BEES 589 
If but one cell is overlooked the colony 
will still swarm. The plan therefore 
leaves at best much to be desired, and is 
in general not worth the effort it costs 
and can not be depended on. 
Dequeeniny —-The removal of a queen 
at the opening of a swarming season in- 
terferes, of course, with the plans of the 
bees, and they will then delay swarming 
until they get a young queen. But to 
prevent swarming by keeping colonies 
queenless longer than a few days at most 
is to attain a certain desired result at a 
disproportionate cost. The plan is there- 
fore not to be commended. 
ee ee ee we ee 
€ 
~ = 
- 5 
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Fig. 5. The Simming Nonswarming System— 
Single-story Hive with Supers 6c, brood 
chamber: sc, supers; st, starters of founda 
tion; ¢, entrance. 
Requeening.—Quite the opposite of this 
and more efficacious in the prevention of 
swarming, is the practice of replacing the 
old queen early in the season with a 
young one of the same season’s raising, 
produced, perhaps, in the South before 
it is possible to rear queens in the North. 
Such queens are not likely to swarm dur- 
ing the first season, and, as they are vig- 
orous layers, the hive will be well popu- 
lated at all times and thus ready for any 
harvest. This is important, inasmuch as 
a flow of honey may come unexpectedly 
from some plant ordinarily not counted 
upon; and also, since the conditions es- 
sential to the development of the various 
honey-yielding plants differ greatly, their 
time and succession of honey yield will 
also differ with the season the same as the 
quantity may vary. Young queens are 
also safest to head the colonies for the 
winter. The plan is conducive to the 
highest prosperity ot the colonies, and is 
consistent with the securing of the largest 
average yield of honey, since, besides giv- 
ing them vigorous layers, it generally 
keeps the population together in powerful 
colonies. It is therefore to be commended 
on all accounts as being in line with the 
most progressive management, without at 
the same time interfering with the appli- 
cation of other preventive measures. 
Space Near Hntrances. — Arranging 
frames with starters, or combs merely 
begun, between the brood nest and the 
flight hole of the hive, while the bees are 
given storing space above or back of the 
brood nest (Fig. 5), is a plan strongly 
recommended by Samuel Simmins, of 
England, and which has come to be 
known as “the Simmins non-swarming 
method,’ some features of it and the 
combination into a well-defined method 
having been original with him. It is an 
excellent preventive measure, though not 
invariably successful, even when the dis- 
tinctive features brought forward promi- 
nently by Mr. Simmins—-empty space be- 
tween the brood combs and entrance, to- 
gether with the employment of drawn 
combs in the supers—are supplemented 
by other measures already mentioned; but 
when, in addition to the space between 
the brood and the flight hole, the pre- 
caution be taken to get supers on in time, 
to ventilate the hive well, and to keep 
queens not over two years old, swarming 
will be very limited. If to these precau- 
tions be added that of substituting for 
the old queens young ones of the current 
season’s raising, before swarming has be- 
gun, practical immunity from swarming 
is generally insured. 
Selection in Breeding.—Some races of 
bees show greater inclination than others 
toward swarming, and the same differ- 
ence can be noted between individual col- 
onies of a given race; therefore, what- 
ever methods be adopted to prevent or 
limit increase, no doubt the constant se- 
jection of those queens to breed from 
whose workers show the least tendency 
toward swarming would in time greatly 
reduce this disposition. 
