irli'TY YEARS AMONG TH]j! BEES Isft 



DESTROYING QUEEN-CELLS TO PREVENT SWARMING. 



Among the first things a beginner thinks he has learned 

 is that destroying queen-cells will prevent swarming, and then 

 he is sorely disappointed to find that he is mistaken about it. 

 But I must confess that I have a good deal more faith in it 

 than I formerly had. Not that I would for a minute trust to 

 it as a sole means to prevent swarming. But I do know that in 

 a good many cases it is efficient. Perhaps one cause of my 

 change of view is the change in my bees. Breeding constantly 

 for improvement in storing, and at the same time giving pref- 

 erence to those least inclined to swarm, it is possible that de- 

 stroying cells has more effect than it formerly had. 



It may be well to give some examples, taking just as they 

 come in order some colonies that needed no other treatment to 

 prevent swarming. I take them from the year 1908, one of the 

 best honej' years. The first one I come to had a two-year-old 

 queen, and June 23 I destroyed a grub in just one queen-cell. 

 No other queen-cell was started. If that had not been de- 

 stroyed, I suppose the colony would have swarmed, and that 

 would have lessened the number of sections produced, which 

 was 181, besides finishing up some "go-backs." The next had a 

 three-year-old queen, and gave 244 sections. June 23 one egg 

 in a cell was destroyed, and that was all for the season. The 

 queen was superseded after August 8. The next had a two- 

 year-old queen, and gave 276 sections. I destroyed, June 15, 

 one egg in a queen-cell, and June 24 one grub. The next had 

 a queen of the previous year and gave 100 sections. It never 

 had even an egg in a queen-cell the whole season. The next 

 had a yearling queen, and gave 145 sections, besides having 

 taken from it, in May, three brood with adhering bees. Not 

 an egg in a queen-cell. The next had a yearling queen, and 

 gave 211 sections. It had one egg in a queen-cell June 6, also 

 July 27 and August 6. That may be enough to show that at 

 least in some cases destroying cells was worth while. Perhaps 

 one colony in three will behave thus well. 



THOROUGH WORK AT KILLING CELLS. 



Some have said that if a frame or two were lifted from 

 the center of the hive and no cells found in them, thei'e was no 



