MAT 1, 1914 



had been the ease, since it was a week since 

 I he eggs were laid. Still, it is not utterly 

 impossible. 



Aug. 19 I cut out the cells, and have a 

 distinct recollection of seeing the worker- 

 brood in compact form; and when I had 

 cut the cells I jDut the comb into the upper 

 story of No. 1 fo)- the express purpose of 

 allowing the worker-brood to liatcli out. 



It was put into that upper story with no 

 thought of noting the time of hatching; but 

 "some time after Aug. 19 it occurred to me 

 that here was a good chance to learn just 

 liow long it was from the laying of the egg 

 to the emergence of the young worker. 

 Aug. 25 I thought I would begin periodic 

 examinations, so as to be able to say be- 

 tween what two houi"s the brood had emerg- 

 ed, and 1 supposed I was looking while it 

 was yet certain that no young workers could 

 have emerged. Finding every cell vacant 

 was one of the surprises of my life. 



Now, here are the thing's that I know. I 

 know that no eggs were in that comb Aug. 

 5, 3:05 P.M., and that the eggs in it were 

 laid between 3 :05 p. m. and 5 :05 P. m. It is 

 practically certain that the queen would 

 continue to lay in that comb, since it was 

 the only comb in the hive, until its removal 

 at 5:05 P.M. It is positively certain that 

 all eggs were laid in it after 3:05 p.m. I 



337 



know that sealed worker-brood in appar- 

 ently good condition was present Aug. 19. 

 I know that not a cell of brood was present 

 at 11 :55 a. m., Aug. 25., 



So I know that the time from the laying 

 of the egg till the emergence of the perfect 

 insect could not have been longer than from 

 3:05 p. M., Aug. 5, to 11:55 a. m., Aug. 25 

 (less tlian 20 daj's), unless the bees destroy- 

 ed the brood some time after Aug. 19. Bees 

 when in a starving condition do tear out 

 brood, sucking out the juices and throwing 

 away the skins; but did you ever hear of 

 their tearing out normal worker-brood 14 

 days after the laying of the Qggi 



Besides, this could not possibly be a ease 

 of starvation. It was in the midst of the 

 heaviest flow I ever knew. There were four 

 stories of extraeting-eombs, and not a drop 

 of honey had been taken away from the 

 time the tlow began. Is it possible that the 

 bees tore out a single cell of that brood 

 after Aug. 19? 



I now submit the case to the jury, asking 

 the foreman, T. J. Landrum, to consider 

 \yhether there is a reasonable doubt that the 

 time of development in this case was witlun 

 19 days 18 hours 50 minutes, and whetlier 

 there is a possibility that a single cell took 

 more than 19 days 20 hours 50 minutes. 

 . Marengo, 111. C. C. Miller. 



THE CONTROL OF 



5WAEMING AT OUT-APIAMIES RUN FOR EX- 

 TRACTED 



BY J. L. BYER 



As stated in the Feb. 15tli issue, many 

 have written me asking questions about 

 different phases of out-apiary work. In 

 that issue I talked of early-spring manage- 

 ment, leaving off operations at the opening 

 of fruit-bloom. At this time I shall tell 

 some of the plans I use to control swarming 

 at out-apiaries; and right here let me ask 

 you to notice that I use the word " control " 

 instead of prevention; for, notwithstanding 

 the bulk of those who have written me ask 

 for means of prevention of swarming, I 

 frankly confess that I have yet to learn a 

 satisfactory plan that will work in all kinds 

 of seasons, with all kinds of hives, and with 

 all kinds of bees. As many are already 

 aware, I have bought nearly all the bees we 

 have in our different apiaries; and Avhile I 

 regret it, yet the fact is we have a number 

 of different kinds of hives in use. In one 

 apiary there are over 100 eight-frame L 

 hives; in another the hives are all ten-frame 

 Jumbo', while in another there are over 200 

 f'olonies on frames similar to the Jones, 

 only somewhat shallower. 



In so far as the eight-frame Langstrotb 

 apiary is concerned, it is needless to say 

 that this is the one that gives us the most 

 trouble in the matter of controlling swarm- 

 ing; and when one has a lot of bees in a 

 hive of that dimension, certainly drastic 

 measures have to be taken to prevent whole- 

 sale swarming, if the colonies are all strong 

 at the opening of the clover flow and if the 

 yield of nectar is good and lasts any time 

 at all. To make the matter short, we have 

 found that the only thing to do in such 

 cases is to take away the major part of the 

 brood before the swarming fever shows, 

 substituting full sheets of" foundation in 

 place of combs removed. If the colony is 

 strong I recommend taking all but one 

 comb of brood away; and if there are no 

 signs of swarming at the time of operation, 

 these brood-combs can be placed above the 

 excluder in the super. If the flow is on, as 

 it should be when doing work of this kind. 

 T place a super of comlj next to the exelud 

 er, and then another story with the brood 

 in on top of that. With this l)rood so far 



