BEES 



589 



If but one cell is overlooked the colony 

 will still swarm. The plan therefore 

 leaves at best much to be desired, and is 

 in general not worth the effort it costs 

 and can not be depended on. 



Dequeening. — The removal of a queen 

 at the opening of a swarming season in- 

 terferes, of course, with the plans of the 

 bees, and they will then delay swarming 

 until they get a young queen. But to 

 prevent swarming by keeping colonies 

 queenless longer than a few days at most 

 is to attain a certain desired result at a 

 disproportionate cost. The plan is there- 

 fore not to be commended. 



Fig. 5. The Simmins Nonswarming System — 

 Slngle-stor.v Hive with Supers : he, brood 

 chamber: sc, supers; st, starters of founda- 

 tion : e, entrance. 



Requeening. — Quite the opposite of this 

 and more efficacious in the prevention of 

 swarming, is the practice of replacing the 

 old queen early in the season with a 

 young one of the same season's raising, 

 produced, perhaps, in the South before 

 it is possible to rear queens in the North. 

 Such queens are not likely to swarm dur- 

 ing the first season, and, as they are vig- 

 orous layers, the hive will be well popu- 

 lated at all times and thus ready for any 

 harvest. This is important, inasmuch as 

 a flow of honey may come unexpectedly 

 from some plant ordinarily not counted 

 upon; and also, since the conditions es- 

 sential to the development of the various 

 honey-yielding plants differ greatly, their 

 time and succession of honey yield will 

 also differ with the season the same as the 

 quantity may vary. Young queens are 

 also safest to head the colonies for the 



winter. The plan is conducive to the 

 highest prosperity of the colonies, and is 

 consistent with the securing of the largest 

 average yield of honey, since, besides giv- 

 ing them vigorous layers, it generally 

 keeps the population together in powerful 

 colonies. It is therefore to be commended 

 on all accounts as being in line with the 

 most progressive management, without at 

 the same time interfering with the appli- 

 cation of other preventive measures. 



Space Near Entrances. — Arranging 

 frames with starters, or combs merely 

 begun, between the brood nest and the 

 flight hole of the hive, while the bees are 

 given storing space above or back of the 

 brood nest (Fig. 5), is a plan strongly 

 recommended by Samuel Simmins, of 

 England, and which has come to be 

 known as "the Simmins non-swarming 

 method," some features of it and the 

 combination into a well-defined method 

 having been original with him. It is an 

 excellent preventive measure, though not 

 invariably successful, even when the dis- 

 tinctive features brought forward promi- 

 nently by Mr. Simmins — empty space be- 

 tween the brood combs and entrance, to- 

 gether with the employment of drawn 

 combs In the supers — are supplemented 

 by other measures already mentioned ; but 

 when, in addition to the space between 

 the brood and the flight hole, the pre- 

 caution be taken to get supers on in time, 

 to ventilate the hive well, and to keep 

 queens not over two years old, swarming 

 will be very limited. If to these precau- 

 tions be added that of substituting for 

 the old queens young ones of the current 

 season's raising, before swarming has be- 

 gun, practical immunity from swarming 

 is generally insured. 



Selection in Breeding. — Some races of 

 bees show greater inclination than others 

 toward swarming, and the same differ- 

 ence can be noted between individual col- 

 onies of a given race; therefore, what- 

 ever methods be adopted to prevent or 

 limit increase, no doubt the constant se- 

 lection of those queens to breed from 

 whose workers show the least tendency 

 toward swarming would in time greatly 

 reduce this disposition. 



