AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



47 



written by Wm. F. Clarke, on the " Pre- 

 vention of Swarming." 



[This was published last week on page 

 17.— Ed.] 



H. S. Stewart— I think Mr. Clarke 

 gives some good points ; one is that of 

 giving plenty of room, but that is con- 

 siderable work. Removing the queen is 

 one way. 



J. E. Crane — I have tried several 

 methods, and I must confess I do not 

 know how to prevent the disposition to 

 swarm. Blacks have a greater disposi- 

 tion to swarm than have the Italians. I 

 tried introducing young queens, but it 

 failed. I have given it up in disgust, 

 and decided to let them swarm, and then 

 so manage them as so get the best work 

 out of them by manipulation. 



F. H. Cyrenius — I raise brood into the 

 upper story, put a queen-excluder be- 

 tween the two stories, and the bees in 

 the upper story rear a queen, and, the 

 bees do not swarm. I work for ex- 

 tracted-honey. In producing comb- 

 honey I cannot prevent swarming. 



G. M. Doolittle — In producing comb- 

 honey I have never succeeded satisfac- 

 torily in preventing swarming. If a 

 colony is kept from swarming, it is 

 thrown into an abnormal condition. 

 This is unprofitable. It is better to let 

 them swarm, and then so manage as to 

 make the most out of them. 



S. Cornell — I know of a bee-keeper In 

 Canada who puts 4 colonies on a revolv- 

 ing platform,, or rather a colony at each 

 end of a cross that may be revolved. 

 Each day the cross is given a quarter 

 turn. This mixes the bees, and the 

 mixing seems to disconcert their plans 

 for swarming. 



P. H. Elwood — I do not know as I 

 have anything new to offer on this point. 

 It is the same old system that I have 

 used so long — that of removing the 

 queen. I will say, however, that there 

 is a difference in strains of bees. 



Ira Barber — What do you do with the 

 queen when you remove her? 



P. H. Elwood— If she is old we kill 

 her. If we wish to keep her, we take 

 with her a frame or two of bees and 

 brood. 



A Member — I have tried to prevent 

 swarming by Introducing young queens, 

 but it did not work this year. 



N. D. West — I remove the queen just 

 about as the bees are ready to swarm, 

 and put In a queen-cell that will hatch 

 in two or three days. The queen 

 hatches, and becomes fertile, and the 

 bees do not swarm. By the time the 

 queen is ready to lay, and the colony in 



any danger of again getting the swarm- 

 ing fever, the season is over. All the 

 cells are cut out, if there arc any, when 

 the queen-cell is given. The cell must 

 be protected with a queen-cell protec- 

 tor when given, or it would be destroyed 

 before the bees had discovered their 

 queenless condition, and were ready to 

 accept a young queen. I use hives with 

 considerable room in the brood-chamber, 

 and shade the hives. With a contracted 

 brood-chamber this plan might not be 

 so successful. 



J. E. Crane — I have tried putting in a 

 cell, but the bees would always swarm. 

 I have been more successful by intro- 

 ducing virgin queens. 



Next came an essay by G. H. Knicker- 

 bocker, entitled : '-The Italian Bee — 

 What are the principal points of ex- 

 cellence, and to which qualities should 

 we give the preference, with a scale of 

 markings as for neat stock ?" 



[This was published last week on 

 page 20. — Ed.] 



G. M. Doolittle — I am satisfied that 

 the Italian bee is a hybrid. We might 

 adopt a standard for thoroughbreds, but 

 I cannot see how it can be done, and yet 

 to do no injustice. 



Mr. Leonard — I see that some are ad- 

 vertising five-banded bees. I would like 

 to know if they are more than thorough- 

 breds ? 



J. M. Hambaugh — I would like to 

 have Mr. Doolittle tell why he calls 

 Italian bees hybrids ? 



G. M. Doolittle — Black bees are al- 

 ways black. They are a fixed type. 

 They do not sport. When brought 

 from Italy, Italian bees may produce 

 two-banded or three-banded bees. After 

 awhile we find so7ne of them showing 

 four bands. By selection and care in 

 breeding the four-banded bees we now 

 have produced the five-banded bees, and 

 I expect that we shall yet have bees 

 that are all yellow. As Italians do not 

 have a fixedness In their markings, I say 

 that they are hybrids. 



C. P. Dadant — Black bees do differ. 

 We have the black, the gray and the 

 brown, all called black or German bees. 

 Bees from Italy differ in color. The 

 bands may not always be just so bright, 

 but they are there. 



E. R. Root — We have imported many 

 queens from Italy, and their progeny 

 always shows the three bands. 



G. M. Doolittle— There is no such 

 thing as a one-banded or two-banded 

 bee. If a bee shows any yellow, it shows 

 yellow on three bands. 



