SWARM CONTROL 



By Ge». S. Demtith, formerly ApicuUural Assistant, Bee-Culture Investigations, 

 ' Bureau of Entomology 



CONTENTS 



Page 

 Succession of events in natural 



swarming 1 



Object of swarm control 2 



Factors influencing the tendency to 



swarm 3 



Influence of heredity 8 



Influence of the hive and combs 3 



Influence of locality and season 6 



Natural swarming 11 



Correction of congestion by swarm- 

 ing 11 



Variation in time of swarming sea- 

 son in relation to the honey now- 12 



Hiring natural swarms 13 



Prevention of afterswarms and dis- 

 position of the parent colony 14 



Page 



Natural swarming — Continued. 

 Interruption of work in supers un- 

 desirable 16 



Swarming out 17 



Utilizing the parent colony for 



production 18 



Treatment to anticipate swarming 18 



Creating conditions comparable to 



the swarm 19 



Creating conditions comparable to 



the parent colony 23 



Radical changes unnecessary near 



close of season 25 



The cause of swarming 26 



Summary 27 



SUCCESSION OF EVENTS IN NATURAL 

 SWARMING 



A COLONT of bees that is normal 

 ■'^ and prosperous increases Its 

 brood in the spring as its adult 

 population increases, either until all 

 the 'space available for brood rearing 

 is occupied or until the queen reaches 

 the maximum of her capacity In egg 

 laying. At first only worker brood is 

 reared ; but as the colony increases in 

 strength the rearing of drone brood 

 is begun, thus providing for male bees 

 in anticipation of swarming. Finally, 

 when the brood nest becomes crowded 

 with emerging and recently emerged 

 young bees and the combs are well 

 filled with brood, if nectar in suflS- 

 cient quantity is available, several 

 queen cells are started and eggs are 

 placed in them, this being the first 

 definite preparation for swarming. 

 About nine days from the time the 

 eggs are laid the queen larvae have 

 developed to the point at which the 

 queen cells are sealed, and this is 

 about the time the swarm usually is- 

 sues. The exact time of the issuing 

 of the swarm depends to some extent 

 upon the weather, Issuing sometimes 

 being postponed by inclement weather 

 and sometimes, especially in the case 

 of Italian bees, being hastened by ex- 

 tremely hot weather. 



In nature there is a marked slow- 

 ing down in work of the colony_after 



the queen cells have been started 

 preparatory to swarming, especially 

 during the last few days previous to 



Fig. 1. — Swarm clustered 



the issuing of the swarm, when the 

 field workers in increasing numbers 

 remain in the hive instead of work- 



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