292 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



May 13, 



told that it was unwise to thus take away the power for in- 

 crease they would answer that it takes 21 days to rear work- 

 er-bees, and by this time the honey season would usualiy be 

 past, and so all the energy and food required to produce this 

 brood was just so much loss. Of course, if there were but one 

 period of nectar-secretion and this only lasted three weeks, 

 there would doubtless be some weight to this argument. But 

 In most sections there is a succession of flowers, and the sea- 

 son is rarely as short as three weeks. It is to be said, how- 

 ever, that some very excellent bee-keepers have practiced this 

 method for some years, and have met with good success. Mrs. 

 L. B. Baker, of Michigan, practiced this method for some 

 years and her success was quite phenomenal. The advantage 

 claimed for this is that it destroys the impulse for swarming, 

 throws all the energy into honey-production, and thus gives 

 large returns withont any serious drawbacks. 



KILLING THE QUEEN AT TIME OF SWARMING. 



Another way that some of our bee-keepers'have practiced, 

 is to clip the queen's wing, and as soon as a swarm issues, 

 while the bees are still out, destroy all the queen-cells but the 

 largest (this is not difficult when there are so few bees in the 

 hive); kill the old queen and let the swarm return. In this 

 way increase is prevented, the colony is kept at maximum 

 strength, the swarming-impulse is destroyed, and the whole 

 apiary becomes requeened. Mr. Robertson, of Michigan, who 

 will be remembered as one of Michigan's best apiarists, was 

 loud in his praise of this method. In this case no increase is 

 permitted. 



THE HEDDON METHOD. 



It is hardly necessary to describe the Heddon method of 

 managing swarming. Mr. Heddon arranged his system with 

 reference to securing an increase of one only from each colony. 

 I do not think Mr. Heddon clips his queens' wings, but his sys- 

 tem can be practiced just as satisfactorily, and I am sure with 

 a great saving of time if the queen's wing is dipt. As soon as 

 the swarm issues a new hive with combs (if available, or else 

 with foundation or starters in the frames) is placed on the old 

 stand exactly where the old hive stood. If the queen's wing 

 is dipt, she is caught, caged and put into this hive, and the 

 swarm allowed to come back, which, of course, they will do. 

 At nightfall the queen is liberated. In case the queen's wing 

 is not dipt, the swarm is hived in this new hive on the old 

 stand. The old hive is placed close beside the new oue, with 

 the entrance in the opposite direction. Each day this old hive 

 is turned around a little until the seventh day when it is close 

 side by side the other hive, and its entrance in the same direc- 

 tion. At nightfall, on the seventh day, or early on the eighth 

 day, before the bees lly, this hive is carried to some other part 

 of the apiary. Of course, the old bees, or those that are now 

 gathering in the fields, will all go back to the old place, and 

 will enter with the other colony, where the swarm was hived. 

 Thus this will become very strong and ready for splendid work. 

 The old colony will become so depleted of bees that when the 

 first queen comes forth on the eighth day, she and the bees 

 will proceed at once to destroy all the other queens, so that 

 very rarely will this colony attempt again to swarm. This is 

 surely a good method where we wish to just double our colo- 

 nies or to get one swarm from each old colony. 



It might be thought better to destroy all queen-cells but 

 one, and save this work and manipulation. In this method, 

 however, we are apt to overlook some queen-cell, which need 

 not trouble us in case of using the Heddon method, for we let 

 the bees destroy the queen-cells. 



Again, I think the work Is less than any other method I 

 have ever tried. I always bad such good success with this 

 method that I feel like recommending it. 



Los Angeles Co., Calif., April 29. 



Why Swarms Desert the Hive. 



BY C. C. rAR.SONS. 



On page 50() of the Bee Journal for 1896, W. J. E. 

 seems to bo In what Smith called " a predicament," and, 

 among other questions, askt Dr. Miller : " Do you know what 

 made them leave ?" Dr. Miller puts two of the best witnesses 

 on the stand, and they give such conMicting testimony that 

 one would think they did not know anything about the sub- 

 ject under consideration. Then the good Doctor advises shade 

 and ventilation — good things to have In August; says, also, 

 that he has had very little practice In hiving natural swarms. 



I began my scientific course on the Jump in swarming 

 time; that is. In running down a contrary (?) swarm. We 

 hived It every day for nearly a week. In the uew-fanglod hive. 



