392 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



CONVERSATIONS with DOOLITTLE 



At Borodino, New York. 



NATURAL SWARMING. 



S" I am aware that the older bee- 

 keepers work mostly for the pre- 

 vention of swarming; but many of 

 us beginners like to see swarms 

 issue, and learn some of the ways 



in which these swarms may be 

 worked so as to secure a fairly good return 

 in honey. When may prime swarms be 

 expected to issue?" 



Prime swarms may be expected when the 

 first queen-cell is sealed over; but some- 

 times they come soon after the first egg is 

 deposited in an embryo queen-cell. Some 

 idea of the situation can be had by looking 

 at the entrance of each hive about ten 

 o'clock in the forenoon at the beginning of 

 the white-honey harvest, or a little before. 

 Colonies that are at work strong at this 

 time of the day, and that cluster out at the 

 entrance and fan their wings near sunset, 

 may be expected to swarm soon. 



Most prime swarms issue between 9 A. M. 

 and 2 p. m. So few will issue outside of 

 these hours that it hardly pays to keep close 

 watch for swarms at other hours. 



" I am told that swarms very often run 

 away. If this is so, how can it be obvi- 

 ated?" 



The absconding of prime swarms can be 

 almost certainly prevented by clipping the 

 wings of the queens previously. This is 

 most conveniently done about the middle of 

 May, at which time the fruit-trees are in 

 bloom. At this time, at about 10 to 12, the 

 larger part of the bees will be out after 

 honey, and the queen is more easily found 

 among the limited number of bees. More- 

 over, there is no danger from robber bees 

 making a raid on the honey while we are 

 looking for the queen. 



Some cut only one of the wings on one 

 side the first year, the other wing on the 

 same side the next year, then one wing on 

 the other side the third year; and, if the 

 queen lives that long, the remaining wing 

 the fourth year. In this way the age of 

 any queen is kept trace of. However, most 

 apiarists cut about half of the two wing-s 

 on one side, which entirely precludes the 

 queen from flying. Some take hold of all 

 the wings in picking the queen up, and cut 

 all of them off about half way up to the 

 thorax. Those who practice this, claim that 

 queens so clipped are very easily found 

 when it is necessary for the apiarist to look 

 for them. 



A clipped queen runs out with the bees 



just as tho she had her wings; and as she 

 cannot fly she goes anywhere from two to 

 ten feet from the hive on foot. Generally 

 a dozen to fifty bees will gather about her 

 after she ceases trying to go further on 

 foot; and as soon as the swarm misses her 

 they will return to the hive from which they 

 came, running in with fanning wings. This 

 generally attracts the few bees gathered 

 around their queen, when, if the hive is 

 near the ground, so that bees on foot can 

 reach it, the bunch of bees set forth with 

 fanning wings, and they and the queen 

 return with the swarm, so that not one 

 queen out of ten gets lost, even if the apia- 

 rist is not on hand to oversee things. When 

 he is, he can soon find the queen, let her 

 run into a small wire-cloth cage, and lay 

 her at the entrance of the hive from which 

 she came. Then when the bees return, and 

 most of them are in the hive, the cage is 

 opened and the queen allowed to run in. 

 Of course, unless the queen-cells are cut 

 they will swarm again the next day. Some- 

 times, even with the cutting of all cells, the 

 swarming fever keeps on ; so the better way 

 is to set the old hive on a new stand as soon 

 as the queen is found, or before the bees 

 start to return, and put a prepared hive on 

 the old place with the caged queen at the 

 entrance. Then when the bees return they 

 will hive themselves; then the queen is al- 

 lowed to run in with the last half of the 

 bees. This generally stops all after-swarm- 

 ing, and insures a good yield of section 

 honey from the new colony. For the high- 

 est success in the production of comb honey 

 strong swarms are desirable, and hiving 

 swarms on the old stand not only conduces 

 to their strength but has also a strong 

 tendency to prevent the issuing of after- 

 swarms. 



It is not necessary to climb and cut limbs 

 except on rare occasions where queens are 

 not clipped. Allow the bees to cluster where 

 they please, and, nine times out of ten, with 

 two or three light poles of different lengths 

 to which a basket or wire-cloth swarm- 

 catcher can be attached near the further 

 end, swarms that cluster out of reach may 

 be shaken off and secured. Having the bees 

 in the catcher, so there is no danger of other 

 swarms coming out and uniting with them, 

 as would be the ease were they allowed to 

 remain where they clustered, plenty of time 

 can be taken to set the old hive off its stand 

 and put a prepared hive on the old place 

 if desired. 



