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right direction. It is essential to be certain that the queen enters the- 

 hive. The combs can be examined or a careful watch made to see if 

 she enters. After the queen has entered the hive it is quite safe to con- 

 clude that the bees will remain. If she has been lost the bees will either 

 return to the point of clustering or to the hive from which it issued. If 

 a frame of brood from another colony is placed in the new hive it will 

 prevent the swarm from leaving or if the queen has been lost it will give 

 them the means of rearing another. 



If the bees cluster where it is impossible to remove the limb of a 

 tree with the b^es or upon a branch too valuable to cut, they can easily 

 be driven into a basket or box by blowing a little smoke upon them iit 

 the direction they are desired to be driven. 



SWARM CONTROL. 



Unless increase is not desired, natural swarming should be discouraged' 

 so far as possible, so that the energy of the bees shall be utilized in the 

 gathering of nectar. The old practice of measuring success In terms of 

 new swarms in reality shows losses in the crop. Success is now measured" 

 in the result that the beekeeper attains in swarm prevention. The com- 

 mercial apiarist has learned that swarming is the one great handicap 

 in beekeeping. 



The problem of entire swarm control is a goal which cannot be attained, 

 for swarms wiU issue in spite of every precaution, but in many instances 

 it may be reduced to a large measure. The practice of the Dadants in 

 their apiary management probably come as near to any means of con- 

 trol. The let-alone or Dadant method is explained in the following six 

 statements. 



1. Locate the colony in a place where the bees will suffer as little- 

 as possible from the heat. The use of shade hoards is recommended 

 in this connection. 



2. The elimination or reduction of drone rearing to a minimum. In 

 this case the use of full sheets of foundation, destruction of drone combs- 

 and replacijig it with worker comb, produces more workers, fewer drones, 

 and less incentive for swarming. 



3. Providing ample super room for storage. Bees that are crowded' 

 for room prepare at once for swarming. 



4. The provision of sufficient room for ventilation. A proper amount 

 of ventilation is essential and can be easily adjusted by raising the hive- 

 from the bottom board, and blocking it up about half an inch or inch if 

 the weather is hot and sultry. 



5. Requeening each year with a young Italian queen. The old queen is 

 often the cause of swarming because the bees noticing her decrease In- 

 fertility make preparation to replace her by starting queen cells and 

 thereby stimulating swarming. 



6. In connection with the above recommendations, it is advised to 

 space the frames an additional eighth of an inch than provided in the- 

 moderli hive to give the bees more room for clustering and better venti- 

 lation between the combs. This can be very easily done by removing a 

 frame during the hot days of the season and utilize the space by equar 



