114 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



Now when un^'one purchases terri- 

 tory eitlier an individual, township or 

 for counties, tlie riujlit to make, use 

 and sell the drone-trap swarmer will 

 l>e included. We do not expect to i>et 

 rich out of the patent business. I am 

 desirous and anxious to introduce the 

 trap and swarmer into every section 

 of the country, and for that reason 

 have put the prices for territorial i'i<>iits 

 at a low figure. 



Address, Henry Alley, 



Wenham, J/a.s.s. 



Increase by forced natural 

 swarming. 



E. L. P II ATT. 



We always make it a point to get 

 all swarming over with before the 

 main harvest, aud by the jtimpiug 

 plan we can Cix all the wealcer colo- 

 nies and draw enough bees from the 

 stronger to prolong the day just 

 enough to l)ring all our bees to a cer- 

 tain standard a few weeks before clo- 

 ver, when wholesale swarming com- 

 mences and the Alley trap comes into 

 play. 



Notwithstanding there will be a few 

 colonies having weaker queens that 

 cannot build up to the svrarming point 

 until after the swarming season is 

 about over. 



To prevent these from taking on the 

 swarming mania during the harvest 

 we force out a natural swarm artifi- 

 cially about a week before white clover 

 opens. 



Artificial swarming is oftentimes 

 good l)ut natural swarming is better, 

 and if we understand our bees we can 

 just as well operate with Dame Nature 

 as against her. 



Wliat first gave me the cue to 

 forced natural swarming was having 

 a swarm come out with a virgin 

 queen from cells the bees iiad built 

 with tiie intention of superseding the 

 old (pieen. I at once commence(i ex- 

 perimenting and tiie result has been 

 very satisfactory. I can say that in 



our locality we can make a colony 

 cast a natural swarm even if they 

 had no intention of doing so for some 

 time to come. 



The modus operandi is as follows : 

 exchange stands of two moderately 

 populous colonies, aud after they are 

 down to working order take away 

 their queens long enough for them to 

 start cells. At the end of the third 

 day run a virgin queen into each and 

 leave them two or three days longer, 

 when the laying queen can l)e safely 

 reintroduced (a just laying queen is 

 better) either on a full comb of brood 

 and bees or by the candy-plug-cage 

 method, which by the way is the best 

 ever given to the fraternity. 



I need not say that the queen-trap 

 should be left at the entrance of both 

 hives during the whole time so as to 

 catch the queens if they attempt to 

 leave the hive. 



There is no fixed time when the 

 swarm will come out but they are 

 sure to swarm and you must be on 

 hand with an empty hive and work 

 quickly or you will lose them. They 

 act for all the world like a swarm that 

 has it in mind to decamp. Which- 

 ever queen they come out with must 

 be kept in the trap until the bees are 

 all in the hive or clinging thereto, 

 for if you allow her to escape while 

 changing the trap from the old to the 

 . new hive she will surely lead your 

 bees to parts unknown. 



I have never known them to cluster, 

 but after they are hived they work 

 exactly like a natural swarm. 



There are a number of little points 

 that cannot be told here and which 

 would not be brought to mind until 

 the occasion offers. I have simply 

 outlined a method of procedure and 

 leave to the reader to experiment on it. 



If the swarm comes out with the 

 laying queen, hive it on wide starters 

 in the ordinary way ; but if it is the 

 virgin, use full sheets of foundation 

 at the sides and starters in the mid- 

 dle, so as to prevent the building of 

 drone comb. All swarms, whether 



