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 
eight days from the time the first swarm issues. Now if we 
see that all but one of these embryo queens are removed, that 
