114 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



go somewhere and hunt a job more 

 pleasant and profitable? For my part, 

 I like "intense" bee-keeping. This 

 season it was necessary for us (my 

 wife, one man, and myself) to go 

 through two apiaries each day. 



NECESSITY FOR SYSTEM, RECORDS, AND 

 CLEAR "mental PICTURES. " 



Forced swarming means this: That 

 the operator must have the work so 

 well in hand that he has a "mental 

 picture" of all the conditions, during 

 the swarming season, in his several 

 apiaries. This can be done only by 

 commencing at a certain place and 

 going over every colony every six days. 

 I sa3% going over every colony; of 

 course, I keep a record, on a piece of 

 section which lies under the cover of 

 each hive, and this record will indi- 

 cate the needs of each individual 

 colony as soon as the cover is raised. 



management helps TO REDUCE THE 

 AMOUNT OF SWARMING. 



Every apiarist, of course, desires 

 just as little swarming as possible. 

 He knows there is a certain per cent, 

 of colonies that will not offer to swarm; 

 and tliis per cent, is increased by his 

 management before the swarming im- 

 pulse begins; by his furnishing plenty 

 of room, getting work started in the 

 supers before the main flow comes on, 

 etc. Again, there is another certain 

 per cent, of colonies that can be quite 

 easily discouraged from swarming by 

 simply taking away two or three 

 frames of brood of hatching bees, and 

 giving full sheets of foundation in- 

 stead, when they will settle down to 

 business for the season's work, with- 

 out any further attempt at swarming. 

 However, only a close observer, with a 

 practical eye, can distinguish be- 

 tween such colonies and those that are 

 bound to swarm whether they are in 

 condition or not. 



HOW ABSCONDING MAY BE AVOIDED. 



Many writers claim that the main 

 objection to forced swarming is the 



tendency to abscond. Now, whether 

 it is on account of the kind of hive 

 used, or whether it is the locality, or 

 because of the difference in the mode 

 of operation, I do not know, but this I 

 do know, that out of 400 forced swarms 

 that I made last season, not one ab- 

 sconded. 



If I shoul4 use a little, hot, half- 

 story hive to confine a large colony in 

 for three or four days, until the bees 

 are ready for a super, as friend Mor- 

 rison advises, I should expect abscond- 

 ing. If I should fill a hive up with 

 dummies (all except four or five frames, 

 a la Doolittle) I should expect abscond- 

 ing. But, if we shake all the flying 

 bees into a full-sized, 8-frame hive, 

 with one, or perhaps two, frames of 

 unsealed larvae and eggs, remove 

 the super from the old hive, the super 

 being filled with bees well at work on 

 bait sections and full sheets of founda- 

 tion, on to the new swarm, which is set 

 upon the old stand, and given a well- 

 ventilated cover, the bees drenched 

 with new honey, that will fly out in 

 the shaking process, why should they 

 abscond? And, furthermore, how 

 could the3^ unless the queen should go 

 on foot, as she is clipped? 



One thing is very necessary, and 

 that is to be sure and remove all 

 queen cells, and even cups with 

 eggs in, from the frames that are 

 hung into the new swarms. In three 

 cases this season, where the cells were 

 left from neglect, a swarm issued 

 about the time the cells were sealed. 



WHEN IT IS BETTER TO DISCOURAGE 

 SWARMING THAN TO "SHAKE." 



Now, we frequently find a colony 

 that has been backward, that has just 

 got its hive filled with brood in all 

 stages, except hatching bees, and there 

 are even cell-cups with eggs in; don't 

 force such a swarm, for you are liable 

 to lose a hive full of valuable brood. 

 Instead of shaking, discotirage such 

 colonies until the next visit, by taking 

 away one frame of the youngest brood. 



