446 GLEANINGS IN BEE U L T U K E June, 1917 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



General view of D. J. Blochcv's 



apiary. Pearl City, 111. The 

 with a lawu-inower. 



jrass is kept mowed all summer 



this frame set on, and then the hive is re- 

 placed. With this screen and plenty of 

 super room I never worry about swarming. 

 The bees seem to go up into the supers at 

 night rather than to hang out on the front 

 of the hive, as is usually the case; and if the 

 supers are kept warm enough they stay 

 there and work instead of crowding the 

 brood-frames and planning to swarm. In 

 some localities, when honey is always com- 

 ing in freely, unscreened ventilation at the 

 sides may work all right, but I shall not 

 try it again in my locality. 



At certain times the bees try to close the 

 screens with propolis. It is well to have a 

 few extra ventilators on hand to exchange 

 while cleaning those that are clogged up. 

 The screens may be cleaned up by dipping 

 in hot water or pouring hot water over them. 

 The propolis comes off readily with a knife. 



Hartford, Conn. G. T. Whitten. 



What to Do with Swarms Galore 



The season of 1916 was the worst I ever 

 experienced for swarms. Up to the latter 

 l^art of June it was cold and wet, then rains 

 became less frequent and the weather warm- 

 er. About the middle of the month swarm- 

 ing began in earnest. There was much 

 drifting, resulting in the doubling-uiD of 

 many swarms, some of the largest of which 

 would abscond with the least provocation. 

 A large percentage refused to settle down 

 after being hived. New swarms did nothing 

 but swarm out again. 



We quit returning new swarms to the par- 

 ent location and put them in hives with 

 only narrow strips of foundation in the 

 frames. By not hiving on the parent lo- 

 cation the swarm was not increased in size 

 nor was the parent colony diminished, but 

 we had to do it. We supplied lots of super 



Evergreen windbreak planted on the north and west of the apiary, fifteen years ago. 



