PREVENTION OP NATURAL SWARMING. 235 



ventilation cannot be readily given from one apartment to 

 another. 



461. The giving of combs in a place of easy access, must 

 be attended to, just before the crop begins, or the bees may 

 make preparations which would render all later enlargements 

 of the hive completely useless, as far as prevention of swarming 

 is concerned. The breeding room must be large enough to ac- 

 commodate the most prolific queen (155). 



462. 2nd. The hive must be located where the sun will 

 not strike it directly in the hottest hours of the day. It can 

 easily be sheltered artificially with a roof, if there is no 

 shrubbery around it (369). 



463. 3d. The drone-comb must he carefully removed, in 

 Spring, as far as possible, and replaced by worker-comb 

 (675). It is impossible to remove every cell of drone- 

 comb, but a few drones will not hurt. It is the excess, the 

 breeding of thousands of drones which is objectionable, and 

 an incentive to swarming. The removal of drone-comb is 

 highly advisable for other reasons (512). 



464. 4th. The hive should be thoroughly ventilated, so 

 that the bees will find themselves comfortable in it. 



465. This system, which gives the smallest possible 

 number of swarms, and the largest possible amount of sur- 

 plus-honey, was inaugurated by us, years ago, and has been 

 adopted on both continents. Mr. Cowan, the worthy editor 

 of the British Bee-Journal, says of it, page 148, April 1886, 

 "Hives managed in this way, will give the maximum of 

 honey with the least amount of labor." 



If the above directions are followed, the natural swarms 

 will not exceed three to five per cent. These swarms will 

 be very large — Mr. DeLayens once had a swarm weighing 

 11^ lbs — and after-swarms will be scarce. The few hives 

 that swarm are those which, having old queens, attempt to 

 replace them during the swarming season (499), or those 

 whose queens die while the crop is abundant. 



