28 



Farmers' Bulletin 1198 



If anything causes the field hees to 

 stay in the hire during the day, the 

 congestion and discomfort are greatly 

 increased and these idle field bees 

 may become a serious factor in in- 

 creasing the tendency to swarm. In 

 nature when a swarm issues, the 

 overcrowding of the brood nest is 

 largely relieved, both within the 

 swarm and within the parent colony. 



Some important swarm-preventive 

 measures, therefore, are: 



Careful selection of stock in breed- 

 ing. 



The use of brood chambers large 

 enough during the spring brood-rear- 

 ing period to hold the maximum 

 amount of brood without crowding. 



The use of good worker combs in 

 the brood chamber to prevent a re- 

 duction of the available brood-rearing 

 space. 



The arrangement of the brood 

 combs to avoid barriers in the way of 

 a free expansion ' of the brood nest 

 during the spring. 



Providing extra space for the bees 

 within the brood chamber by wider 

 spacing of combs and a deep space 

 below the frames. 



The use of large entrances during 

 the swarming season, especially when 

 the weather is hot, and in some cases 

 additional openings for ventilation. 



Protection of the hives from the 

 direct rays of the sun by the use of 

 shade boards or double covers. 



Painting the hives white, especially 

 the cover, if a shade board is not 

 used. 



Management to prevent conditions 

 favorable to the building of barriers 

 of sealed honey around the brood 

 nest, or the breaking up of barriers 

 of this kind if they already exist. 



Inducing the bees to expand into 

 and occupy supers as rapidly as the 

 honey flow will justify during the 

 first half of the honey flow, or at the 

 time the colony is rapidly expanding 

 in numbers. 



Providing additional space in the 

 form of empty combs for the ripen- 

 ing of incoming nectar, so that the 

 field bees can immediately dispose of 

 the nectar they bring into the hive, 

 to prevent the beginning of any stag- 

 nation of the activities of the colony. 



Removing some of the emerging 

 brood to reduce the number of emerg- 

 ing bees within the brood chamber, 

 thus producing a better distribution 

 of the bees throughout the hive. 



The destruction of queen cells, pro- 

 viding they have been started but 

 recently. Frequently, however, other 

 cells are immediately started after 

 the queen cells have been destroyed. 



As a remedy for swarming the bee- 

 keeper relieves the congestion of bees 

 within the brood nest by creating 

 conditions comparable either to the 

 swarm or to the parent colony in 

 nature. 



