Swarm Control 



19 



usually can control swarming to a 

 suflScient degree, In many locations at 

 least, by ordinary preventive measures 

 and good management, so that, it is 

 not necessary to examine every colony 

 once a week to see if preparations for 

 swarming are being made. In some 

 locations, however, the swarming 

 tendency is so strong (p. 6) that the 

 greatest skill in the application of 

 preventive measures is not sufficient 

 to prevent loss, and some remedial 

 measure must be applied. 



Com,b-honey producers in regions 

 suitable for commercial comb-honey 

 production (see Farmers' Bulletin 

 1039) find that although preventive 

 measures maj; greatly reduce swarm- 

 ing it is usually necessary to treat 

 many of the colonies for swarming 

 during ordinary seasons, while dur- 

 ing occasional seasons it may be nec- 

 essary to treat most of them. 



Swarming can be anticipated by 

 creating conditions within the hive 

 comparable either to those of a recent- 

 ly hived swarm or to those of the 

 parent colony, and it is not necessary 

 to wait until the swarm actually 

 leaves the hive to do these things. In 

 either case the necessary steps can 

 be taken at the convenience of the 

 beekeeper before, the colony casts a 

 swarm. To anticipate swarming, the 

 beekeeper, therefore, as the first step, 

 either takes away the combs of brood 

 and arranges for the establishment 

 of a new brood nest, or he takes away 

 the queen and destroys all queen cells, 

 if any are present. In some cases 

 the removed brood is not taken en- 

 tirely away from the colony but is 

 separated from the queen and the 

 new brood chamber by means of a 

 queen excluder, and in some cases 

 the queen is not taken from the hive 

 but is caged within the hive during the 

 required interval, then released among 

 the combs of brood. The subsequent 

 behavior of the colony is practically 

 the same as that of a natural swarm 

 in the one case and that of the parent 

 colony in the other. 



In the operation of out-apiaries or 

 of any apiary in which an attendant is 

 not present the beekeeper should use 

 every precaution to prevent swarming 

 (lip. 3-10) ; then, as the swarming 

 season approaches, it may be neces- 

 sary for him to examine the strongest 

 colonies to determine if queen cells 



are being built. If any such are 

 found, it now becomes necessary either 

 to begin a systematic examination of 

 each colony every week or 10 days 

 during the swarming season for indi- 

 cations of preparations for swarming 

 and to treat those colonies which need 

 treatment, or to treat all of the 

 colonies, whether or not preparations 

 are being made for swarming. Much 

 will depend upon circumstances as ^to 

 which of these plans is more desirable. 

 The uncertainty of weather conditions 

 during the early honey flow in many 

 parts of the country makes it difficult 

 in comb-honey production to devise, any 

 system that will work out advantage- 

 ously year after year by which all the 

 colonies can be treated at the same 

 time. In extracted-honey production, 

 however, this may well be done. 



If the plan of examining each colony 

 for ,queen cells once a week is to be 

 carried out, the queen cells in colonies 

 which contain only eggs or small larvse 

 are destroyed, since some colonies will 

 give up swarming when this is done. 

 If the queen cells are well advanced, 

 containing large larvse, the colony 

 should be treated at once, since the 

 removal of such queen cells can not be 

 expected to deter swarming. When 

 destroying newly started queen cells 

 in this way most of the bees should 

 be shaken from the combs as they are 

 examined, , to be sure that- none are 

 missed, since if but one queen cell is 

 left the destruction of the remainder 

 of the cells would have no effect upon 

 the preparations for swarming. 



The methods given in the following 

 paragraphs are illustrative of different 

 types of remedial measures. The 

 various methods here outlined are by 

 no means equally suitable for every 

 locality or every season in a given 

 locality. It is necessary for each bee- 

 keeper to work out a system for swarm 

 control to meet the requirements of his 

 particular locality and season. The 

 underlying principles, however, are the 

 same throughout the multitude of 

 methods, and the following outlines 

 are given to illustrate the principles 

 involved, rather than to indicate def- 

 inite systems to be followed. 



CREATING CONDITIONS COMPARABLE 

 TO THE SWARM » 



1. Shake the bees from , their brood 

 combs back into the brood chamber. 



' Colonies that are building gueen ceils in preparation for supersedure sbouid not be 

 subjected to tbis treatment, but tlie. failing queen Bhonld be removed, the gueen cells 

 destroyed, and the colony treated as a paremt colony (p. 23). Such colonies can be dis- 

 tinguished from normal colonies which are preparing to swarm by the Imperfect work of 

 the gueen, the smaller number of gueen cells, and the general condition of the celony as 

 to population and proportion of emerging bees. 



