160 PRODUCTION OF COMB HONEY 



meiits, it is not one to be generally recommended under all con- 

 ditions. 



Dr. Miller practises a de-queening treatment along different 

 lines. He removes the queen and places her in a cage where she 

 is cared for by her own bees, or she is introduced in a nucleus 

 where she continues to be busy. Of course all cells are destroyed 

 or removed at the time the queen is taken away. At the end of 

 ten days the cells are again removed and the old queen returned 

 to them or another given in her stead. This is the same treatment 

 in effect excepting that he retains his queens as long as they 

 give satisfactory results, whether for one year or three or more. 



With the exercise of the utmost care there will be plenty of 

 swarms some seasons while other years the matter can be con- 

 trolled without great difficulty. The swarming tendency can, 

 however, be so far checked as to greatly increase the returns from 

 the apiary. 



Space Under the Brood Nest. — An empty space under the 

 brood frames seems to serve to some extent the purpose of swarm 

 prevention. A deep bottom is better than a shallow one. In 

 Europe the Simmins plan of placing the comb honey supers with 

 empty sections under the hive, to begin with, seems to be prac- 

 tised to some extent, although the author does not know of its 

 us© in this country. According to this plan empty supers are 

 kept in place under the hive all through the honey flow. The 

 bees prefer to store their honey above the brood nest and will do 

 •so if possible. When they are getting too crowded above they 

 will begin to build combs in these comb honey supers below in 

 preparation to working down. It is now time to remove them 

 and place them on top of the hive and put another empty one 

 in place underneath. This empty space below serves as addi- 

 tional clustering space and also facilitates ventilation. 



A somewhat similar purpose is served by the usual practice of 

 blocking the hive up at the corners during the honey flow if the 

 weather be hot. The hive being open on all sides there is free 

 ventilation, which is a material factor in swarm control. 



