MARCH 15, 1916 



22S 



there is some means of communicating 

 seems probable — or are they like bashful 

 lovers who understand without words'? In 

 early spring the first loads of pollen and 

 honey cause an immediate response in the 

 brood-rearing line. The increased flow is 

 followed by increased action in the same 

 line. The queen follows the action of the 

 colony to a great extent, and distributes 

 eggs largely to the extent of the activity 

 of the colony. But why? What is the 

 impelling force that drives them to their 

 best efforts? In the government of man 

 we know the forces are organized to de- 

 pend on the leadership of others; but with 

 the bee there seems to be no leader of the 

 forces, but all act as with one accord in 

 the proper direction without confusion or 

 loss of time. Yet there are some actions 

 that seem to point to a ruling power. 

 Take, for instance, a colony that has an old 

 queen and the brood-chamber filled with 

 honey. Introduce a young queen and there 

 is immediate action in the direction of 

 getting the honey removed out of her way. 

 There seems to be as much difference in 

 the action of colonies at times as there 

 would be with men in a factory with a 

 change of foreman. Whether man will ever 

 be able to solve the mystery is hard to say ; 

 but we do know that the government of the 

 colony seems almost perfect, and we cannot 



but wonder. 



* * * 



I have promised a correspondent to give 

 my method of swarm control thru these col- 

 umns. This correspondent suggested that 

 I give it thru this channel, as it might be of 

 profit to others. He suggests that the very 

 best plans in use are only partially success- 

 ful, in which I most heartily concur. A 

 plan followed by one beekeeper, and made 

 a decided success, may be turned into a 

 decided failure by another, for the reason 

 they have not had the necessary experience 

 with the plan. If a farmer hires a clerk 

 from a store who has never been on a fai'm, 

 telling him to go and hitch up the team to 

 the cultivator, and plow corn, the clerk 

 would be at a loss to know how to go at it. 

 The farmer could tell him all about it; but 

 until he saw the work actually performed 

 he would know little ; and until lie had tried 

 the work he could not become an expert. 

 But I started to give my plans. 



In the first place I consider young queens 

 one of the greatest factors in .swarm con- 

 trol; the other most essential thing is room 

 — plenty of it. By room I mean what the 

 word implies, both storage and breeding. I 

 try to leave sufficient stores on every colony 

 in the fall, not only to carry them thru the 



winter but leave a surplus of from ten to 

 twenty pounds on each colony. It is pref- 

 erable to leave this over an excluder, as the 

 bees will then cluster below, where there is 

 more or less comb room, and not so much 

 on frames of cold honey. With empty 

 comb room within the cluster, breeding will 

 start at the earliest possible date. As soon 

 as breeding is well started the queen-ex- 

 cluders should be removed, and the combs 

 containing the smallest quantity of honey 

 placed in the middle of the upper super, 

 allowing the queen the free range of the 

 hive. When the lower section of the hive 

 has been filled with brood the queen will go 

 into the upper section of the hive and fill 

 all available space, which, if the combs have 

 been arranged as I have said, will force the 

 greater amount of brood into the center of 

 the upper section of the hive, the outer 

 frames containing most of the honey. After 

 breeding has been well started above, drone 

 combs will begin to appear between the 

 upper and lower frames. By this time in 

 tliis part of California the honey-flow will 

 be approaching, all of which the bee seems 

 to understand fully. The condition of the 

 colony has now begnin to assume the pro- 

 portions of a lack of- room. The bee by 

 instinct knows there is plenty of stores; 

 and the brood that is soon to hatch will 

 cause an overabundance of bees for the 

 storage room at hand, and swarming is the 

 logical way out of the difficulty. 



But now is the time to thwart their plans 

 by extracting the upper outside combs clean 

 of all honey. This immediately discourages 

 the idea of swarming, and gives them empty 

 combs to store in, which is very essential, 

 as it diverts them from the idea of swarm- 

 ing to that of storing. 



The honey-flow is now at hand. The 

 brood should be put below to the extent of 

 ten full frames, raising the lower side 

 combs, which will very likely contain part 

 brood and part honey. The excluder should 

 be put on at this period, which, as the 

 brood hatches, will give an additional 

 amount of room above. When the upper 

 section has been well filled with honey, and 

 sealing begun, it should be raised, and a 

 super of empty combs placed beneath. By 

 the time the last set of combs is beginning 

 to be sealed, the upper may be extracted 

 and set back under the partly filled one. 

 In this manner there will always be storage 

 room supplied in abundance, and little 

 thought will be given to swarming. It is 

 much harder to control swarming where a 

 single sui'plus super is used than with two. 

 Witli old queens being sujiorseded an addi- 

 tional trouble exists. 



