rHE BEE-KEEPERS' RhVIEW. 



187 



Swarm Catchers Versus Queen Traps: High 

 Hopes for the Self Hiver. 



C. H. DIBBEUN. 



T HAVE read your editorial on page l(j;5 of 

 1 the Juue Revihw, aud must say that al- 

 most every statement made, coutiicts with 

 all my experience, in the first place it is 

 stated that " queen traps ( the self hiver 

 works the same way, but accomplishes more) 

 aud swarm catcliers both liave tlieir uses, 

 aud places. " I well remember using swarm 

 catchers along in the seventies, aud thought 

 them a good thing. But now 1 did sweat, as 

 I went running from one end of the apiary 

 to the other with ihe catctiers, only to tind 

 most of the bees aire idy iu the air. Tlien 

 another would swarm, aud another, aud there 

 would be more running aud perspiring. 

 About lialf the time I would catch the nueeu, 

 aud usually a small swarm would settle in 

 one corner. Then the bees that had got 

 away from other hives, would settle on the 

 outside, until the whole catcher looked like a 

 great bunch of bees. Other hives would uow 

 swarm, aud a good many bees would be out 

 before I would see them, or had time to run 

 for more catchers, and all would be sure to 

 go to the biggest bunch. Though I had a 

 half dozen catchers scattered around the 

 apiary where I thought them most needed, I 

 would often have them all full, aud still 

 other hives would be sw.irmiug, ouly to 

 double up with those on the outside of catch- 

 ers, coutaiuiug the most bees. "Now, when 

 the swarmiu^ would let up, I would proceed 

 to hive the bees. Of coursal would hive the 

 swarms oq the old stand, but often auother 

 difficulty would present it-;elf, most of the 

 bees and queeus had g j.ie back to the old 

 hive, aud I would have to let them try it 

 over again. Theu when I came to the big 

 swarm citchers, with one swarm in. aud two 

 or three outside, I had au interestiug job. 

 These would usually require two or three 

 hives, and perhaps all the queens would get 

 into the same hive. Then there would be 

 fightiug, and balliug queeu^^, and oh my ! how 

 cross the bees were! Now when all the bees 

 have beeu shaken out of the catchers perhaps 

 a bunch " as big as a barrel " would be haug- 

 ing overhead on the limb of some tall tree. 

 Then there would be climbing, and sawing 

 oft of limbs, and more hiving, fighting aad 

 balling of queens. Finally when the sun 

 was getting low, I would l)egiu to figure up 



the net results of the day's work, and it was 

 work, although people riding by iu cirriages 

 may have thought I was haviug great fuu, 

 I would perhaps tiud 1 had secured two or 

 three fairly good swarms, one or two whop- 

 pers, and several hives would be entirely 

 deserted, though they had not swarmed 

 out. 



The following day the same inleresting pro- 

 gram would usually be repeated, with some 

 variations. The swarm catc.urs li ivo not 

 been in use for some years now, aud are 

 safely stored iu the loft over the honey house. 

 If any of the readers of the Risview liave use 

 for them, I will sell them '"dirt cheap." No 

 sir! the swarm catcher may do for the man 

 with a half dozen colonies, wh > has nothing 

 els9 to do but watch for the first few buos to 

 begin circling around, but for the api irist 

 who numbers his colonies by the hundred, 

 never! 



But whit about the queen-trap or i^elf- 

 hiver? I have now used the hiver iu various 

 forms quite extonsivly for four years, and 

 though I have met many difficulties, I have 

 had almost no trouble whuever from 

 swarms doubling up, though I have often 

 had from three to five in the air at the same 

 time. There is no " doubling up in the air " 

 possible, though every hive in the apiary 

 swarmed at once, if the queens are retained 

 each where they start from, or in au empty 

 hive. I know what I'm writing al)Out, as I'm 

 hiviug, or rather letting the bees hive them- 

 selves every day. I have lately so changed 

 my hiver, that I catch the entire swarm as 

 surely as they start to swarm, and there is no 

 going back, or absconding either. Dj I run 

 around with swarm catchers, or emj ty hives 

 through the hot sun? Not much! I some- 

 times lie in the hammock, and just see them 

 hive themselves as when my hives are prop- 

 erly rranged, there is little else to do, unless 

 it is to change over the honey cases. Do I 

 get good working colonies? — The very best. 

 as the plan secures most of the hatching bees 

 from the old hive, to any desired extent. I 

 am not quite reidy to give the full details of 

 my hiver, but I firmly believe I have fully 

 solved the swarming, or non-swarming prob- 

 lem. I do not even need to prepare hives 

 any faster than swarms are ready to occupy 

 them, so that all that racket about so many 

 empty hives in the apiary is done away with. 



Milan, Ills. .June 18, 1894. 



