AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



529 



"Caging the queens does not cure the 

 swarming fever. Taking them outdoes." 

 (P. H. Elwood, in Gleanings for April, 

 1890, page 255). 



" He who allows his bees to increase 

 by natural swarming at their own good 

 (?) pleasure may be called a bee-keeper ; 

 but it is only he who has learned to con- 

 trol increase that has earned the title of 

 bee-master. When running bees for ex- 

 tracted honey, it is comparatively easy 

 to control swarming; for by giving a 

 large amount of room for both brood 

 and honey, and extracting the old honey 

 and afterward the new just before the 

 main flow commences, there will be, 

 usually, no attempt to swarm; with 

 reasonable attention to extracting after- 

 ward. When comb honey is produced 

 it is much more difficult to control in- 

 crease. The well-filled brood-nest, so 

 necessary to the successful production 

 of comb honey, is also very favorable to 

 the forcing out of swarms. Cutting out 

 queen-cells, the withdrawal of brood, 

 only delay, but do not prevent swarm- 

 ing, while there is danger of throwing 

 the colony in the state known as 

 ' swarming fever.' In this state work, 

 to a large degree, will be suspended, 

 and the bees show by unmistakable 

 signs that they are dissatisfied. The 

 bee-keeper will be similarly affected 

 when in the midst of a honey-flow, he 

 comes to look into the surplus recepta- 

 cles. 



'• In every apiary there are some colo- 

 nies that will work right along without 

 any attempt to swarm. When no in- 

 crease is desired, there is no need of 

 molesting them, as they usually produce 

 their full share of comb honey. All 

 other colonies, as they complete their 

 preparations for swarming, should 

 have their queens removed with one or 

 more combs of brood, and enough work- 

 ers to protect it, and be placed in another 

 hive or small receptacle provided for 

 her. All queen-cells old enough to 

 hatch within nine days ought to be re- 

 moved. On the eighth or ninth day 

 after, all cells should be broken, leaving 

 the colony hopelessly queenless. In a 

 week or ten days longer, the old queen 

 may be smoked back into the hive." (P. 

 H. Elwood, in Apiculturist for June, 

 1888, and Review for June, 1888.) 



"Mr. Cushman asks if the great 

 stimulus or increased working energy 

 of the natural swarm is not lost by this 

 method. In a contest with our queen- 

 less colony a natural swarm falls behind 

 from lack of numbers before the expira- 

 tion of three weeks. The natural 

 swarm for the modern small hive, I 



usually none too strong at the start, is 

 rapidly losing, while the queenless col- 

 ony is rapidly increasing in strength 

 from hatching brood. In the experiences 

 of Capt. Hetherington and myself, it 

 has been noticed that the first eight 

 days' work of the queenless colony, 

 while rearing queen-cells, is the poorest. 

 The second eight days' work when hope- 

 lessly queenless is much better. If dur- 

 ing this second period, the colony is per- 

 mitted to rear another crop of cells, the 

 result will not be nearly so good, thus 

 proving that a colony hopelessly queen- 

 less will work with greater energy than 

 one of equal strength still possessed 

 with the swarming impulse. The third 

 period of eight days after re-queening, 

 is when the greatest energy is shown. 

 During this period, with the largely in- 

 creased strength of the old colony, it far 

 surpasses the natural swarm in results. 

 The loose honey occupying the nearly 

 broodless brood-nest is rapidly trans- 

 ferred to the surplus receptacles, and 

 with honey coming in from the field, very 

 satisfactory progress is made." (P. H. 

 Elwood, in Review for April, 1889.) 



"After May 1st we get bees, and keep 

 getting bees. The more bees we get, 

 the happier we are. About June 5th or 

 10th, I watch the honey-flow, and an- 

 ticipate as nearly as possible when the 

 flow will begin, but I keep getting bees, 

 and, if possible, have every comb in each 

 colony full of brood. If the flow is ex- 

 pected to begin June 15th, about June 

 8th or 10th I put a super on each col- 

 ony. The bees loaf in it, and get used 

 to it as part of their home. 



"An apiary in such condition will 

 (especially if the honey-flow comes sud- 

 denly) prepare en masse for swarming. 

 Just as soon as the flow begins, I hunt 

 out each queen and take with her 

 enough bees and one comb of brood to 

 make a nucleus colony. I then clip out 

 every queen-cell that may be started. It 

 won't do to miss one, even if it is neces- 

 sary to shake the bees from every comb. 

 On the eighth or ninth day remove every 

 queen-cell from each colony, leaving 

 them hopelessly queenless. 



"It will answer to leave one cell, and 

 allow the bees to re-queen, yet I prefer 

 not to do so. The first objection is, that 

 many of those cells are from three or 

 four days' larvaj — we don't want such 

 queens. The second is, that the swarm- 

 ing fever is not entirely off, and some 

 colonies make a feeble attempt at swarm- 

 ing, when the young queen goes out to 

 mate. For these reasons, instead of re- 

 queening in this way, I leave the colony 



