Swarm Control 



Some extra space can be provided 

 within the broodchamber by spacing 

 the brood frames farther apart. The 

 bees will increase the thickness of that 

 portion of the combs which contains 

 honey, but they do not increase the 

 thickness of that portion which con- 

 tains brood, and the spaces between 

 the combs are accordingly wider with- 

 in the brood area. If the frames are 

 spaced too far apart, however, the 

 bees may build a thin comb between. 

 Combs are usually spaced from If to 

 li inches from center to center. The 

 principle of wider spacing of brood 

 combs has been utilized in the con- 

 struction of a nonswarming hive in 

 which the combs are separated about 

 an inch and slatted frames are insert- 

 ed between the combs to prevent the 

 bees from building in this space, but 

 such hives have not come into general 

 use. 



VENTILATION 



Large entrances reduce the tend- 

 ency -hrBwaTm~bj^addtn^-toTEe^ com- 

 fort of the bees^ dUTing^ hot weather. 

 Bees needTnuchTuore venttlatiUn dur- 

 ing the honey flow, when they are 

 more active than at other times. It 

 is sometimes advantageous to push 

 one of the supers or the cover for- 

 ward or backward on the hive far 

 enough to make an opening for ad- 

 ditional ventilation, gome beekeepers 

 bore a hole an inch or more in di- 

 ameter in one end of each super. 

 These holes can be closed easily with 

 a metal slide or a cork when not 

 needed. It is usually not advisable 

 to attempt to give ventilation in or 

 between comb-honey supers because 

 the bees are slow to seal honey ad- 

 jacent to such openings, but venti- 

 lation may be given between the first 

 comb-honey super and the brood 

 chamber by sliding the lower super 

 forward far enough to form an open- 

 ing for ventilation at the back. 



The location of the apiary should 

 be such that there is a good circula- 

 tion of air throughout the yard. 

 Apiaries are sometimes located in hot 

 nooks, where there is little circula- 

 tion of air, and this usually results in 

 an abnormal tendency to swarm. 



Pro tection of the hives and supers 

 from tne direct rays^ofthe sun dur- 

 ing the hot t^t-part .pf the day should 

 decrease the tendency to swarm. 

 Covers made of a single thickness of 

 lumber, if unprotected, may cause 



great discomfort to the bees and may 

 compel them to leave the supers dur- 

 ing the heat of the day, which is a 

 condition favorable to swarming. To 

 prevent this, shade .boards large 

 enough to project beyond the edges 

 of the hive (fig. 2) may be used over 

 the covers. These should be adjusted 

 with one edge even with the north side 

 of the hive so that the extra width 

 projects on the south side, and there 

 should be a space between the hive 

 cover and the shade board to permit 

 a circulation of air. The double 

 covers which have an air space be- 

 tween the inner and outer parts af- 

 ford more protection from the sun's 

 rays than do single covers. But these 

 do not shade the sides of the supers. 



r^^s^__ 



Fig. 2. — Shade board projecting beyond the 

 hive on south side 



The hives, supers, and covers should 

 be painted white, because the white 

 surface better reflects the sun's rays. 

 If no shade board is used the covers 

 should be repainted frequently. Other 

 things being equal, it is to be expected 

 that the tendency to swarm will be 

 greater when dark or weather-beaten 

 hive covers are used than when newly 

 painted white covers are utilized, un- 

 less shade boards are used over them. 



The beekeeper who is much troubled 

 with swarming can not afford to neg- 

 lect the character and the arrange- 

 ment of the combs, the size, shape, 

 and construction of the hives, or even 

 the color of the hives, if he desires 

 to prevent swarming to the fullest 

 extent, though the total prevention of 



