THOUSAND ANSWERS 239 



method with one colony, and it was quite successful. Will it al- 

 ways be successful? 



A. The plan is good and will usually be successful; but 

 sometimes you may miss a cell, and sometimes the only cell you 

 leave may be bad. 



Q. If a young queen is given to a colony in the spring, will 

 swarming be retarded, and if so, to what extent? That is, how 

 much more crowding will they stand, or the reverse? 



A. If a queen that has been laying only a few days be given 

 at the beginning of the swarming season, and if the colony has 

 not yet made preparations for swarming, there is very little 

 chance of swarming that season. The same is true to a greater 

 01 less extent if the young queen be given earlier. I am not sure 

 about the retarding, but the chances for swarming are greatly 

 lessened by the giving of a young queen. When you ask me to 

 tell just how much crowding they will stand, you're crowding me 

 in too tight a corner. Fact is, I don't know. 1 think something 

 depends upon the queen, and'perhaps still more on the bees. With 

 some bees, a vigorous young queen could probably not be forced 

 to swarm by any amount of crowding, provided the queen were 

 not given too early, and from that it will shade all the way down 

 to where allowing only room for 25 pounds of honey might induce 

 swarming. 



Q. What per cent of swarming do you have, in spite of all 

 your preventatives? 



A. I count the prevention of swarming an unsolved problem. 

 At a rough guess I should say that there may bt from 5 to 10 

 per cent of the colonies actually swarm. But if they do swarm, 

 nc swarm is ever hived as a separate affair, but obliged to remain 

 in its old colony, for one of the important points in securing 

 good yields is to keep from dividing the forces. 



Q. I want to tell you of a colony I have which swarmed on 

 May 30, June 30 and July 30. Each time it was treated by the 

 put-up plan. I want to ask what to do with this queen? She has 

 swarmed out three times so far, and has made twice as much sur- 

 plus in sections as any other colony I have. She is a nice, large 

 queen, very prolific; but I don't like this thing of swarming. 

 Would you breed from such a queen? I like her because she has 

 such nice workers, busy all^ the time, and, as I stated, made me 

 more surplus by far than any other colony. 



A. Generally, after a colony has been treated by the "put-up'' 

 plan, there will be no more swarming for the season, but you can 



