GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



General Correspondence 



SWARM PREVENTION AND SWARM CONTROL 



A Definition of Principles 



BY J. E. HAND 



It is well known that the conditions that 

 favor section-honey production are likewise 

 productive of swarming'; hence it behooves 

 the producer of the most fancy product of 

 the apiary to adopt methods and principles 

 of swarm management. There are two sep- 

 arate and distinct principles involved in 

 the operation, known as " swarm preven- 

 tion " and " swarm control." 



SWARM PREVENTION. 



Swarm prevention, as its name implies, 

 is supposed to prohibit swarming entirely. 

 While many have laid claim to successful 

 swarm prevention by manipulation, such 

 claims have not been well sustained; be- 

 cause, in order to aceomplisli it, the colony 

 is usually thrown so far from a normal 

 condition as to render it practically unpro- 

 ductive during an ordinary clover harvest. 

 The dequeening method is generally conced- 

 ed to be the most effective in this class. It 

 consists of rendering the colony queenless 

 for ten days, and removing queen-cells at 

 the beginning and end of that j^eriod. Since 

 queenlessness is an abnormal condition that 

 has a deleterious effect upon the working- 

 qualities of bees, little can be said in favor 

 of swarm prevention by dequeening. There 

 are other principles of prevention by man- 

 ipulation, but they are all more or less ob- 

 jectionable. 



SWARM CONTROL. 



Swarm control is different from swarm 

 prevention, in that it does not prohibit 

 swarming, but governs, directs, and con- 

 ducts it along lines that harmonize with the 

 swarming habit of bees. Chiefest among 

 methods of swarm control is the shake- 

 swarm method. It consists of substituting 

 the artificial for the natural swarm after 

 queen-cells have been built. It is natural, 

 because it satisfies the swarming impulse. 

 It is profitable, because it places the swarm 

 in precisely the same condition as though 

 they had voluntarily migrated to a new 

 domieil — a condition that ensures the best 

 work that bees are capable of performing. 

 It is economical, because it admits of swarm 

 control by mechanical means, which elimi- 

 nates excessive labor, such as moving heavy 

 hives, peddling combs of brood about the 

 apiary, etc. Thei-e are other principles of 



swarm control, but they are all more or less 

 objectionable because they ignore psychic 

 conditions of bees and its influence upon 

 their working qualities. We may prevent 

 a horse from running away; but if he re- 

 fuses to work he is of little account, for we 

 have lost control of him just as much as 

 though he had run away ; and the same con- 

 dition will apply to bees. 



SWARM CONTROL BY MECHANICAL MEANS. 



While the basic principle of swarm con- 

 trol by mechanical means has been exploit- 

 ed at frequent intervals during the past 

 quarter-century, the correct method of ap- 

 plying the principle as herein described is 

 a recent invention, for which a patent was 

 granted in 1911. The equipment consists 

 of a bottom-board wide enough to accom- 

 modate two hives side by side, said bottom- 

 board being equipped with a simple device 

 that is out of sight under the hives, and is 

 capable of shifting the field force of a col- 

 ony into an empty hive, or of two colonies 

 into one hive, by turning of two switches, 

 the ends of which proti'ude from an en- 

 trance on each side of said bottom-board. 



Here is the method : Begin operations for 

 swarm control by placing a hive with full 

 sheets of foundation and a queen-excluder 

 on the vacant side of a switch-board beside 

 a strong colony that has queen-cells started. 

 For convenience we will designate the col- 

 ony as No, 1 and the hive as No. 2. Move 

 levers so as to close both entrances to hive 

 1. which will direct all comers into hive 2 

 without changing the appearance or posi- 

 tion of the entrances, which are wide open 

 when viewed from the outside; hence bees 

 will enter the new hive through their accus- 

 tomed entrance without any hesitation. 

 Transfer the supers to 2, and shake most 

 of the bees off the combs of 1, letting them 

 run into 2, making sure to get the queen 

 also. Insert a flat conical bee-escape in the 

 entrances back of the levers, so that no 

 bees can leave hive 1 except through the 

 escapes, wliich discharges them close to the 

 entrances to 2, which they will enter on re- 

 turning from their first flight. No. 2 will 

 thus receive constant re-enforcements of 

 young bees during the next three weeks; 

 and if the harvest is of long dui'ation it 

 may prepare for swarming in spite of the 



