260 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



towns with honey or bees. There are, how- 

 ever, certain kinds of aid that the Govern- 

 ment can i^ive to different industries tliat 

 will be of benefit to tliem. The proprietors 

 of a steamboat line on the Mississippi would 

 hardly feel themselves benetited by tfte es- 

 tablishment of a rival line owned by the 

 Government, but would be verj' glad to 

 have the Government interest itself to im- 

 prove the navigation of the river. Farmers 

 do not object to the experimental gardens 

 at Washington, and an experimental apiary 

 established at one or more points would 

 hardly lower the price of honey very ma- 

 terially, bee-keepers themselves having the 

 full benefit of all experiments made. Just 

 now, it would be quite convenient if the 

 Government would import and try any new 

 varieties of bees which private enterprise 

 have as j'et left untried on account of the 

 expense. We confess, however, that we do 

 not feel very sanguine about any great help 

 from the Government, and, indeed, we do 

 not think much aid is needed, liut we do be- 

 lieve that a little intelligent assistance 

 might be productive of good.— Ed. J 



For the American Bee .Tournal. 



Prevention of Swarming. 



' Mk. Neavman: — The Journal is receiv- 

 ed promptly at the beginning of the month; 

 by the way the advent of The American 

 Bee Journal is looked for with more in- 

 terest than that of all the others combined, 

 as the editor is not interested in the sale of 

 all kinds of new-fangled bee fixtures, to 

 worry the small change and the patience 

 out of the poor innocent bee-keepers. When 

 we lost Mr. Wagner we mourned him as 

 one whose place to us would never be filled, 

 but the more we know of Mr. Newman the 

 more we feel that Mr. Wagners mantle has 

 fallen on worthy shoulders. This with the 

 idea that you are the editor of the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal as we have recently 

 seen no other name to fill that post. 



On page 210 you ask me to tell what 

 means, if any, I use to have so little swarm- 

 ing in such strong stocks. That is a very 

 difficult question to answer so as to make it 

 intelligible to the great mass of readers. If 

 I were to say tliat it is more in luck than 

 any thing else, perhaps it would be nearer 

 the truth. Still there are facts and causes 

 when combined that will to a very great ex- 

 tent prevent swarming; while tliere are 

 other causes that I believe are sure to raise 

 the swarming fever. First then we will 

 take the preventives. I consider shade all 

 important, the shade of large trees is best, 

 if we haven't those we nuist arrangt; artifi- 

 cial shade. When bees select a liouu; 

 naturally I believe they generally choose a 

 tree in a shady sj)ot, or if it is not sluuU'd it 

 is high up in the air away from the reflected 

 heat of the earth. By the way, has any one 

 ever known a colony of bees in such a j)osi- 

 tion to swarm out of their tree when they 

 had room to build couib below the cluster? 

 I think the idea tmtirely ojtposed to nature 

 of placing bees out exposetf to the full rays 



of the sun and the reflected heat of the 

 earth, hence 1 have adopted this season the 

 stand two feet high, as described in Hun- 

 ter's Manual, and' think I will save more 

 bees from toads and skunks than 1 will 

 ever lose from di-opping on the ground, 

 and don't have to break my back in stoop- 

 ing to handle brood and boxes. Ventilation 

 is important, hence I make the entrance of 

 all hives % inch high by 12 inches wide, 

 with ventilator for hot weather same size at 

 the back; or if side-box hives they have 

 wire cloth ventilating holes under the back 

 boxes— these hives have their entrance at 

 the side of the comb, under the front boxes. 

 Wire cloth ventilators in such a position 

 will seldom be glued up, while if under the 

 brood they will generally be waxed up 

 tight. The entrance stick is simple and 

 cheap, and closes up to 3 inches wide or lo 

 a single bee, and % inch high for tall and 

 spring when there is danger of mice getting 

 in. 



Plenty of box room is important, as close 

 as possible to the brood and with free ac- 

 cess (plenty of large holes in the boxes) to 

 the boxes. The side-box hives, or those 

 that take both side and top boxes, have 

 swarmed less than the top-storing hives 

 this season, because we could give the bees 

 more box-room. As it was impossible to 

 get more than two tiers on a hive at one 

 time, as the bees would generally climb up 

 and finish tlie upper box before connnenc- 

 ing on the lower one, and as the side-box 

 hive takes two tiers on top, it had the ad- 

 vantage, and hence bee-keepers say this is 

 a side-box j'ear. But taking one season 

 with another, I consider the top storing 

 liive the best as it takes less labor to run it. 

 Tiering up is important to prevent swarm- 

 ing, as it gives room just wliere it is most 

 needed and will be the soonest used, and 1 

 wish to say here that I consider it would 

 have been an utter impossibility to have 

 run my bees with as little swarming as I 

 did this season without tiering up. It is 

 important not to use too large a brood 

 chamber. The hives with large brood 

 chambers generally swarm soonest with 

 me, generally use 7 frames 10x17 inside for 

 side-box hives, and 8 frames 8isxl7 for top 

 storing hives. It is very iuqiortaut to pre- 

 vent swarming that bees should be winter- 

 ed so as to come out strong and healthy and 

 breed up early without dwindling so as to 

 take advantage of the first yield of honey 

 and go into boxes before hot weather, and 

 once in the boxes, with our system of tier- 

 ing, we can keep them right at it, so that 

 the most of them will never have time to 

 get up swarming fever, provided the yield 

 of nectar is good and continuous, and this 

 latter is the' most important point of all, 

 without which all the others are nix. To 

 have it just right, the flow of honey must 

 be abundant and come right along without 

 a break, with occasionally a shower to keep 

 the honey from getting too thick, as they 

 will make wax much faster on thin honey 

 than on thick. 



The wintering and breeding up in spring 

 can all be done satisfactorily by i^ackiug 

 with buckwheat chaff, after tlie plan I des- 

 cribed in the Dee-Kccpcrs' ^[a<|(lzinc for 

 Dec, 1875, provided the bees are in frames 

 nearly or iiuite 17 in. long, and they have 

 healthy diet. In frames 12 to 14 in. long 

 they generally dwindle more or less with 

 me. One of the most prolific causes of rais- 



