1903 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



143 



FORCED SWARMS. 



Keep as Near Nature's Methods as Possible. 



BY P. H. ELWOOD. 



Before the introduction of the movable- 

 comb hive, Capt. Hetherin^ton forced all of 

 his swarms b,v driving- them out into an 

 empty hive, and I very much doubt if this 

 method of making;- forced swarms has been 

 improved upon since. The driving- process 

 caused them to g-org-e themselves with hon- 

 ey, which seems to be quite necessary for 

 wax secretion. It also caused them to ad- 

 here to a new location quite well when that 

 was desired. 



Ever since we first kept bees, thirty j'ears 

 ag-o, we have practiced forced . swarming 

 more or less. With our outj^ards we have 

 been compelled to take the matter in our 

 own hands; and we find that, the nearer 

 we can keep to nature's methods, and at 

 the same time accomplish our purposes, the 

 better. Instead of driving-, we find with 

 movable combs that it is more convenient 

 to shake, takingf some pains to have the 

 bees fill themselves with honey, and also to 

 Jeave always enoug-h bees with the brood 

 to protect it. If making- is deferred until 

 they are about ready to swarm they often 

 do swarm out after being- made; but unless 

 several are out together they usually return 

 all right, and work with increased vigor 

 for having had their spin in the air. If 

 shaken into a large brood-nest they are less 

 apt to fl}' out; and if the surplus recepta- 

 cles are left ofY for a few days there will 

 be no trouble from pollen being stored in 

 sections. At the time of returning sections 

 the size of the brood-nest may be adjusted 

 to the size of the swarm. If not convenient 

 to leave oflF the supers a sheet of comb will 

 catch the bee-bread. Foundation or start- 

 ers may be used at the option of the bee- 

 keeper — more expense with foundation, 

 more work with starters; for, with the best 

 management, there will be quite a little 

 drone comb to cut out and replace with 

 worker. When a comb is used to catch the 

 pollen we usually use foundation with it. 



Some bee-keepers, after a week or ten 

 davs, increase the strength of the swarm by 

 giving the combs a second shaking. While 

 this has its advantages it also has its disad- 

 vantages; for so large an addition of strange 

 bees or of bees expecting a young queen, 

 often produces trouble, causing swarming 

 or supersedure of the queen. It is also li- 

 able, unless great care is taken, to leave the 

 3'oung swarm too weak. 



You ask if Capt. Hetherington and my- 

 self still practice dequeening. We do. By 

 this method there is much less work, less 

 mixing up by having swarms come out to- 

 gether; more honey; better-filled sections, 

 and the colonies usually in better condition 

 for winter. This method may seem to 

 be entirely contrary to nature's methods but 

 it is not. When a prime swarm issues, and 

 the queen is lost from lack of vigor, as oft- 



en happens, and the swarm returns, the 

 colony is in the same condition that one of 

 our dequeened swarms is We, however, 

 carry the matter a step further, and do not 

 allow them to swarm again, but return the 

 queen or another at about the same time they 

 would naturally have a fertile queen of their 

 own. 



By the way, the making of forced swarms 

 with queens that are failing, as mentioned 

 above, is one of the most frequent causes of 

 failure. With such queens they will some- 

 times swarm out at once, uniting with an- 

 other swarm, or scattering to other hives, 

 acting about like a queenless swarm. At 

 other times nothing ma}' be seen amiss but 

 excessive drone-comb building and lack of 

 vigorous work followed usually by super- 

 sedure of the queen. 



While there is no method of making a 

 forced swarm that will cause it to work 

 with quite the vigor of a natural one, still 

 to those who have outj'ards it becomes nec- 

 essary to assume control of swarming. 



Starkville, N. Y. 



»♦»♦♦♦♦-♦ - 



CHUNK COMB HONEY. 



Questions Answered about It. 



BY H. H. HYDE. 



]\Ir. Root: — Owing to the many letters re- 

 ceived since the appearance of my bulk- 

 comb article in your issue for Jan. 1, I de- 

 sire to add a few words of explanation. 



The question has been asked me where 

 the friction top cans may be secured. They 

 may be had of the American Can Co. or of 

 any of its agents; but call for their, 3, 6, 

 and 12 lb. cans made for honey. They are 

 a little larger than the regular % , Yz, and 

 1 gallon cans that they make for the syrup 

 and canning trade. The two 60-lb. cans 

 with 8- inch screw-tops are the regular two 

 60's for extracted honey; but instead of the 

 Wz or \y% caps they have 8-inch screw- 

 caps. These cans and cases are for ship- 

 ping purposes mainly, but are all right 

 also for retail trade at home. 



In lieu of these, however, ordinarj'^ lard- 

 pails are all right for home trade. Glass 

 Mason jars are all right for home trade, and 

 are, perhaps, the best for the home trade in 

 that they show the hone.y to advantage. 



The question has been asked me how the 

 foundation is put in the frames. I will 

 say that the frames we use, both regular 

 Hoffman and the shallow Hoffmans of both 

 the Ideal, or 4*2 depth, are made with the 

 top-bars smooth on the under side. If your 

 shallow frames come with a saw-kerf on 

 the under side of the top-bars, simply use 

 them upside down. 



We fasten the foundation to these frames 

 with a machine of our own invention, with 

 a long- plate kept hot with a distributor 

 over a gasoline-lamp. However, the ma- 

 jority do not have these machines; but they 

 can put the foundation on the top-bar with 

 melted wax. Simply keep a can of wax 