(Dr. G. W. Bistline, of Texas, was my teacher and comrade.) 

 We ran this swarm of bees all over the country, and cut down 

 several trees, trying all the while to put three pecks of bees 

 into a two-peck hive. We finally put them into a box-hive a 

 mile from home, and they went to work all right. The Doctor 

 was so disgusted with them that he gave them to me, and they 

 gave me a bad case of bee-fever. 



This being my first practical lesson in scientific bee-cul- 

 ture, I studied it well, but several years past before I had 

 learned it thoroughly. I practiced the entrance-guard method, 

 as recently mentioned by Mr. Skaggs on page 164, and at one 

 time I thought it was the end of trouble in hiving swarms, 

 but later I found that it, too, was a delusion — bees won't be 

 made to do. Sometimes they would leave the queen and re- 

 turn to the old hive, or enter a queenless hive In the apiary. 



Since 1890 I have not lost a single swarm after It had 

 been hived. When a swarm is to be hived, I put Into the hive 

 an empty comb, placing it near the middle, filling the hive 

 with frames of foundation or starters. (Be sure that the hive 

 is large enough to hold the bees.) It the hive be thus ar- 

 ranged, you need not worry about shade or ventilation any 

 more than you would if the bees were already at work in the 

 hive. 



I use the 10-frame Simplicity hive, with fixt bottom- 

 board, entrance % inch, and full width of the hive ; and when 

 I hive a swarm I do not give any upward ventilation. I am 

 not as anxious as I used to bo about getting every bee into the 

 hive. When I see the queen enter I go about my business and 

 do not fuss with the bees. They will be better satisfied if you 

 will let a portion of them cluster upon the outside till work 

 has been begun within. Jefferson Co., Ala. 



Non-Swarraing Bees — A Swarm-Catcher. 



BY C. DAVENPORT. 



There has been considerable said about the possibility of 

 breeding out the swarming habit, and many kinds of non- 

 swarming devices have been made and tried. But I do not 

 believe anything really practical in this line has as yet been 

 invented, and, in my opinion, it is very doubtful if there ever 

 will be, though I hope I may be mistaken In this, for there is 

 no doubt that if the swarming habit could be bred out without 

 affecting the working qualities of the bees, or any device 

 made that would accomplish the same result, it would be of 

 great benefit to most apiarists. As to breeding out the habit, 

 I have faith that considerable can be done in this line, the 

 from experience I know that progress towards this end is very 

 slow. 



In producing comb honey, instead of allowing natural 

 swarming I prefer dividing, or artificial swarming, and I can 

 by this means obtain better results with less work; but in 

 order to do so, one has to thoroughly understand his locality 

 in regard to the time and character of Its honey-flows, as well 

 as many things in regard to the bees themselves. On this 

 account beginners and amateurs will probably have better suc- 

 cess by allowing natural swarming, after taking due precau- 

 tion to prevent it in the way of shade, ventilation, and surplus 

 room. 



The principal objection to natural swarmingis the trouble 

 of watching for and hiving the swarms, and various have been 

 the means aud devices resorted to in order to avert this, prob- 

 ably the most successful of which are queen-traps and dipt 

 queens ; but neither one nor both overcome all the difficulty, 

 for a swarm that has no queen with it will often alight, and 

 after hanging for some time, instead of returning to its own 

 hive, will frequently try to enter some other, or divide up and 

 try to enter a number of others, the bees of which sometimes 

 kill the entire swarm If the apiarist is not at hand to prevent it. 



For many years I allowed" natural swarming, with hun- 

 dreds of colonies, and I have had many and various experi- 

 ences with swarms, but I never had a natural swarm issue 

 and leave without first alighting and hanging for some time. I 

 have had a great many swarms issue again a short time after 

 they had been hived, and leave without alighting, but this is 

 deserting instead of swarming. It is usually an easy matter 

 to tell if a natural swarm intends to desert. This may have 

 been explained before, but I do not remember seeing it. 



When a natural swarm is hived, if It has a queen it Is 

 seldom It will desert the hive before the next day ; at least I 

 never knew one to do so ; and early the next morning after 

 they are hived. If they intend to stay they will bo briskly at 

 work, " weather permitting." On the other hand, If they in- 

 tend to desert, but few bees, comparatively, will be moving In 

 and out, and in a languid manner. In the latter case. If they 

 are set In a dark cellar for 48 hours they will generally go to 



