Juae, 1921] BEEKEEPING FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE 13 



Swann Prevention in Working Bees for Comb Honey 



The colony should be run in two bodies during early spring and up to the time of the 

 main early honey flow, as described under the general heading of "Swarm Prevention." 

 Manipiilation then becomes necessary to secure the crop. There are several plans, but 

 the two following are among the best and most simple. 



Plan 1. As soon as the honey flow begins, place all the brood in one body and put on 

 the first super for sections. If there are queen cells present at this time, or if there are 

 indications later of their formation, cut them out, catch and cage the queen, and place 

 the cage containing her just within the hive entrance, allowing it to rest on the floor of 

 the hive wire-cloth side up. The bees will feed the queen through the wire. Leave the 

 cage with the queen thus for ten days, and at the end of the period release her and again 

 cut out all queen cells. It should be noted that, in case no queen cells are started when 

 the first super is given, and the bees start work promptly in the supers, if additional supers 

 are given properly, as a rule there will be no attempt to swarm while the honey flow is on. 



Plan 2. Ten days before the main honey flow is expected, place a queen excluding 

 honey board between the two bodies. After ten days examine and note which body 

 contains eggs and young brood. The queen is in this one. Find her, and transfer her 

 and the frame on which she is to the other body, taking out a frame from the same to 

 make room for this frame with the queen. Remove the hive in which the queen has 

 been laying for the past ten days and give it a queen cell in a spiral wire protector, or 

 give it a virgin queen. Set it close to the hive containing the old queen, but with its 

 entrance turned at right angles to the former position. The hive on the old stand with 

 the old queen now has most of the flying bees and for the time being wiU be the storing 

 colony. Give it the super. Within two days, turn slightly the hive containing the 

 (jueen cell or the young queen, and within two days more finish turning this hive until 

 its entrance is close up to the old hive and in line with the same. After a week to ten 

 days, or as soon as the young queen begins to lay, set the hive containing her on the old 

 stand in the place of the other hive and move this a few feet off to one side. Transfer 

 the super now to the colony with the young queen on the old stand. 



Plan 2 may seem a little complicated until it is first gone through with, but it is rela- 

 tively simple. It comprises two big factors in swarm prevention, namely, a week to 

 ten-day period in which no eggs are laid, together with a young queen of the season's 

 hatching in the storing colony. 



PROPER SUPERING 



Placing supers on at the right time is as important as anything in keeping down the 

 tendency to swarm in comb honey production, and also in helping to secure the maximum 

 crop. I think we cannot overemphasize the fact that as a rule, if the tendency to swarm 

 is not present when the main flow starts from white clover or wild raspberries, if the 

 bees are given plenty of storage room in supers, and if supers are given properly, they 

 will not develop swarming while the flow is on. The second super should be given under- 

 neath the first as soon as the first is weU started. The third super should be placed 

 under the second when this is well under way. As many as five or more supers may be 

 needed to hold the crop gathered by very strong colonies in a good season. Towards 

 the close of the season care should be taken not to give super room much in advance, else 

 there will be a large number of unfinished sections. 



FEEDS AND FEEDING 

 Good Management Will Make Feeding Bees Mostly Unnecessary 



Feeding bees is likely to be expensive. It also makes necessary much extra care and 

 work. The tendency today is to do away with feeding altogether by so managing the 

 colonies that there will be no need for it. This is accomplished by either running the 

 bees in a single body and allowing them a super of shallow frames wholly or partially 

 filled with honey in addition to the stores in the main body of the hive, or, in using, as 

 suggested before, two brood bodies with nine or ten frames each at all times except during 

 the early honey flow and in wintering in these bodies. This latter practice is believed 

 to be the best, especially for strong colonies. 



Feeding is .at times, however, really necessary to supply a food shortage. Such 

 shortage may possibly occur following the main honey flow as a result of a very dry period 

 when flowers do not yield much, if any, nectar. Again a shortage exists and cannot be 

 at once made up from the field in the case of colonies which are started from package 

 bees or small nuclei. A fair-sized colony of bees and hive parts, but without honey, will 



