804 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



sti-oiig'est colonics, found the queen, and 

 passed tlie fianies out thru the crowd. 



Mr. Miller's method of swarm control, 

 which was the feature of the afternoon 

 talks, is as follows: When it is determined 

 tliat a colony is about to begin swarming 

 preparations, one frame of brood with the 

 queen is remoxed from the hive and placed 

 in an empty one. This latter is set on the 

 old stand, and the rest of the room filled 

 out with empty combs or full sheets of 

 foundation. The frames of brood and hon- 

 ey, with the space of live cue frame removed. 



filled with a comb or foundation, is raised 

 over the hive containing the queen above a 

 super, which latter is also above an exclud- 

 er. Altho this method requires a great deal 

 of careful manipulation on the part of the 

 beekeeper, Mr. Miller has followed it for 

 some time, and handles all his colonies in 

 this manner, and has controlled s^varming in 

 the Yiast few years to a negligible minimum. 

 It is also used at his outyards as well as in 

 t'le home apiary. I lielieve Mr. Miller 

 handles h:'.s bees without liel^). 

 I'lainfield, Til. 



SWARM PREVENTION IN OUT-APIARIES RUN FOR COMB HONEY 



The Importance of Requeening in the Fall 



BY M. N. CUNNINGHAM 



Fur the past five years I have kept from 

 one hundred to one hundred and fifty colo- 

 nies in outyards from four to nine miles 

 from home. I have a very small percentage 

 of sw'arms — perhaps not over 5 per cent. 



I begin in the fall by replacing any old 

 or failing queens. Old queens are one of 

 the greatest causes of swarming while young 

 queens are very little inclined to swarm. 

 My plan is to visit each yard about once a 

 week after the colonies start brood-rearing 

 in the spring. As some begin to get strong 

 in young bees I equali/.e by taking combs 

 of hatching brood from the .strong to the 

 weak. 



We usually liave suHicient honey coming- 

 in by April 15 to cause swarming. About 

 this time the bees sIioav their crowded 

 condition by hanging out at the entrance. 

 I proceed to ventilate such colonies by liais- 

 ing the hive from the bottom-board, in the 

 rear only — with a wedge-shaped entrance 

 block or a small stone or stick — from one- 

 fourth to one and one-lialf inches according 

 to the weather and the strength of the 

 colony. This makes it possible for the bees 

 to live in the hive and proceed with their 

 work instead of having to stop work and 

 cluster outside to keep their combs from 

 melting down. Is it any wonder bees 

 swarm under such conditions? With means 

 of ventilation they can go on with their 

 labor, and the hive can be kept full of bi'ood 

 in comfort while the honey goes into the 

 super. As the weaker colonies begin to 

 cluster and get sti'ong I raise them at the 

 l)ack also. 



From now on 1 examine only by walking 

 beliind the hives and tipping tiienLuj) from 

 behind, blowing a few put¥s of sm.oke be- 

 tween the bottoms of the frames and noting 

 I lie coiKlilioiis a^ to I'oom. lii'ood-cell cuiis, 



and queen-cell. All of this can be easily 

 done after a little experience. 



If tlie hive is crowded with brood and the 

 main flow has not yet started, I build up 

 my weak colonies with sealed brood, prob- 

 ably only one frame from a hive, replacing 

 with an empty frame or comb foundation, 

 so both colonies are benefited. If a hive is 

 vei-y strong or shows cell cups containing 

 egg's or larvae, I take more brood and give 

 more room and plenty of ventilation. In 

 ease of a colony containing cells sealed or 

 nearly so, practically the only cure is to 

 take all bi'ood away and give empty space, 

 but if one is a little careful this need not 

 happen often. 



As soon as our main mescjuite How starts 

 I give one sujjer, and when this is half filled 

 I put another on top, not underneath, so 

 the bees finish what they start befoi'e going 

 above and are not discouraged by having 

 tlie first super so far from the brood. 



Tlie first few days of the main ttow is my 

 i-usli time. The colonies that start work in 

 the supeis seldom cause trouble, but a few 

 start cells and want to swarm, and those 

 few get nearly all their brood taken away 

 so that by the time the new combs are filled 

 they have forgotten they want to swarm. 



T make neaiiy all my increase later from 

 nuclei and build them up on dark honev in 

 t!ie fall. 



After the main fiow is started 1 h ok the 

 colonies over by lifting the hives from the 

 rear as before about once a week or perhaps 

 two weeks and add supers as needed. Tliis 

 is done merely to save a few swaims from 

 colonies whose fjueens are failing and miglil 

 swarm. To these I usually introduce a 

 A'irgin or ripe cell. These examinations are 

 quickly and e:-sily done — so easily tlml I 

 know the coiidilion ol' a colonv bv the linic 



