474 



A Beginner's Questions on Swarms. 



I bought a colony of bees this spring; and after I 

 located the hive the bees took a few days to find 

 out where they were, and then went to work. They 

 gave me no trouble at all. They did not go into 

 the super to any extent, and have not done so yet. 

 Last Monday, June 5, I noticed that some were 

 hanging above the entrance, but thought they 

 would not swarm until the super had been attend- 

 ed to; but when 1 came home In the evening there 

 was a big cluster grouped about the post and rail 

 of a wire fence in my garden. They had swarmed 

 at 10 o'clock, alighted an hour later, and there 

 .stayed. I got out a hive, swept the swarm as best I 

 could into a box, and dumped them at its entrance. 

 Most of the bees went in, but many clustered in the 

 box. Next morning 1 dumped the box again, but 

 they got under the hive and stayed there vmtil Fri- 

 day. I then tacked a wire mesh over the entrance, 

 turned the hive up, carried it to a new location 

 (near the old one), swept the bees into a box, and 

 dumped them a gain. This time I put the hive on a 

 box so they could not go under the hive. They all 

 went in ^ that is, those that had been under the 

 hive before. For some reason, however, a parf 

 swarmed again and clustered on another post of 

 the same kind. These 1 treated similarly. All ap- 

 pear to be in the hive now. I had much ado to 

 gather these swarms, as the post and its rail were 

 covered with vines. Both posts are about fifty feet 

 from the hives, though there is a fruit-tree within 

 ten feet of the hives, and there are other posts near- 

 er than the one the.v arbitrarily selected. Luckily, 

 the bees did not choose any spot in my neighbor's 

 yard, where there are plenty of fruit-trees. I hope 

 the Queen is in the new hive. I notice that quite a 

 number of bees are Hying about those two posts. 



Now let me put an inquiry or two: 



1. When hiving a swarm, is it l^etter to put the 

 super on or leave it off? In other words, if it is on 

 is there any danger of the queen's going into the 

 .section boxes? Would the workers build there as 

 .soon as on the brood-frames? Though I do not see 

 it stated in so many words, I iniderstand that, once 

 on the brood-frames, the queen does not go into the 

 super. Why? 



2. Is it undesirable to lift the cover off the super 

 at frequent intervals— say once a day? I would do 

 .so only to inspect, and ascertain whether the bees 

 were at work. My supers have only foundation 

 .starters. Yesterday the hived swarm was thickly 

 in the super: to-day, hardly at all. 



3. Is it better to have the brood-frames with full 

 sheets of foundation, or are the starters sufficient? 



4. How long does it take an average swarm, un- 

 der ordinary conditions, to build up brood-combs 

 in a hive like mine — Danzenbaker, with founda- 

 tion starters? 



5. If the bees flying about those two posts do so 

 because of the smell of the swarms that were there, 

 is ityour experience that putting coal oil there will 

 drive them away? They do not go away for any 

 smoke. They come right back. 



6. What weight of foundation should I order for 

 the section boxes — thin or extra thin? What do 

 you regularly put into your Danzenbaker supers? 



7. Is it best to put a frame or two of brood in a 

 new hive when hiving a swarm? Is it necessary? 



Bei'keley, Cal. Theodoke Gray. 



[1. At times it is impossible to explain why bees 

 swarm. They just swarm, and that is all. A good 

 many bee-keepers have called swarming the bane 

 of modern bee-keeping, and we do not know but 

 that this is true. There is no question that it is 

 harder to keep down swarming in the )jroduction 

 of comb honey than in extracted-honey produc- 

 tion; but much can be done toward providing a 

 very large entrance, shading the hive, and, during 

 the hottest part of tlie season, raisijig the brood- 

 chamber from the bottom-board by half-inch blocks 

 at each corner. This latter is not always nece.ssa- 

 ry; but at times it does a great deal of good. We 

 have an idea that, if you could shade this hive and 

 provide extra ventilation in the manner stated, 

 this swarming will be delayed or stopped altogeth- 

 er, as the bees certainly had enough room. If there 

 was any amount of caijped honey in the brood 

 combs, however, it is likely that the bees would 

 swarm any way. If the bees get into the habit of 

 storing honey in the brood-comb they are very 

 backward about entering the supers, and they want 

 to swarm early, even though there is plenty of ex- 

 tra room ia the super. The only remedy in this 

 case is to see that the queen keeps the brood-comb 



Gleanings in Bee Culture 



well filled with brood up to the time that the hon- 

 ey-flow begins, so that there is little or no room at 

 all for the storage of honey in the brood-comb. 

