68 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



How to Separate Swarms 



When They Cluster 



Together. 



BY M. H. DE WITT. 



As this is the month in which bees 

 generally swarm, a few words or in- 

 structions on separating swarms may 

 not be out of season. 



It sometimes happens that two or 

 more swarms come out at or about the 

 same time. It seems that when the 

 swarming note is heard in the apiary, 

 it effects other colonies and causes 

 them to swarm out and go together. 

 If you are a novice in the business, 

 you will perhaps be puzzled about 

 what to do; while with an expert it 

 will be no trouble. The mammoth 

 swarm must be divided into as many 

 parts as there were swarms united, 

 and the queens hunted out and one 

 gotten with each swarm if possible. 

 Give each swarm a frame of comb 

 containing eggs, so that if you fail to 

 get the queens all divided you can 

 tell which one has no queen, as they 

 will soon start queen cells if they have 

 no queen. If you get two queens in 

 one hive the bees will ball one of 

 them. By making an examination of 

 the swarm shortly after hiving them, 

 you will know if one has two queens, 

 as you will find a ball of bees about 

 the size of a walnut or a little less; 

 and you can carry the queen to the 

 colony that has none. If you do not 

 know at once which colony is queen - 

 less, you can tell in a few hours, as 

 the bees will soon start queen cells. 



CONTROLLING SWARMING. 



When a bee-keeper gets as many 

 bees as he wants, it is often desirable 

 to keep down swarming and keep the 

 bees at work storing honey and not 

 wasting their time in swarming. If 



this could be accomplished, we might 

 get large yields of honey, per colony. 

 But whether we can get more honey 

 by this means than we can from the 

 old colony and its increase, is a matter 

 I very rnnch doubt. If we could only 

 keep down the swarming fever, we 

 might get as much or more honey 

 from the old colony ; but as it is bees' 

 nature to swarm, I think it best to let 

 them swarm once and then prevent all 

 after swarms by removing all queen 

 cells about a week after the first swarm 

 issues. While we cannot very well 

 prevent swarming entirely, we can 

 control it to a great degree by giving 

 the bees plenty of room in which to 

 store their honey, this will discourage 

 swarmiug to a great extent. 

 Sang Run, Md. 



How Far Apart Should Bees 

 be Kept to Insure Purity? 



BY (i. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Seeing lately in some of our bee- 

 papers the assertion made that "from 

 one-half to one mile apart was all the 

 distance that different races of bees 

 need be kept to insure the pure mat- 

 ing of queens," and this coming from 

 the pen of one who is held up as 

 authority on most subjects pertaining 

 to bee culture, I thought a few words 

 on this important subject, (important 

 to us who are trying to have our bees 

 growing better each year), would not 

 be amiss. Another prominent writer 

 also claims that after an experience of 

 twenty years he is convinced that 

 queens do not fly more than one-half 

 mile from home, and that said distance 

 is far enough to insure the pure mat- 

 ing of queens ; yet this writer admits 

 that drones may fly one mile from 

 home. Now allowing that he is cor- 



