92 THE BKEKEEPERS' DIRECTORVw 



would it work to remove two or three sets of sections with millions 

 of bees in them from the hives in a large apiary once in three 

 days for the purpose of preventing swarming? Who would 

 care to do it ? Such a method for preventing natural increase 

 is far from practical. I will > tell you what is practical and thor- 

 oughly practical, in the line of reversing. 



I will suppose that the combs can be reversed singly or 

 bodily as it can be done with the Bay State Hive. I have 

 found that the proper time to reverse is after a swarm has is- 

 sued. We will suppose the queen has been secured in a 

 drone-and-queen trap, and while the bees are in the air hunt- 

 ing for the queen, quickly remove the sections and reverse 

 the combs. No smoke will be needed, as there are but few 

 bees in the hive at the time, and what are left are not dis- 

 posed to sting. By the time the work can be completed the 

 bees will begin to return, and on entering the liive are so 

 astonished at and surprised to find their combs turned wrong 

 side up, that they really suppose they are in a new home and 

 give up all idea of swarming. They accept the situation, and 

 resume work with a will, and ninety-nine colonies thus treated 

 will make no further attempt to swarm. 



The success of this method depends upon the age of the 

 queen cells. Swarms generally issue on the first favorable 

 day after one or more of the queen-cells are sealed. Now 

 should the swarming be delayed for six or seven days after the - 

 queen cells are sealed, reversing would , not be a success as 

 the young queens would not be destroyed by such an opera- 

 tion. The point t© be gained in reversing is the destruction 

 of the larval queens in the cells just sealed, after which the 

 bees will remove them, and if swarming has not been wholly 

 given; up other cells will be started, and another swarm will 

 issue on the fourth day after the first one came off and re- 

 versing must be repeated. 



Swarm ooutroUers. 



I have given the most practical method for preventing 

 swarming. Now I will tell you how to control swarms after or 

 when they issuer and how it is done with the drone-and-queen 

 trap. I know no one should " toot his own horn " as I shall 

 be obliged to do in order to explain and describe the work- 



