June, 1920 



O L K A N I N G S IN BEE CULTURE 



given them. It is true, however, that colo- 

 nies sometimes start queen-cells only be- 

 cause their queen is old or defective, and 

 they wish to supersede, that is, to raise 

 another to take her place. In such a case 

 one will usually note that fewer queen-cells 

 are started than under the natural swarm- 

 in"; impulse, and also the brood will be scat- 

 terini;fly placed, and often a large proportion 

 of drone brood will be present. When this 

 condition is found, all but the best queen- 

 cell should be torn down and the bees al- 

 lowed to raise another queen to replace the 

 poor one. But if this condition should arise 

 during swarming time, there would be dan- 

 ger that the swarm might issue with the 

 virgin. To prevent this, a nucleus may be 

 made with the frames of brood and bees and 

 the best queen-cell, the other queen-cells be- 

 ing torn down. This nucleus may then be 

 allowed to raise its queen, and after she* is 

 mated, the queen in the old hive may be kill- 

 ed and the nucleus united with the old colo- 

 ny. An easy way to unite is simply to place 

 the nucleus hive over the old one with a 

 thickness of newspaper between. 



The Issuing of the Swarm. 



Siiortly at'ter the (jueen-cells are sealed 

 the swarm "issues," that is, about two- 

 thirds or three-fourths of the bees together 

 with the queen leave the hive. These bees 

 pour from the hives by thousands until in 

 three or four minutes the air is filled with 

 a great cloud of humming bees. Bees are 

 usually good-natured when swarming, for 

 their honey sacs are filled with honey, 

 enough to convert into comb on arrival at 

 their new home, and also enough to sustain 

 them until they are again able to gather 

 nectar. After flying about for a few minutes, 

 they cluster or form in a large ball, usually 

 on a branch of a tree not far from their 

 hive, waiting to make certain that the queen 

 is with them before they leave for their new 

 home, which is quite often a hollow tree in 

 the woods, a place which in most cases has 

 probably been chosen by scout bees sent 

 out several days before. 



Hiving Swarm With Clipped Queen. 



If the queen 's wings have been clipped 

 she will be found climbing helplessly about 

 on the grass in front of the hive, attempting 

 to join the swarm, which, of course, she is 

 jirevcnted from doing on account of her 

 clipped wings. After caging her in a spiral 

 cage, she may be put in the shaded entrance 

 of the new hive of combs or foundation 

 which has been placed on the old stand, fac- 

 ing in the same direction as the original 

 hive. The hive should also contain one comb 

 with young larvae (very important in case 

 of a queen with wings), and above this hive 

 should be placed the supers removed from 

 the oM colony; for the new colony will now 

 work with renewed vim, while the old colo- 

 ny will be composed mostly of young bees, 

 and will probably be without a laying queen 

 for as much as two weeks, and will not be 

 in condition to store any surplus for some 

 time. 



In a short time the bees will discover that 

 the queen is not with them, and will, there- 

 fore, return to the hive. After they have 

 begun running in nicely the queen should 

 be allowed to run in with the rest. 



The old hive should be moved to a new 

 location, all but the best queen-cell being 

 torn down and the entrance contracted to 

 keep the brood wiinii. 



Two or three weeks after the swarm is- 

 sues, the old colony should be examined for 

 eggs. If none are found, it will mean that 

 the queen has not yet begun laying or that 

 she was lost in mating and that the colony 



A ^warm with inu-lipiifd qm-eii, raptuivid lu ;i 



swiiriii catclier, and shaken upon a sheet placed at 



the front of the hive. 



is queenless. In either case the best thing 

 to do is to give them a comb with eggs and 

 young larv33. If a young queen is present, 

 she will probably begin laying all the sooner 

 because of the presence of the larvaj; and, 

 if the colony is queenless, the bees will un- 

 doubtedly begin queen-cells, in which case 

 a ripe queen-cell should be given in a pro- 

 tector or a good laying queen introduced. 



Hiving Swarm With Undipped. Queen. 



To hive a swarm having a queen with 

 wings, the colony should be shaken into a 

 Manum swarm-catcher (see cut above) or 

 into a basket fastened to the end of a pole, 

 and then shaken on the ground in front of 

 the entrance. When shaken a few may return 

 to the clustering place, so that it may be 

 necessary to shake them from the tree sev- 

 eral times to make certain that the queen is 

 also captured; for the colony will not stay 

 in the hive unless their queen is with them. 



When bees cluster on some unshakable ob- 

 ject, such as a fence post, a sheet may be 

 spread on the ground around the post, the 

 bees gently brushed down upon the sheet by 

 means of a soft brush or handful of weeds, 

 the corners of the sheet gathered up, and 

 the bees carried to the hive and allowed to 



