JlNE, 192-. 



gijRanings in bee culture 



IEtI>X)F 



ABSOLUTE SWARM PREVENTION 



A Modification of the Demaree Plan Prevents All 

 Swarming and Stimulates Gathering and Storing 



The Demaree plan fails, all too often, in 

 its purpose of securing perfect swarm pre- 

 vention and the largest crop, because the 

 old queen, confined below the excluder, 

 "sulks" and does not lay freely, the colony 

 sometimes even starting queen-cells below 

 and soon swarming, or, it may swarm when 

 virgin queens emerge in the brood placed 

 above the excluder, if the queen-cells are 

 not destroyed. If the queen does not lay 

 freely in her new brood-nest, the number of 

 workers for a later honey flow will fall far 

 below the horde which is necessary to gath- 

 er a heavy crop. However, where young 

 laying queens in nuclei, on standard frames, 

 are at hand when the flow arrives, far bet- 

 ter and more uniform results ma}' be had: 

 and that plan, to cause more dollars to pros- 

 per you and yours, is here described. 



Preparing for this plan 1 use a method 

 of securing considerable numbers of fine 

 queens under the natural swarming impulse, 

 during an early flow such as that from fruit 

 bloom. 



Other ]ilans of securing young queens may. 

 of course, be used; and when numbers of 

 young layers can be at work in nuclei be- 

 fore the main flow, it is possible to combat 

 swarming far more effectually, where, as 

 here, the orthodox methods do fail too fre- 

 quently. 



Assuming a number of nuclei, each con- 

 taining one or two combs of brood and bees, 

 with a young laying queen, remove from its 

 stand a strong colony which may or may 

 not be preparing to swarm. In its place put 

 a hive, in the middle of which place n 

 nucleus consisting of one or two frames with 

 some brood and bees, a young laying queen, 

 an empty comb of best quality on at least 

 one side of the little colony, in which the 

 young queen can continue laying, and fill 

 the remaining space with best combs or full 

 sheets of foundation in wired frames. 



I usually put an empty comb on each out- 

 er side of the hive and then fill the remain- 

 der of the space with frames of foundation; 

 the space should be filled in whatever man- 

 ner is found by experience to give best re- 

 sults under the conditions in other locali- 

 ties. 



Now place an excluder on the brood- 

 chamber containing the little nucleus col- 

 ony. Find and kill the old queen in the col- 

 ony which you are treating; or, if she is of 

 value, take her out and put her in a nucleus. 

 If in a locality where nights at this time 

 are warm, place one or more supers of empty 

 or partly empty combs just above the ex- 



cluder, then destroy all queen-cells on the 

 brood and place it in a hive-body or bodies, 

 above the supers of empty comb. If in a 

 locality where nights are cool, place the 

 brood just above the excluder, and the su- 

 pers of comb above the brood, and save 

 yourself occasional heavy losses of unsealed 

 brood due to the bees partially deserting 

 the old brood-nest, so far from the new 

 queen b'elow, and allowing the brood to 

 chill or suffer from neglect during cool 

 nights or a few days of very cool weather. 



In some localities or in some seasons such 

 colonies will not swarm even though young 

 queens emerge above the excluder. Where 

 such is not the case all queen-cells must be 

 destroyed about 10 days later when swarm- 

 ing is over for the season, so far as that 

 colony is concerned. I do not remember 

 that I have ever had a swarm from colonies 

 so treated, so long as they have had room in 

 which to store. The colony by this manipu- 

 lation is at once placed in the best of condi- 

 tion to gather the crop; and, by the absence 

 of loafing and the free laying of the young 

 queen, there is sure to be a big force of 

 workers to gather a later honey flow. 



Briefly, instead of putting a comb of 

 brood, with the old queen, below the ex- 

 cluder, as in the usual Demaree plan and in 

 the various modifications of that plan usu- 

 ally suggested, we put below the excluder a 

 nucleus with a young laying queen, and 

 after removing the old queen from the old 

 brood-chamber, we place this old brood- 

 chamber, either immediately above the ex- 

 cluder, if in a locality having cool nights, 

 or if in a warmer locality, we place above 

 the excluder one or more extracting-supers 

 filled with empty combs, with the brood- 

 chamber with its bees and brood above these 

 empty combs, always first destroying any 

 queen-cells to be found in this old brood- 

 chamber. Later, if increase is desired, this 

 chamber of brood, with its emerging bees, 

 may be set off on a new stand and given a 

 queen. You will not regret giving this im- 

 proved Demaree plan a thorough trial, for it 

 "delivers the goods." E. F. Atwater. 



Meridian, Idaho. 



CATALEPTIC QUEENS 



How Despondent Queens Commit Suicide (?) Some 

 New Light on an Old Subjert 



For many years past there have appeared 

 from time to time articles concerning "Cat- 

 aleptic" queens. They have been described 

 as fainting, having fits, paralysis, epilepsy, 

 catalepsy, heart failure, etc. About 20 years 

 ago T had a queen that threw one of these 

 fits. She lay as though dead for half an 



