M.vv, 1921 



G L E A N I X U S ] X \i K E C U I. T U K E 



277 



begin super work with a rush. Colonies 

 which at the beginning of the honey flow 

 have a rim of sealed honey between the 

 brood and the supers, are more inclined to 

 swarm than colonies which have brood prac- 

 tically to the top-bars of the brood frames. 

 Influence of Idle Field Bees. 



Apparently any interference with the 

 work within the hive, such as discomfort 

 from heat, lack of ventilation, lack of room 

 for incoming nectar or congestion of the 

 brood-nest by young bees which should be 

 in the supers, is immediately reflected in a 

 slowing down of the work of the field bees, 

 causing them to stay at home in greater 

 and greater numbers, thus increasing the 

 congestion and discomfort and usually re- 

 sulting in preparations for swarming. In 

 this way a small beginning in temporary 

 discomfort, lack of room in the supers, or 

 conditions which do not attract the idle 

 younger bees into the supers, may quickly 

 develop into a sluggishness of the work of 

 the entire colony and bring on swarming. 

 After this condition has once started it is 

 difiicult to break it up, even tho the cause 

 is entirely removed. This is where "an 

 ounce of prevention may be worth several 

 pounds of cure. ' ' Colonies in which the 

 field workers are compelled to stay in the 

 hive during the heat of the day on account 

 of showers or erratic yielding of nectar, are 

 more inclined to swarm than when the field 

 workers can work in the fields thruout the 

 day. A few days of rain in the midst of 

 the early part of the honey flow is often 

 followed by intense swarming, especially if 

 the temperature continues high while the 

 field bees are forced to stay at home. 



The tendency to swarm is least in those 

 colonies in which the younger bees are at- 

 tracted into the supers to the greatest pos- 

 sible extent and the greatest possible nuin- 

 ber of field bees are at work in the fields, 

 leaving during the warmest part of the day 

 only enough bees within the brood-chamber 

 to take care of the work to be done there. 

 Apparently the greater the activity within 

 the hive among the hive workers, the 

 greater the number of bees sent to the 

 fields, and the only way to prevent loafing 

 among the field bees during the honey flow 

 is to prevent idleness of any of the hive 

 workers. In the production of extracted 

 honey this is not difficult to accomplish by 

 providing supers of empty extracting combs 

 a little before tlie bees need more room 

 thruout the season, but it is more difficult 

 to accomplish when producing comb honey. 



Much can be done, however, to prevent 

 the beginning of the train of events which 

 lead up to the issuing of a swarm, and the 

 comb-honey producer can not afford to neg- 

 lect any of the important preventive meas- 

 ures suggested above, for by careful man- 

 agement the percentage of colonies that pre- 

 pare to swarm can be greatly reduced even 

 when producing comb honey. Usually the 

 greater the percentage of colonies which can 



be induced to work vigorously thru the sea- 

 son without swarming, the greater the crop 

 of lioney at the close of the season. 

 No Swarming Previous to the Honey Flow. 

 Previous to the honey flow, swarming can 

 usually be prevented by giving each colony 

 plenty of empty combs. An extra story of 

 combs jiartly filled with honey usually fur- 

 nishes an excellent safety valve to hold 

 down early swarming, as well as acting as 

 an automatic feeder. If the colonies were 

 wintered in single stories, the second story 

 is usually more effective in preventing 

 swarming when placed above than when 

 placed below, and dark combs which have 

 been used previously for brood-rearing are 

 better for this purpose than new combs. 

 The greatest objection to the use of two 

 stories at this time for comb-honey produc- 

 tion is the necessity of shaking the bees 

 from the extra set of combs to reduce the 

 hives to a single story at the time the first 

 comb-honey supers are given, but the 

 stronger colonies now obtained by up-to- 

 date beekeepers can not well be managed 

 as to early swarming without the use of a 

 second story, or at least a shallow extract- 

 ing super during the spring. 



Critical Period When First Supers Are Given. 



When the two-story hives are reduced to 

 a single story at the beginning of the honey 

 flow, and most of the brood is put into this 

 one story filling it almost completely with 

 brood, the colonies are usually forced to 

 enter the supers at once; but, unless they 

 enter the supers and draw out the founda- 

 tion immediately, the crowding of a two- 

 story colony into a single story may result 

 in the starting of queen-cells preparatory to 

 swarming. A few bait combs in the first 

 supers may be necessary to prevent this, 

 but having the colonies strong and using 

 full sheets of fresh foundation are impor- 

 tant factors in a prompt beginning of work 

 in the supers. It is sometimes best to give 

 two comb-honey supers at once to colonies 

 which have been reduced from two stories 

 to a single story. After work has once 

 been started in the supers it is not difficult 

 to induce the bees to expand their work into 

 additional supers, as more room is needed 

 if each additional super is given in time. 

 Remedial Measures. 



The beekeeper who is operating a single 

 apiary and can just as well spend the 

 swarming season among his bees, should se- 

 cure excellent results by discouraging 

 swarming as much as possible, then per- 

 mitting those colonies which insist on 

 swarming to swarm naturally, hiving the 

 swarm on the old stand, transferring the" 

 supers to the swarm, moving the parent 

 hive to one side and a week later moving 

 it away while the bees are well at work in 

 the fields to deplete it of its working force, 

 thus preventing after-swarming and at at 

 the same time adding these extra bees to 



