204 AUSTRALASIAN 



If done at the right time, much may be accomplished in the 

 desired direction by the use of the extractor and giving more 

 room by putting on an extra super, or even two, if they should 

 be needed ; and as a great deal will depend upon keeping the 

 brood-nest at its normal temperature, the extra supers should 

 be put on immediately above it. Abundant ventilation can 

 generally be secured in the hives herein described by pushing 

 them forward till the front overlaps the alighting boards an 

 inch or two ; should more be required, however, the covers 

 can be raised an inch or so, for while plenty of honey is coming 

 in there need be no fear of robbery. Swarming may be kept 

 down to a great extent in the early part of the season by 

 enlarging the hives in good time before the main honey harvest 

 sets in ; but, as I have before remarked, all operations connected 

 with the prevention of swarming require good judgment and 

 foresight on the part of the bee-keeper, that he may hit on the 

 right time to perform them. 



It may here be incidentally remarked that some bee-keepers 

 make use of drone and queen excluders at swarming time — 

 among them Mr. Alley, who uses the excluder shown in 

 Chapter XII. When a swarm issues, the queen is trapped 

 behind the excluder, where she can be caught, and the process 

 of hiving is carried out the same as with a clipped queen. 



PREVENTION OF AFTER-SWARMING. 



This, as compared with the previous question, may be con- 

 sidered an easy matter. We have seen that in the ordinary 

 course of events a second or after-swarm may be expected in 

 eight or nine days after the first issues, and that there are 

 several embryo queens maturing in the hive. But should 

 unfavourable weather set in about the time for the first leaving, 

 it would be kept back, and may be prevented from issuing till 

 near the time for the young queens coming to maturity. I 

 have even known cases where, owing to the prevalence of bad 

 weather, after all preparations had been made for swarming, 

 the young queens have been destroyed, and swarming given 

 up for the time. At all events, we can reckon, as a rule, that 

 the first young queen will not emerge from her cell in less than 

 «ight days from the time the first swarm issues. Now if we 

 see that all but one of these embryo queens are removed, that 



