EXTRACTED HONEY -HONEY FLOW AND HARVEST.—Chap. XU. 
keeper of the neighborhood the beginner may learn about when to expect 
the different honey flows and especially the main honey flow. For instance, 
if he lives in the clover belt, he will probably be told that the honey flow 
may be expected to begin about ten days after the first few clover blos- 
soms are discovered. Knowing the time of the opening of the honey flow, 
he will lay his plans accordingly. 
Swarm Prevention. 
Very often it helps in preventing swarming to raise the hive from 
the floor by means of half-inch blocks in front in order to give an extra- 
large entrance and a little more ventilation. Sometimes in the hottest 
Ee weather during the swarming season it pays to 
raise the covers from the supers a slight crack, 
—_ : blocking the covers up by pieces of broken sections 
i QUEEN or other equally thin pieces of wood that will not 
& BROOD allow a bee-space. This should be done only in ex- 
treme ¢ases when the bees are hanging out in 
front of the hive because the hive is too hot. Some 
shade is also a help, since colonies usually swarm 
more in the sun than in shade. Again, colonies 
with young queens do not swarm so readily as do 
eee those with old ones. Keeping queens under two 
flow the queen occu- years old is, therefore, a help in preventing swarm- 
miee\ both sories: ing. Keeping down the number of drones is an- 
other aid in preventing swarming. This may be 
done by cutting out drone.comb and replacing it with worker comb. (See 
page 115.) It is also a good practice to eut out any queen-cells, that 
may be found, every seven or eight days during the swarming season, pro- 
vided the queen-cells have just been recently started and contain only eggs 
or very small. larvae; but this will not always stop the swarming fever. It 
will do no good to destroy the advancéd queen-cells. Plenty of room in the 
brood-chamber for the queen to lay is of great importance in the preven- 
tion of swarming. Super room should always be given in advance of the 
colonies’ apparent need of it. 
ul 
= 
BROOD 
CHAMBEP 
Pp 
Taking for granted that the beekeeper is working for a crop of sur- 
plus honey, he approaches the honey harvest seeking to have his colonies 
as strong as possible. In case of the strongest colonies he has placed an- 
other hive-body containing a little brood above the brood-chamber, to give 
more room and so avoid swarming. As the honey flow approaches he will 
find brood-rearing going on actively in both stories of the brood-chamber. 
After the queen has moved “upstairs” she often abandons the lower brood- 
chamber and confines her work to the second story. If the early flowers 
yield considerable nectar, it is sometimes necessary to put on a third story 
before the main honey flow begins, to prevent the queen from being 
crowded “downstairs” again, which would probably result in swarming. 
About a week after the main honey flow begins, or when the second story 
is fairly well filled with brood, honey and pollen, there now being many 
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