242 



GLEAKINGS IK BEE CULTURE. 



May 



TO PREVENT SWARMING. 



As a good mauy have lately Inquired how to pre- 

 vent swarming, I will toll how I prevented it, or, 

 rather, circumvented them after they had swarmed. 

 This may not be a very important subject at this 

 time, as most honey-g-rowors are probably anxious 

 to have all the swarms they can this season. Yet 

 there will be some who may have more swarming 

 than they wish— especially late in the season. In 

 this locality, where we get most of our surplus in 

 the fall, it is generally best to let each colony cast 

 one swarm; but it is the August swarming we wish 

 to prevent. The plan I have practiced for the last 

 three years is this: I hive the first one that comes 

 out. The second swarm I unite with the colony that 

 sent out the first swarm, and so continue, always 

 uniting the last swarm with the colony that sent out 

 the last preceding one. I have done this when sev- 

 eral swarms issued the same day. It is not neces- 

 sary to cut out the queen-cells, but it may be well to 

 do so, especially if j'ou do not expect the next swarm 

 to issue before these cells could hatch. "When all are 

 done swarming, the last colony can be united with 

 the first swarm. I like this plan much, as it pre- 

 vents increase, and yet gives each colony the vigor 

 of a new swarm. It is well to give more room at the 

 time of uniting, even though the new colony is not 

 larger than the one that previously occupied tjie 

 same hive. E. 8. Easterday. 



Nokomis, Mont. Co., III., April, 1881. 



liEAVING SECTIONS ON Alil. W^INTEK. 



¥0U ask for some brother wh(5 has had an experi- 

 ence with sections on all winter to stand up. 



— ■ Well, as I stand C ft., I will say, " Don't do it." 

 I have been keeping bees here for 5 years, and never 

 lost a colony in winter or spring until this winter. 

 Last fall I left a few boxes on one hive for the bees 

 to carry the honey below. When I examined them in 

 February I found them dead. They had consumed 

 every drop of honey in those sections, and then 

 starved with about 30 lbs. of honey below in the 

 body of the liivc. My neighbor, Mr. Gibson, had 

 about 20 colonies with sections on most of them, and 

 every one of them died. I gave a stock last summer 

 to an old friend, and he left the sections on two tier 

 high, and lost every bee before Jan. 1st. Now, don't 

 make the change in the ABC you speak of until you 

 have tried it for three winters. My experience for 

 five winters justifies me in putting an enamel cloth 

 down tight over the frames, with a six-inch chaff 

 cushion on top. My bees came out all right every 

 spring. Should you want my plan of wintering, I 

 ■will send it. 



Bees are wintered on summer stands five inches 

 from the ground. 11. D. Cutting. 



Clinton Mich. 



There, " that is just as I expected, and al- 

 ways thought it would be." 'Twou't work, 

 and Ave have got to give it up. But hold on, 

 friend C; were those colonies packed in 

 chalf hives, and Avere they such as had given 

 good yields of honey the season before? 

 AVere they good strong stocks on old tough 

 combs? You see, I do not like to give up 

 such a wonderfully easy way of doing things. 

 You almost make a body think that friend 

 Ivendel's colonies that came through thus 

 only wintered well in spite of unfavorable 

 conditions, eh? 



Later:— The following is just at hand from 

 friend.Kendel: — 



Having just read your comments and suggestions 

 upon our report on page 171, April, 1881, we are very 

 strongly reminded of our xarious experiences of the 

 past 21 years with bees. We started about 1838 or '59 

 with a box hive, purchased of the venerable bee- 

 keeper, E. T. Sturtevant, who divided it for us and 

 transferred into 3 L. hives. They did well, and wo 

 ran up to .5 or C hives. We always wintered out of 

 doors ia the poor (not good; old careless way, some- 

 times losing a hive or two in wintering, but never 

 lost one, except where the cuts in the old honey- 

 boards were closed. AVe would usually leave the 6x6 

 boxes on all winter, which usually were quite emptj\ 

 It seems to us now, as we think back, that, with this 

 course, bees w<'iuld not H^'- out every time the sun 

 thawed the snow a little; and, in fact, they do not 

 now Avhen we do not have them perfectly aii'-tight 

 abOA'c, nor do we think they begin brood-raising o\it 

 of seasoTi, which in a measure necessitates their fly- 

 ing out for water when it is too cold for them to re- 

 turn. AVe know that many old bees will crawl out 

 in comparatively cold weather, and die; the same 

 would probably die and blockade the entrance if 

 they remained inside, but there are not many serious 

 losses of bees in their prime. AVhen they fly out and 

 become chilled before thej' can retui-n, colonies will 

 sometimes become almost depopulated in a few 

 hours. If by slight top A'cntilation you can thus 

 keep them quiet until suitable weather for brood- 

 raising, and then cover snugly, and stimulate by 

 feeding, should we not in a great measure overcome 

 the dreaded " Spring Dwindling "? 



Cleveland, O., April 5, 1881. A. C. KtNDEL. 



In April Gleanings you wanted to know some 

 thing about leaving sections on all winter, and said, 

 " Now, has anybody else (besides A. C. Keudel, page 

 171, last No.), ever been guilty of leaving the sections 

 on all Avinter?" In this neighborhood the people 

 raise their honey in boxes, and they all invariably 

 leave them on all winter, and claim that they do bet- 

 ter than any other way. Last year I had my comb 

 honey built in small frames extending crosswise 

 over the brood-frames (L. hive), and these frames 

 were 6 inches deep, and long enough to reach across 

 the hive. Over the top of these frames I put a coa-- 

 er, leaving it entirely ojien between the two sets of 

 frames. Noav comes the point : six hives have been 

 left that Avay all Avinter, and they are in splendid 

 condition; in fact, they ai-e stronger tlian those that 

 had quilts on top of the bottom frames. I closed 

 the entrance of the six hives so that only one bee 

 could pass at a time. I think I shall winter all mine 

 that way next winter. Charles Kingslev. 



Greeneville, Tenn., April 8, 1881. 



Seeing an article in April Gleanings in reference 

 to sections left on all winter, 1 would say, a neigh- 

 bor has Avintered all his without protection, with 

 caps left on (empty). Every one to-day is extra, 

 strong, while I, Avho thought I Avas doing right, took 

 caps off and put quilts on; cups were glass to hold 

 aboiitTlbs.; hives (Quinby's simple movable comb) 

 sitting side by side; mine are all weak, his are all 

 strong; mine were the better in the fall. We have 

 had only 12 days that bees have flown at all, 



E. Ladd, Jr. 



Beverly, Macon Co , Mo., April 5, 18S1. 



