580 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Replies by Prominent Apiarists. 



[It is useless to ask for answers to 

 Queries in this Department in less time 

 than one month. They have to wait their 

 turn, be put in type, and sent in about a 

 dozen at a time to each of those who answer 

 them : get them returned, and then find 

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 them to be inserted here. — En."] 



bive when there was one or more 

 queens guarded on the inside. I have 

 had swarms lately hived to swaroa 

 out and settle iu the usual way be- 

 cause there were two or more virgin 

 queens with the swarm. Those per- 

 sons who claim that bees never swarm 

 except when they have a queen-cell 

 or queen-cells, are mistaken. — G. W. 

 Demaeee. 



Prevention of AlisconilM Swarms, 



Seconii-Swaras. 



Query, No. 304. — Suppose a colony is 

 ready to send out a second swarm, or will he 

 ready in a day or two. If all the immature 

 queen-cells are destroyed, and the young- 

 queens .iust gnawing out are liberated, so 

 that two or more j'oung queens are in the 

 hive, hut noqueen-cell, will the bees swarm? 

 -S. J. M. 



Yes, sometimes.— Dadant & Son. 

 Not generally. I have had one or 



two do so.— G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



I have never tried it, but I think 

 they would not swarm. — W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



I should expect they might. — A. J. 

 Cook. 



I am not sure, but I think that the 

 bees will rarely, if ever, swarm.— C. 

 C. Miller. 



Yes, in many cases, unless all vir- 

 gin queens are killed but one.— H. D. 

 Cutting. 



As a rule, yes. The safe plan if 

 desired to prevent the second-swarm, 

 is to remove all queen-cells and all 

 queen.s but one.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



No. It is the queens piping in the 

 cells that causes all second-swarms. 

 Cut out all the queen-cells, and if 

 there be a half-dozen young queens 

 just hatched, there will be no swarm- 

 ing.— (i. L. Tinker. 



They will swarm in the majority of 

 cases. Not only this, but often when 

 all the queen-cells are destroyed or 

 removed when the colony is on the 

 verge of swarming, and all the 

 hatched queens removed but one, the 

 bees, not all knowing the destruction 

 of the cells, will issue with the only 

 queen, leaving the parent colony 

 hopelessly queeuless. — J. P. H.Brown. 



I think they will ofttimes swarm. 

 I believe that one of the reasons why 

 parent colonies are so much oftener 

 found queeuless than are second- 

 swarms, is because in many cases all 

 the queen-cells are hatched, and all 

 the young queens go with the after- 

 swarms.— .James Heddon. 



Sometimes they will and sometimes 

 they will not— generally they will, so 

 far as my experience goes. I have 

 this state of tilings under my obser- 

 vation frequently. I liave picked a 

 virgin queen from among the bees 

 which were clustered outside of the 



Query, No. 305. — My business requires 

 me to be absent from my apiary until about 

 3 p.m. each day. What system had I best 

 pursue to prevent my swarms from going 

 to the woods? My apiary consists of 25 

 colonies.— Pa. 



Practice dividing colonies. — J. P. 

 H. Brown. 



I should increase the colonies by 

 division in this case. — G. M. Doo- 

 little. 



I think by dividing you would have 

 the least trouble. — H. D. Cutting. 



It is not yet known — at least not by 

 me.— Jajles Heddon. 



Produce extracted honey, and thus 

 almost totally prevent swarming. — 

 Dadant & Son. 



Clip the queen's wing, and keep 

 a sharp lookout. I am in the same 

 condition, and very rarely meet with 

 any loss. — A. J. CoOK. 



An apiary of that size will pay to 

 employ an assistant to hive the 

 swarms. Let tlie bees swarm nat- 

 urally for best results.— G.L. Tinker. 



Use Alley's drone and queen trap 

 to catch the queen, and return the 

 swarms, and then if you desire in- 

 crease, divide. — H. R. Boardman. 



Have the queen's wing clipped, and 

 a boy or girl can cage them when 

 swarms issue. Perhaps Alley's 

 trap would answer as well.— C. C. 

 Miller. 



Use " Alley's queen and drone 

 trap," and make your increase by 

 dividing on the nucleus plan. Your 

 case is my own, and by following the 

 advice I have given I do not have any 

 trouble in this direction. —J. E.Pond, 

 Jr. 



Produce extracted honey and you 

 will have few swarms. You might 

 try clipping the queen's wing, but as 

 you would not be there when the bees 

 swarmed, I fear the " remedy would 

 be worse than the disease." Dividing 

 may help you, but the probability is 

 that the bees will try their hand at it 

 after you get through. Why not give 

 up your " business " and embark in 

 bee-keeping V- W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Alley's drone and queen trap would 

 likely "help you out of the trouble. 

 To clip the wing.s of your queens 

 would prevent the bees from abscond- 

 ing, but should the swarming im- 

 pulse become rampant, all your 

 queens with clipped wings would 

 soon be lost or killed by the bees, and 

 seconder after swarms would begin 

 to issue, and very soon your apiary 



would be utterly demoralized. I do 

 not see how an apiary is to be man- 

 aged without the presence of some 

 one in swarming time.— G. W. Dem- 



AREE. 



Increase or no Increase— fMcli ? 



Query, No. 306.— In my locality I count 

 on no surplus after clover, which ends in 

 July. Will a colony that swarms, with its 

 increase, or the same colony without swarm- 

 ing, give me the larger crop of comb honey? 

 — M. E. W. 



I think that the colony without in- 

 crease will produce the most.— C. C. 

 Miller. 



The first usually, I think.— A. J. 

 Cook. 



I think the colony that does not 

 swarm will give the most surplus. — 

 "W. Z. Hutchinson. 



I should think that the colony with- 

 out swarming would give you the 

 greatest yield of comb honey.— H. D. 

 Cutting. 



The colony that does not swarm 

 will give the most, usually. — Dadant 

 & Son. 



The colony that swarms, with its 

 increase, will, with proper manage- 

 ment, give the largest yield of surplus 

 comb honey.— H. R. Boardman. 



AVithout knowing anything about 

 your location, I will venture to say 

 that with one increase and the parent 

 colony, you can get more comb honey 

 than it no increase. — J. P. H. Brown. 



If your swarm issues early enough 

 so that both the swarm and the parent 

 colony will be well stocked with 

 foragers, more honey will be gathered 

 than if no swarming is allowed ; 

 otherwise, the contrary. — J. E. Pond, 

 Jr. 



If a colony would work contentedly 

 no increase would give the best re- 

 sults ; but as nine out of ten will be 

 kept from increase only at a loss, I 

 should prefer to let one swarm issue 

 from each old colony, and treat them 

 as I described iu Query, No. 302.— G. 

 M. Doolittle. 



From the description you give of 

 your locality, it is similar to mine as 

 pertains to the surplus honey season, 

 in my locality a colony of bees that 

 does not swarm— all things else being 

 equal — will store more surpilus honey 

 than any colony with its increase.— 

 G. \V. Demauee. 



With proper management the col- 

 ony tliat swarms will produce more 

 comb honey than a colony that does 

 not swarm, provided the flow of honey 

 lasts more than 21 days. If of short 

 duration, then the colony that does 

 not swarm will produce the most. — G. 

 L. Tinker. 



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