THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



57 



my experience) present with disease. 



•2. Colonies that have died from 

 other causes tlian diarrlia>a, are us- 

 ually in a dry condition. 



3. Those causes whicli produce 

 dampness, whatever tliey are, are un- 

 doubtedly the ones that cause disease, 

 if dampness itself is not the prime 

 cause. 



4. Hees seldom become damp or dis- 

 eased in the winter, unless they are 

 exposed to long confinement in a 

 temperature lower than 45° or 50^ 

 above zero, or are exposed in the open 

 air to a much lower temperature than 

 freezins;. 



5. A running stream of spring water 

 through a cellar is probably the best 

 known means of securing an even 

 proper temperature for a long period 

 of time, as well as proper ventilation. 



6. Bees seem to possess the power 

 to keep themselves dry in a very damp 

 atmosphere, provided the room in 

 which they are kept is properly venti- 

 lated and "kept at a steady medium 

 temperature. 



Williamstown, Iowa. 



Tot the American Bee Jouixal- 



Prevention of Swarming. 



CHAS. DADANT. 



As the question on the possibility 

 of praventing natural swarming is 

 discussed in the bee papers, I desire 

 to have my say about it. 



I am satisfied ; nay, our practice of 

 about 1.5 years, has proved to us that 

 natural swarming is always caused 

 by a suffering, or by a need that bees 

 are unable to satisfy, or, at least, by 

 an abn<irmal condition of the colony 

 which swarms. 



The first main cause of natural 

 swarming is the lack of room. 



The second main cause is the rear- 

 ing of queens during the honey season. 



There are several other causes 

 which force the bees to swarm out of 

 the regular season, but these deser- 

 tions en masse are not what is called 

 natural swarming. We can control 

 the first cause by giving our bees 

 large hives and large combs, if we 

 take care to enlarge the room before 

 the harvest time, not by giving empty 

 space onlv, but by giving empty combs 

 or comb foundation. 



We use large hives containing 10 or 

 11 Quinby frames, 18x11^4 inches; on 

 these hives we place, before the honey 

 season, a tier of 10 half combs. As 

 soon as these surplus combs are about 

 half full, we put between them and 

 the hive, a second tier, furnished also 

 viith combs, or comb foundation, and 

 sometimes a third tier, and even a 

 fourth, if necessary. 



The result is that our prevention of 

 swarming .succeeds so well that, in 

 one of our large apiaries, numbering, 

 last year, 62 colonies, which gave 

 15,000 pounds of honey, we did not get 

 a single natural swarm. The same 

 apiary, this year, increased to 87 by 

 artificial swarming, gave 12,000 pounds 

 of honey, and only two natural 

 swarms. 



Of course all our aiiiaries did not 

 succeed so well, especially our home 



apiary, on account of our sale of 

 ijueeiis ; these queens being taken 

 trom full colonies. During tlie sum- 

 mer their colonies were placed under 

 the second cause, that I have assigned 

 to natural swarming, and they, or at 

 least part of them, swarmed. 



When a colony becomes queenless, 

 it raises several queens. As soon as 

 the first is hatched she tries to kill 

 her sisters in their cells ; but if it is 

 summer, and if the honey harvest is 

 good, tlie bees oppose this killing, 

 and the young queen departs with a 

 swarm. 



It is. in part, on account of the an- 

 noyance of watcliing for the swarms, 

 and of hiving tliem, that we have con- 

 cluded to stop tlie rearing of any more 

 queens for sale. 



From our experience, in an apiary 

 exclusively intended to raise honey, 

 if the hives are large, givuig to the 

 queens ample room to lay tiiree or 

 four thousand eggs per day, if the bee- 

 keeper has the care to provide his bees 

 in time with plenty of surplus combs, 

 or comb founation, the number of 

 natural swarms will rarely exceed 2 

 or 3 per cent, annually. This per- 

 centage would be reduced to naught 

 but for the natural death of queens. 

 So small a number of natural swarms 

 dispenses with the watching of the 

 bees ; for. in supposing that every 

 swarm is lost, Ijy this lack of watch- 

 ing, the loss is small in proportion 

 witli the value of the time expended 

 in watching the apiary for weeks, and 

 even months. 



