ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEPERS ASSOCIATION 



63 



Mr. Chambers— I believe from my ex- 

 perience that there has not been any 

 success. For 4 years I have had no 

 swarming in my apiaries. I have had 

 no success as far as I know, and I 

 don't believe that there has been a 

 practical advance in that line. 



O. P. Hyde— I don't think the nature 

 of bees today is the same as it was a 

 few years ago. I think the nature of 

 swarming is just the same, and they 

 are swarming just as they used to 

 swarm, because of instinct; and, so far 

 as any progress being made in the bee 

 within the last ten years, none has been 

 made. You will see this in advertis- 

 ing, "A non-swarming bee ;" but I think 

 the non-swarming bees and the breed- 

 ing of the long-tongue bees — there is 

 nothing in them; I think it is only a 

 catch to make a profit and sell bees. 

 I think the bee's tongue is as long as 

 it was a thousand years ago, and they 

 swarm under the same surroundings. 

 Now, I don't know if I have had two 

 swarms this year. It is the nature of 

 bees to swarm; give them plenty of 

 room. If you want your bees to swarm, 

 put on a box of sections and have noth- 

 ing above and no foundation in the sec- 

 tion, and your bees will swarm right 

 away. Put on new supers, give them 

 plenty of room, and see that they are 

 off the ground. 



Dr. Bohrer — Are there not some races 

 of bees more inclined to swarm than 

 others ? 



Mr. Hyde — Yes, sir; the Holyland 

 bees are the hardest to control. 1 am 

 glad you mentioned this. Another thing 

 is to go through the hives and clip 

 the queen-cells. I go through my hives 

 once a week — just as soon as I think 

 they are fixing to swarm; and then I 

 go there and clip those cells; but the 

 Holyland bee is the most prolific bee 

 that we have in the South, and it is a 

 bee that will breed up and make a 

 strong colony quicker than any other 

 race. 



Mr. Victor — I cannot see why we can- 

 not make selections in regard to the 

 honey-gathering, color, or anything else. 

 As for my part, with the same manage- 

 ment I had a few years ago, I would 

 not have over a fifth what I had when 

 I commenced. I think the disposition 

 of the bee can be selected in regard to 

 swarming, and as to stinging; and I 

 think the conditions under which we 

 rear our queens have a good deal to 



do with the disposition of the queens. 

 If we rear our queens under the swarm- 

 ing impulse, those queens will naturally 

 want to swarm more than those that 

 were not around the swarming bees; 

 and I am satisfied, so far as I am 

 individually concerned, that my bees will 

 swarm fully 50 per cent less than they 

 would six, eight and ten years ago. 



NON-SWARMING AND COMB-HONEY CON- 

 DITIONS. 



"What is the best plan to keep bees 

 in out-yards from swarming, when run- 

 ning for comb honey?" 



Sec. York — Mr. Louis SchoU is asked 

 to answer this question. 



Mr. SchoU — I don't know whether I 

 can answer that question, because I do 

 not produce section honey as they do 

 up North, and I always produce comb 

 honey in connection with extracted 

 honey.' 



E. J. Atchley — I have some experi- 

 ence along that line, producing comb 

 honey in out-yards, and I have failed 

 to prevent swarming, as a rule; but on 

 general principles, the best plan under 

 all circumstances is to try to have a 

 virgin queen in each colony in the out- 

 yard at the beginning of the honey- 

 flow. In other words, I suppose that 

 should mean apiaries where some one 

 should be there daily, and our queen- 

 breeders can nearly always have young 

 queens maturing or hatching at any sea- 

 son of the year. I know but few in- 

 stances where I had swarms in other 

 sections on black comb where I had a 

 virgin queen in that colony at the be- 

 ginning of the honey-flow, and this is 

 a pretty easy matter. Every man should 

 study his honey-flow, and know just 

 when it comes, and at the proper time 

 arrange to have the queens in each 

 colony. 



Mr. Kimmey — Is the result accom- 

 plished by reason of the absence of the 

 laying queen rather than the queen be- 

 ing a virgin? 



Mr. Atchley — I like to have colonies 

 that are queenless during a honey-flow. 

 When we have a virgin queen in that 

 colony it is supposed to be a colony 

 that is well organized, and more bees 

 can be supported from the brood, sim- 

 ply because there is less brood to care 

 for and less pollen, and, consequently, 

 the bees in the supers store more honey 

 because they are in shape to do so. 



Dr. Bohrer — My own personal experi- 







