256 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



self 3'ears ago when I was less 

 versed in bee economy than now. 



When bees prepare to swarm, the 

 queen is moved by instinct to pre- 

 pare for her flight with the swarm, 

 and hence she lays but sparingly 

 for several days previous to the is- 

 suing of the swarm. And prepar- 

 atory to the sudden desertion of 

 the brood by the swarm, which may 

 result in a greater or less depletion 

 as the conditions may be, the nurse 

 bees feed the larvae to last them 

 for several days. Besides, at this 

 stage of things, j^oung bees are cut- 

 ting out with the greatest rapidity. 

 With these wise provisions of na- 

 ture, it is easy to see how the new 

 hive is to be "peopled." By my 

 direct depletion plan, the swarming 

 impulse is broken at once, and the 

 old colony will be ready for work 

 in the Held much sooner than if the 

 depletion is delayed for seven or 

 eight days as when following the 

 Heddon plan. No one would un- 

 derstand me to say that there were 

 no bees left on the combs. Bees 

 do not " shake off" of combs per- 

 fectly, as the merest tyro has not 

 failed to observe. The plan, in a 

 " nutshell," is to put the parent 

 colon}', immediately after the 

 swarm issues, in the condition of 

 an artificial swarm. This is done 

 by removing the combs from the 

 hive from which the swarms is- 

 sued, and placing them in a new hive 

 in a new location. But it must be 

 borne in mind that the parent colony 

 is laboring under the swarming im- 

 pulse, and tiierefore too man}^ bees 

 must not accompany the combs as 

 there may be danger of an after 

 swarm. The swarm is hived on 

 the old stand so as to catch all the 

 flying bees. I know that this plan 

 works perfectl}' if the work is prop- 

 erly done, and the entire job is 

 completed at the time of hiving 

 the swarm. , 



Some may be ready to ask. Why 

 not resort to the shorter way of 



moving the old hive with its con- 

 tents to a new location, and hive 

 the swarm in a new hive on the old 

 stand ? The reason wh^^ this shorter 

 way cannot be relied upon is, the 

 number of bees left at home, when 

 a swarm issues, is very uncertain ; 

 besides, bees stick to the combs 

 with queen cells, when under the 

 swarm fever, with greater tenacity 

 than if their queen was present. 

 The bees of a colony under these 

 conditions, if moved to a new loca- 

 tion, hive, combs and all, are so 

 absorbed in the one idea of swarm- 

 ing that the}' hardly realize that 

 they have been moved at all. It 

 is the " breaking up " process that 

 contributes most to the curing of 

 the swarm fever. 



So far as I have tried it, Mr. 

 Porter's plan of dividing the combs 

 of brood between the parent colo- 

 ny and the swarm has not worked 

 satisfactorily in my apiary. It 

 has a tendency to cool the swarm 

 energJ^ and aggravate the swarming 

 impulse. The natural condition of 

 a " swarm " is the absence of brood 

 in its new quarters at the outset, 

 a wise provision of nature to give 

 the swarms entire energy to comb 

 building and honey storing for a 

 season, till the brood needs their 

 attention. I never allow my swarms 

 to have a cell of brood at the start. 

 Brother Porter comes to the de- 

 fence of the exploded old S3stem 

 of building up weak colonies in the 

 spring, at the expense of the strong 

 colonies. I have no doubt but 

 this feasible looking plan has ruined 

 the prospects of hundreds of apia- 

 rists. I was once carried away by 

 its feasibility myself, and the plan 

 hurt my early hone}' crop till I 

 found out better. If any man or 

 woman ever had a colony of bees 

 "too strong" at the connnence- 

 ment of the early surplus harvest, 

 please " hold up your hand." If 

 you can't hold up your hand, I 

 would advise you to trust to your 



