1919 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



235 



Swarm Impulse 



By Arthur C. Miller 



TO write something which re- 

 ceives commendation from Dr. 

 Miller is indeed gratifying, but so 

 to express one's self that part of 

 what one says confuses him is most 

 regrettable. 



Yes, Doctor, I did mean that there 

 is no more danger of having swarm- 

 ing impulse inherited through swarm- 

 ing cells than through cells reared in 

 any other way from the same colony. 

 I believe that biologists are now 

 pretty well agreed that acquired char- 

 acteristics are not transmitted 

 through inheritance, and it is absurd 

 to believe that food from swarming 

 bees could impart the swarming im- 

 pulse to queens they reared and fed. 

 We would as soon expect a baby 

 brought up on cow's milk to moo. 



I go farther, and question how far 

 it is true that some varieties or 

 strains are much given to swarming. 

 I know that such is common belief, 

 but I think external factors are large- 

 ly instrumental in exciting the swarm 

 impulse. But some strains may be 

 more susceptible to external influ- 

 ences. 



Reproduction by division (swarm- 

 ing) is doubtless an inherited trait 

 of bees, but that an increased tenden- 

 cy to so divide exists and is inherited 

 I do not believe. As an example, the 

 Carniolans are said to be great 

 swarmers. But here we have an Al- 

 pine bee, taken from high altitudes, 

 a bee whose constitution is adjusted 

 to a rarified and a relatively cool at- 

 mosphere, and we subject it to our 

 lower altitudes and hotter climate. In 

 its native home it has not a reputa- 

 tion for excessive swarming. Is not 

 its swarming habit here due to its 

 reaction to external conditions? What 

 would be the result if we should take 

 some of the swarming Carniolans of 

 our low lands and put them well up 

 in our mountain regions? ( I venture 

 to assert that the excessive swarming 

 would disappear. 



It is not partucularly difficult to start 

 the swarming impulse in any colony of 

 normally well-behaved bees by sun- 

 dry manipulations, such as adding 

 drones and drone-brood and an ex- 

 cess of young nursing bees. 



As to leaving a ripe and just-start- 

 ed cell. I do that to guard against 



:7 r tflg 



hopeless queenlessness, and it is done 

 when a swarm is returned without 

 the old queen, or when the old queen 

 is removed to prevent swarming. I 

 have found that the very young cell 

 is generally allowed to develop until 

 the queen from the ripe cell is mated. 

 If she is lost in her wedding flight 

 the colony has something to take her 

 place. Not so with two cells of near- 

 ly the same age, for the second one is 

 pretty sure to be destroyed soon af- 

 ter the first hatches. All of my yards 

 are at a considerable distance from 

 home and are not visited often, so 

 some plan seemed necessary to guard 

 against disaster from queen loss. ■ 



I am aware that such a colony may 

 swarm when the first virgin flies to 

 mate, but in this locality, with our 

 slow honeyflows, they seldom do. But 

 swarming is' rare among my bees, so 

 perhaps my experience is not great 

 enough to be a fair criterion of the 

 plan. 



Providence, R. I. 



Glad we are agreed on your first 

 proposition. If queen-cells are to be 

 used from a certain colony, I would 

 make no choice between swarming- 

 cells and those reared under the hand 

 of an expert at some other than 

 swarming time. But if the matter is 

 in the hands of an inexperienced be- 

 ginner, I would much prefer the 

 swarming-eells. 



You believe that under certain con- 

 ditions Carniolans will not swarm 

 more than others. Well, that doesn't 

 particularly interest me ; if they 

 swarm under my conditions, it's im- 

 material to me what they do under 

 other conditions. The thing that in- 

 terests me is that under my condi- 

 tions there is a greater tendency to 

 swarming in Carniolans than in oth- 

 ers, and it seems to me they get that 

 tendency from their foiks. If you 

 have "some other name than heredity 

 for it, well and good. 



As to that matter of leaving two 

 queen-cells, there seems to be some- 

 thing of a tangle, and I suspect if 

 we were face to face we would be 

 likely to be found of the same mind. 

 In November, 1915, American Bee 

 Journal, page 379, you say: "Usually 

 I then cut out or destroy all but two 

 cells, leaving two of as nearly the 

 same age as possible." In your pres- 



ent article you speak of "leaving a 

 ripe and a just-started cell." Must be 

 some muddle somewhere. 



Going back to my article on page 

 55, February Journal, I quoted you as 

 saying: "When two cells of nearly the 

 same age are left, one is destroyed 

 soon after the first hatches, but not 

 so when one cell is very young, or 

 just started." And then I said: "I've 

 always supposed it was just the other 

 way around." I can now see that our 

 misunderstanding may have arisen 

 from the fact that I had in mind 

 swarming and you didn't. For if two 

 cells of nearly the same age are left, 

 I should not expect one to be de- 

 stroyed soon after the first hatches, 

 but to be cherished and allowed to 

 reign after the departure of the first 

 with a swarm. If there is to be no 

 swarming, then I would expect that 

 the older the second cell, the sooner 

 it would be destroyed. 



C. C. MILLER. 



Rearing Queens Over Queenright 

 Colonies 



By C. C. Miller 



IF a colony has its queen taken 

 away during the working season, 

 the bees will start queen-cells 

 upon some of the young worker- 

 brood present, and proceed to rear a 

 queen. Entire removal of the queen 

 is not absolutely necessary to give 

 the bees a feeling of queenlessness, 

 and to make them act accordingly. It 

 is well known that if all but one or 

 two of the frames of brood of a col- 

 ony be raised from the brood-cham- 

 ber and put in a second story, there 

 being an excluder between the two 

 stories with the queen in the lower 

 story, the bees will be pretty certain 

 to start queen-cells in the upper 

 story. 



It is perhaps quite commonly 

 thought that this is because the 

 queen cannot get into the upper 

 story. It is, however, a matter of 

 "does not" rather than "cannot." In- 

 stead of an excluder between the 

 two stories, let a sheet of heavy cot- 

 ton be placed over the frames of the 

 lower story, the sheet, being small 

 enough for the bees to pass back and 

 forth at the sides or corners. The 

 queen can pass up and down as well 

 as the bees, but she does not, and so 



The Barbeau system requires very simple 

 tools. 