As to the means proposed to prevent 

 natural swarming by retaining the 

 queens in the hives by perforated tin 

 or zinc, let me give my experience iu 

 that direction. 



About 12 or 14 years ago, our 

 lamented friend (Juinby had contrived 

 a yard furnished with tin all around, 

 arid fixed in front of the hives, to pre- 

 vent the queens from following their 

 swarms. The bees would fly from the 

 yard, but the queens, who had one of 

 their wings clipped, were unable to 

 climb under the slippery tin, and com- 

 pelled to remain in the yard and to 

 return in the hives. 



I had fixed 14 of these yards in front 

 of as many hives, containing my best 

 queens. When the first swarm went 

 out, I watched the queen. I saw her 

 make several unsuccessful attempts 

 to climb out the yard ; but I noticed 

 also that the workers, who had not 

 followed the swarm, were very angry 

 against her, and treated her as they 

 used to drones, when they want to get 

 rid of them. 



Of course the swarm came back in 

 the hive. 



On the next day the same colony 

 attempted to swarm again, with the 

 same ill-treatment of the queen ; with 

 this difference that two, or even three 

 workers instead of one, were after her. 



Two others of my colonies with 

 yards, tried to swarm also on the same 

 day, and both ill-used their queens, as 

 the fljst one had done. 



The three colonies tried again to 

 swarm on the following day, and with 

 the same increased anger against their 

 queens. 



At last, on the evening of that day, 

 I found the dead body of the (|ueen 

 who had tried three times to follow 

 her swarm ; it had been dragged in the 

 yard by the bees, after she had suc- 

 cumbed, killed or exhausted by the 

 ill-treatment of her bees. 



Of course I hastened to swarm both 

 the other colonies, and to take out all 

 the yards. 



Now, it is certain that the ill-treat- 

 ment of the queen by the bees, ill- 

 treatment that I was able to see since 

 it had begun iu the open air, it is cer- 

 tain that the same ill-treatment will 

 take place in the hives, where the 

 queen will he prevented from follow- 

 ing the swarms, whatever be the 

 means used by the bee-keeper. Quinby 

 yards or perforated tin will produce 

 the same results. 



Let me now advise my readers, if 

 they want to prevent swarming, to re- 

 sort to our large hives, and I dare to 

 predict them good returns for the in- 

 vestment ; for not only natural swarm- 

 ing teases the bee-keeper, but the 

 colony before swarmin^ lose time in 

 remaining idle, and both the swarm 

 and the colony do not give as much 

 profit as a colony of the same popula- 

 tion which have not swarmed. 



Hamilton, 111. 



For the American Bee JoumaL 



Working in Supers— Obstinate Bees. 



WM. H. BALCH. 



After reading of Mr. Ware's trouble 

 mentioned on page 27 of the present 

 volume, in trying to get his bees to 

 work in supers, I was reminded of the 

 trouble I formerly had with a colony 

 of my best workers. There seems to 

 be now and then a colony of bees that 

 are so opposed to the wishes of the 

 apiarist, that unless he puts them in 

 the right position {or, in other words, 

 hold some inducement out), they soon 

 determine to crowd the brood out of 

 the hive, when plenty of surplus re- 

 ceptacles are on, in readiness to 

 receive the surplus of the honey har- 

 vest. The best remedy that I ever 

 found, is the extractor. I never have 

 found a case but what I cured, by ex- 

 tracting about one-half of the honey ; 

 if the colony is very strong, extract a 

 little more. Place the empty frames 

 in the center of the hive ; the queen 

 will fill them, and they having plenty 

 of brood to care for, seem to think 

 that a surplus of honey is needed. I 

 have often had such colonies make up 

 what they had lost, providing they 

 were not neglected too long. 



Oran, N. Y. 



For the American Bee JournaL 



Lucas Co., Iowa, ConTcntion. 



A meeting of the bee-keepers of 

 Lucas county was held at the Court 

 House in Chariton, Iowa, on Dec. 29, 

 at 2 p. m., for the purpose of organiz- 

 ing a Bee-Keepers' Association. The 

 meeting was called to order by Mr. 

 Wm. Malone, who stated the purpose 

 of the meeting. Mr. J. H. Syde- 

 botham was called to the chair. 



