FIFTY YEAES AMONG THE BEES 179 



would prevent the possibility of swarming. It was a no less 

 radical measure than to keep the colony queenless. I reasoned 

 that as I had never had a queen hatched inside of eleven days 

 from the time the queen was taken away, or from the time the 

 bees started queen-cells, the colony was safe from swarming if 

 once in ten days I took away their brood and gave them fresh ; 

 also, that it was only bees over two weeks old that worked in 

 the field ; add to this the three weeks that it took from the egg 

 to the full-fledged worker, and it was five weeks or more from 

 the time the egg was laid till the bee became a gatherer. Clearly, 

 then, only such bees as came from eggs laid five weeks or more 

 before the close of the honey harvest were available as gather- 

 ers-. Why not have the colony queenless during this five weeks ? 

 So I took away the queen, leaving in the hive three combs, one 

 of which contained eggs and brood in all stages, the other two 

 containing nothing from whieh queen-cells could be started. 



Once in ten days the comb of young brood with its queen- 

 cells was taken away and a fresh one given them, and at the 

 close of the five weeks, which was about the close of the' har- 

 vest, the queen was returned. 



NOT A SUCCESS. 



As a preventive of swarming, it was a complete success. 

 Not one colony thus treated swarmed; how could it? As a 

 means of securing a large crop, I think it was an egregious 

 failure ; although I can hardly tell with great deflniteness, the 

 season itself being a failure. Possibly the absence of the queen 

 itself had something to do with lessening their stores, but I 

 doubt it. But when all combs of brood but one were taken 

 away, a large force of prospective bees were taken away that 

 would have hatched out ia the next twenty-one days. 



If I had allowed four or five frames of brood, changing 

 every ten days, the result might have been quite different. 

 Moreover, the one frame they did have was, for the most part, 

 filled with brood so young, that little or none of it hatched 

 while in the hive. If I should try any thing in the same line 

 again, I should keep four or five frames in the hive, and this 

 should be mainly brood well advanced so that much of it would 

 hatch out to replenish the wasting numbers, 



