530 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



has been tried in many instances, always 

 terminating- in a good showing- for the bees; 

 and any orchardist who would object to 

 bees on his trees during- the time of blos- 

 soming seems hardly capable of correct 

 reasoning. 



"3^ 



'mm 



mmMnikw 



PREVENTION OF AFTER-SWARMS. 



"Say, Doolittle, can you tell me how to 

 prevent after-swarms?" 



"Well, I might tell you how 1 manage in 

 this matter." 



"I wish you would do this; and, besides, 

 I wish you to go into the minutije of the 

 matter, so that a 'wayfaring man, though 

 a fool, need not err therein.' Last 3'ear I 

 thought I could stop such swarms; but I 

 failed, so I came over this morning to see 

 if you could tell me just how to do it." 



"After tr^'ing all the plans to prevent 

 after-swarms given to the public I settled 

 down on two plans as the cream of the 

 whole, and will give them to you." 



"But have you tried them yourself? I 

 don't want any of the cream from the plans 

 I tried last year, for I tell you they will 

 not work, cream or no cream." 



"The plans I shall give you are such as 

 I have used with success for years, and I 

 judge that what I use with success others 

 can." 



"Well, probably; but all may not be as 

 used to such things as you." 



"The only way I become used to a thing 

 is by putting in practice what I read, hear, 

 and see. Can't you do that?" 



"Yes, I suppose so. I'll try, any way." 



"The two plans are used in accord with 

 what I wish to do with the parent colony. 

 The one I will tell you about first is used 

 where the old hive is to be carried to a new 

 stand, while the swarm is in the air, on 

 the principle of using the new swarm for 

 the main dependence for comb honey, hiv- 

 ing the same on the old stand." 



"Do you generally work in that way?" 



"Yes, I prefer hiving the swarm on the 

 old stand where natural swarming is al- 

 lowed, and then placing the sections which 

 are on the parent colony on the new swarm, 

 as this gives the swarm the most of the 

 working force. By thus doing, the bees do 

 not stop work in the sections, and a good 

 crop of section honey is secured." 



"Glad to hear that. But excuse me for 

 interrupting." 



"To accomplish what I desire, I proceed 

 as follows: As soon as the swarm is seen 

 issuing from any hive I go to the shop, 

 where I get a light box made for the pur- 



pose of carr3ang combs, which has previ- 

 ously been prepared, having the desired 

 number of frames in it, taking it to the 

 hive from which the swarm came, when the 

 frames are set out of the box near the hive. 

 I now take off the super and take out the 

 frames of brood, putting them into the box. 

 If the combs of brood seem to be well cov- 

 ered with bees, and the weather is warm, 

 I shake a part of them off in front of the 

 hive before putting the combs into the box." 



"What do you do that for?" 



"So as to get just as many bees with the 

 swarm as possible, that a good yield of 

 honey may be obtained from them, and also 

 that as few bees may go with the combs as 

 is consistent with the preservation of the 

 brood, so that after-swarming will be pre- 

 vented. If there are few bees on these 

 combs of brood, or the weather is cool, I 

 put all into the box, setting the box in the 

 shade, and a rod or so from the hive, as 

 soon as all of the frames of brood and bees 

 on them are in the box." 



"What do you set them a rod away for?" 



"So that the returning bees will not go 

 on these combs, as they will sometimes do 

 where the queen has her wing clipped, 

 and the swarm is hived on the returning 

 plan. After the box is set away the frames 

 brought from the shop are put in the hive 

 and properly arranged, by which time the 

 swarm will be likely to return if the queen 

 has a clipped wing. If she was not clip- 

 ped, then the swarm is hived in this pre- 

 pared hive on the old stand, the same as 

 any swarm is hived." 



" What do you do with the combs and 

 bees that are in the box?" 



"An empty hive is placed where I wish 

 a colony to stand, and these combs of bees 

 and brood are placed in it, and the en- 

 trance adjusted to suit their wants, when 

 they are left till the next morning. By this 

 time nearly all the old or field bees have 

 gone back to the old location, so that the 

 young bees which remain are ready to ac- 

 cept any thing in the shape of a queen. 

 They are now given a ripe queen-cell, a 

 young virgin queen, or a laying one, just 

 in accord as I have made preparations for 

 them." 



"Do you keep queens or cells on hand 

 for swarming time?" 



"Yes. I always prepare for any emer- 

 gency' by starting queen-cells a little be- 

 fore the swarming season; and when these 

 are ripe a few nuclei are formed, and if 

 more queens are about to emerge from their 

 cells than I have nuclei for, the cells are 

 put in cages provided with food for them, 

 which are placed where the heat from any 

 colony will keep them warm, and in this 

 way they are preserved till I ncp them, or 

 they become too old to be of u e." 



"I had not thought of keeping queens on 

 hand to give to the old colonies having cast 

 a swarm, but I now see it would be a good 

 thing; and see how after-swarming can be 

 prevented by this plan. But what about 

 the second plan?" 



