Swarm Control 



25 



3. Use two hive bodies for brood 

 rearing' during the spring. Previous 

 to the swarming season, insert a 

 queen excluder between the two hive 

 bodies to confine the queen to one of 

 them. Ten days later divide the col- 

 ony by removing the brood chamber 

 which contains the queen, leaving the 

 queenless portion on the old stand. 

 To determine which hive body con- 

 tatns the queen, it is only necessary 

 to remove one of the brood combs 

 from the middle of the brood chamber 

 to look for eggs or young larvae, since 

 in the brood chamber from which the 

 queen has been excluded the brood is 

 all sealed at this time. Supply the 

 queenless portion with a young lay- 

 ing queen or a ripe queen cell. The 

 two divisions may be reunited later or 

 that portion containing the old queen 



the queen excluder being placed above 

 the comb-honey super. An escape 

 board without the bee escape should 

 also be placed over the comb-honey 

 supers to prevent the sections being 

 soiled from the brood combs above 

 and at the same time permitting com- 

 munication between the two hive 

 bodies through the hole in the escape 

 board, or the queen excluder can be 

 dispensed with by tacking a piece of 

 perforated metal over the hole In the 

 escape board. In this case the upper 

 hive body usually should not be left 

 for the full 10 days but the division 

 may be made earlier to prevent the 

 sections being soiled and to cause the 

 bees to store incoming nectar in the 

 sections, instead of in the upper brood 

 chamber. After four or five days the 

 presence of eggs and small larvte In- 



Fio. 12. — Creating conditions comparable to a parent colony. Plan 3 as modified for 

 comb honey. A, Brood in both stories previous to honey flow. B, Comb-honey super 

 and queen excluder inserted between two hive bodies at beginning of honey flow. It Is 

 Hot known at this time which hive body contains the queen. C, Hive body containing 

 the queen (2) removed and established as separate hive. Queen cell is placed in /. 

 In the illustration it is assumed that the queen was in 2 when the queen excluder was 

 inserted in B. She may have been in X at that time, in which case, of course, this 

 brood chamber is removed 



may be moved to a new location for 

 increase (p. 15) a week or 10 days 

 after the division, whereupon the 

 field bees from the removed hive will 

 return to the hive on the old stand, 

 thus strengthening the colony that is 

 working in the supers. If extracted 

 honey is being produced the division 

 containing the old queen may be re- 

 united with the other division two 

 weeks later by placing the brood 

 chamber above the supers, in which 

 case the bees wUl probably kill the 

 old queen later in the season if not at 

 this time. By this plan it is not nec- 

 essary to find the queen. 



For comb-honey production this 

 treatment may be applied at the time 

 the first comb-honey super is given. 

 This comb-honey super may be placed 

 between the two hive bodies if pre- 

 ferred (fig. 12, A, B), to cause the 

 bees to begin work in it more readily. 



dicates which brood chamber contains 

 the queen, after which the division may 

 be made at any time up to 10 days, the 

 queenless division being left on the old 

 stand. Ten days after the queen has 

 been excluded from the brood chamber 

 now left on the old stand, all queen 

 cells should be destroyed and a ripe 

 queen cell or a young laying queen 

 should be given (fig. 12, C). 



RADICAL CHANGES UNNECESSARY 

 NEAR CLOSE OF SEASON 



During the latter part of the honey 

 flow colonies that are preparing to 

 swarm may be induced • to give up 

 swarming much more easily than 

 earlier in the season. In fact, as the 

 season is drawing to a close colonies 

 having sealed queen cells preparatory 

 to swarming sometimes tear down 

 such cells of their own accord and give 

 up swarming for the season. 



