214 THE BEEKEEPERS' REVIEW 



hatching bees to the weaker hives the strong colonies are kept 

 within bounds. Rather than let the bees get the swarming fever 

 I would put on an extra body and alternate every comb of brood and 

 eggs with a dry empty drawn comb or a full sheet of foundation. 

 A two story hive is not too large for some queens anyway and a 

 colony will winter well in a two story eight frame hive. 



All our hives are set right out in the sun and there are no port- 

 icoes on them either. We use an inside cover and an outer cover of 

 tin. A comparatively slow flow, cool nights, no sultry days, a dry 

 atmosphere, always abundant room in the brood chamber for eggs, 

 bees and honey and cutting cells once (sometimes twice) are the 

 causes which keep down our increase to five or ten per cent. 



Swarming at the Outyard, while Working for Extract- 

 ed Honey 



E. D. TOWNSEND, Northstar, Michigan 



Some seasons we have more swarming while working for ex- 

 tracted honey, than we like. The fact is, we do not like to have any 

 swarming during the clover flow, for there may not be any one there 

 to hive them. Then many of our yards are in tall timber, where 

 practically all the swarms alight so high, they cannot be hived. Last 

 year was one of those great swarming seasons during the clover 

 flow. A day or so of honey weather, then two or three days of cold 

 rainy weather, just enough honey coming to stimulate a large 

 amount of brood rearing, which naturally caused many colonies to 

 prepare to swarm. We were not long in discovering that if some- 

 thing was not done under the circumstances, many of our very best 

 colonies would swarm and go to the woods, and in that case our 

 honey crop would be short. 



We Took the Swarming Problem Into Our Own Hands 



Two methods of swarm control were resorted to. One the 

 shook swarm plan, the other a modified Alexander plan. By visit- 

 ing each yard once a week, and swarming artificially all colonies 

 where queen cells were being started, prevented nearly all from ab- 

 sconding. 

 The Internal Condition of the Hive Read From Entrance Indications 



Not all colonies were handled in looking over a yard for swarm- 

 ing indications, for the entrance indications would tell us very nearly 

 what was going on inside the hives : to illustrate ; while the boys 

 were putting out the team after reaching a yard during the swarm- 



