242 DR. miller's 



will be to have no swarming. Put it off just as long as you can 

 without having the bees actually swarm. If you wait until cells 

 are started, and then operate, destroying the cells, you may feel 

 pretty easy about swarming. Some report it a perfect preventive. 

 You propose to put a comb-honey super under an extracting- 

 super. That will be all right if the extracting-combs are nice and 

 white. If black from brood-rearing your sections may be black- 

 ened. 



Q. Will you please explain Mr. Allen's system for swarm pre- 

 vention that he gave to the readers of the Bee Journal several 

 years ago? If it really has any merit, will you kindly reproduce 

 it in the Journal? 



A. If you will turn to page 94 of the American Bee Journal 

 lor 1910, you will find the plan given by A. C. Allen, as follows: 



"When the honey-fiow is well started, I go to each strong 

 ci'lon>-, regardless of whether the bees desire to swarm or not, 

 and remove it from its stand, putting in its place a hive filled with 

 empty combs, less one of the center ones. Next, a comb contain- 

 ing a patch of unsealed brood about as large as the hand, is se- 

 lected from the colony and placed in the vacant place in the new 

 hive ; a queen-excluder is put on this lower story, and above this 

 a super of empty combs, this one having an escape hole for 

 drones; and on top of all, an empty super. A cloth is then nicely 

 p!aced in front of this new hive, on which the bees and queen are 

 shaken from the combs of the parent hive, and the third story is 

 filled with the combs of sealed brood and brood too old to produce 

 queens, and allowed to remain there and hatch, returning to the 

 working force.'' 



This is really the Demaree plan, which was given to the public 

 many years ago, by G. W . Demaree, a prominent Kentucky bee- 

 keeper at that time. Mr. Allen has varied it by putting a frame 

 with some brood in the lower story, whereas I think Mr. Demaree 

 had only empty combs, or combs with starters in the lower story. 

 Mr. Allen's variation is of value, for I think there were cases re- 

 ported in which the bees swarmed out with no brood in the lower 

 stury. Mr. Demaree put all the brood in the second story, while 

 Mr. Allen puts it in the third. I don't know which is beWer. 



Mr. Allen says "the third story is filled with the combs of 

 sealed brood and brood too old to produce queens.'' I hardly un- 

 derstand that, for he says nothing about putting brood elsewhere 



