed, used a device to prevent 

 them from following the swarms.— Dadant 



.SSON. 



Neither one "is the best," and neither 

 will do it. Plenty of room given before the 

 swarming-impulse has begun, is the best 

 method I know of ; but every one of my 

 queens has one wing clipped, to prevent 

 them going oflE with a swarm.— A. B. 

 Mason. 



Neither will prevent swarming. Both of 

 the above methods are a help in hiving 

 swarms, and in preventing them from 

 ab.sconding to the woods. — C. H. Dibbern. 



Clipping the queen's wings will not pre- 

 vent swarming, but the queen can easily 

 be found in front of the hive when a swarm 

 issues. But why try to prevent swarming 

 — that is, a first swarm ? — Mrs.L.Harihson. 



I would have my queens' wings clipped, 

 by all means, but it does not prevent 

 swarming, and I do not know anything 

 that is entirely satisfactory. Under some 

 circumstances, Alley's qiieen-trap would 

 be good.— C. C. Miller. 



I do not believe in clipping wings, but 

 many do. I Vjelieve in a device to prevent 

 queens from leaving. Many do not. The 

 question is an open one, and localities may 

 so far differ as to cause a difference in 

 practice. Neither plan will work at all 

 times, but from the evidence so far, I think 

 that keeping queens from leaving hives is 

 the preferable plan.— J. E. Pond. 



Neither will have any influence whatever 

 to prevent swarming, though either will 

 prevent the swarm from going to the 

 woods, at least until a young queen 

 hatches. If the queen be taken away, and 

 all queen-cells but one be destroyed, 

 swarming can be controlled. — M. Maiiin. 



Clipping the queen's wing will not pre- 

 vent it. The clipping is only for conven- 

 ience and safety when they do swarm. 

 Neither is the confining of the queen ad- 

 visable — it does not prevent the fever or 

 desire which demoralizes the colony. — A. 

 J. Cook. 



I say neither. The most profitable way 

 that I know of is to discourage swarming 

 all you can, and then take the best of care 

 of the swarms which issue, giving them 

 every opportunity possible. It is with bees 

 as with boys — it is better to get them not 

 to want to do wrong, than to be locking 

 them up and flogging them for doing 

 wrong. — James Heddon. 



Neither of the methods you mention will 

 prevent swarming. Itis not the queen that 

 urges out the swarm. Bees will swarm 

 whether the queen can leave the hive or 

 not. The plan of clipping the wing of the 

 queen, and all devices to capture the queen 

 when a swarm issues, are only useful as 

 helps to lessen the labor of managing the 

 swarming nuisance. I prefer the plan of 

 clipping the wing of the queen, to any of 

 the devices yet brought to light. The 

 swarming desire must be satisfied, if bees 

 are expected to work and store honey. — G. 

 W. Demaree. 



While both methods will assist iu the 

 management of an apiary, neither of them 

 will prevent swarming. — The Editor. 



Xakiii^ oft' Snri>Iu»« Honey. — 



Hody Hine, of Sedan, Ind., asks the follow- 

 ing question about taking off sections of 

 honey ; 



When is the proper time to take off the 

 surplus honey sections, in order to give the 

 bees time to gather enough honey for win- 

 ter ? I have 3 colonies, but they have not 

 started comb iu the surplus honey-sections 

 yet, owing, I suppose, to the dry weather, 

 having had no rain for about three weeks, 

 until last night and to-day. — Hody Hine. 



Mr. James Heddon, by request, replies to 

 the above letter as follows : 



Here in this locality, which, I belieye, is 

 much like your own, I take off the surplus 

 receptacles only when I am thoroughly 

 satisfied that I shall get no more in them. 

 My bees always take care of the brood- 

 department ; that is, the storing of plenty 

 to last them through the winter, just the 

 same when the surplus honey- sections are 

 on as when they are off. My rule, at all 

 times of the year, is to get all the honey 

 possible in the surplus sections. If the sea- 

 son happens to turn in such a shape that 

 we find any of the colonies destitute of 

 winter stores, I feed them, but that rarely 

 happens. In your case, I would say, take 

 off the sections when you are satisfied the 

 bees will put nothing more in them — but 

 not before. — James Heddon. 



Xlie Nainelo!<!> Bee-DiNea.se. — Mr. 



E. F. Allen, of Eau Claire, Wis., on Aug. 3, 

 1890, sent us some diseased bees for ex- 

 amination, and wrote thus : 



I have sent three bees from one hive ; 

 the black ones do not leave the hive — if 

 they do, they go about two feet, and then 



back again, and the other bees kill a good 

 many of them, and have done so since 

 spring. There have been about two quarts 

 of them killed so far. What is the trouble 

 with them '; Will Prof. Cook please an- 

 swer in the Bee Journal ?— E. F. Allen. 



Prof. Cook's reply to the above letter is 

 as follows : 



The trouble with Mr. E. F. Allen's bees is 

 probably the " nameless bee-di.sease." This 

 is the way it acts. The remedy is to sep- 

 arate the queen. This is not uncommon, 

 and so it is no surprise that it has struck 

 Mr. A's apiary. 



It may be that the bees are dying with 

 Tachina parasites(see Bee-Keepers' Guide). 

 I hardly think this the trouble, as it has 

 lasted too long. If the dead bees are care- 

 fully dissected, the maggots inside can be 

 seen, in case this is the trouble ; or, if the 

 bees are put in a box, the flies may be 

 reared. 



In some cases bees act in the way men- 

 tioned, when pollen from milk-weed at- 

 taches to the legs. I hardly think this the 

 case with Mr. A's bees. They have shown 

 trouble too long, and Mr. A. would have 

 seen the pollen-masses. So I presume it to 

 be the nameless bee-disease, and would 

 advise killing the old queen, and introduc- 

 ing another.— A. J. Cook. 



CLKJBHINC} LISX. 



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75 



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