 When hiving a swarm, if it is a good large one it is 

 a good plan to put on the super at once, for the 

 bees are excited, and they need lots of room; and if 

 their quarters ai-e cramped at all they will swarm 

 out again immediately or within a day or two. A 

 good queen will rarely lay eggs in sections, for the 

 reason that it is against the nature of the queen to 

 lay eggs in small combs that are separated from 

 the rest of the comb. The queen knows by instinct 

 that it would be difficult for the bees to keep these 

 small separated patches of brood warm, ^^'hen- 

 ever queens do lay in sections, provided there is 

 room enough in the brood-combs below, we advise 

 superseding. 



2. We do not know that it would be undesirable 

 to lift frequently the cover of the super, although 

 if the nights are cool you would constantly keep 

 the propolis sealing broken so that there would be 

 a draft through the super, causing the bees to go 

 down to the brood-comb every night. If your 

 nights are cool it would be all right to have some 

 packing material at the top to keep out the draft. 

 Then if you take off the cover frequently this ob- 

 jection would not hold. 



3. Full sheets of foundation are usually cheaper 

 in the end; for with only starters too much drone 

 comb is likely to be built, and the rearing of a lot 

 of useless drones would be the result. 



4. We do not know that we can answer definitely 

 as to the time that an average swarm takes to 

 build up brood comb from foundation, for this 

 would depend on the honey-flow, on the weather, 

 and on the bees themselves. Under ideal condi- 

 tions a good strong swarm ought to build comb 

 from foundation in two or three days. 



5. The bees kept flying about those two posts 

 where the swarms were clustered because of the 

 scent of the swarm and of the queen. We do not 

 know that we have ever tried kerosene to destroy 

 the scent in this way, but we think it would work. 

 Carbolic acid would probably be better still. 



6. We would recommend that you get the extra 

 thin super foundation, as it leaves less midrib in 

 the comb honey. The thicker foundation is often 

 objected to. 



7. Yes, it is a good plan to put a little brood in a 

 new hive in which a swarm is placed, in order to 

 keep the bees contented. If they are a little in- 

 clined to leave, the brood will make them content- 

 ed, as they will not ordinarily desert it.— En.] 



Don't Hold the Smoker Too Close to the Bees. 



On p. 303, May 15, are some pictures showing how 

 to use a smoker. No one working for us would be 

 permitted to do it that way. The hot smoke blown 

 directly on the bees is cruel and unnecessary. The 

 nozzle of the smoker should never be within a foot 

 of the frames. The cool smoke will subdue the 

 most vicious just as easily. Having worked with 

 bees ever since 1849 — except during the war — we 

 feel competent to give the above advice. We have 

 four apiaries, and, of course, have to do things 

 systematically and rapidly during the hurry sea- 

 son. G. F. MEKRI.A.M. 



Labor Troubles and the Honey-bee. 



Dear little honey-bee, winging your way 

 To fields that are bloissoming at dawn of day — 

 Conie, let me question you — 1 hope to learn 

 Lessons in industry man should not .sijurn. 



Labor men! railroad men! money kings! come 

 And bide a wee— listen to what should be done. 

 Dear little honey-bee, toiling all day, 

 Who pays your wages? when do you play? 



When you stopped working, just yesterday noon, 

 Was it more wages or was it more room? 

 Ah, little honey-bee! self you forget; 

 The good of the hive is your benefit. 



A'Sip would svifflce you of all that you store; 

 And of multiplied millions man uses no more. 

 The wealth you have stored, hard labor has won; 

 Oh! would that be true of what man has done? 



Who uses your treasure? you do not know; 

 Of gold man is saving, what more can he show? 

 Their, conning the lesson, to learn let us tr.v 

 That giving is living — in self we must die. 

 Kibble. Mich, Emily H. Jackson. 



