104 
MANUAL OF APICULTURE. 
LANGDON NON-SWARMING DEVICE. 
This device (fig. 70, _D), first described and illustrated in Insect Life 
for April, 1893 (Vol. V, No. 4), is designed to do more than merely pre- 
vent swarming. The following claims are made by the inventor: 
(1) It prevents all swarming without caging queens, cutting out queen cells or 
manipulation of brood combs. 
(2) Two light colonies that would not do much in sections if working separately 
make one good one by running the field force of both into the same set of supers. 
(3) No bait sections are needed, as the bees can be crowded into the sections with- 
out swarming. 
(4) The honey will be finished in better condition, that is, with less travel stain, 
because the union of the field forces enables them to complete tbe work in less time. 
(5) There will be fewer unfinished sections at the close of the honey harvest for 
the reason just mentioned. 
Fig. 70. — Beehives with Langdon non-swarmer attached : A. B, hives; S. S\ supers ; Z>, non-swarming 
device; e, e\ entrances corresponding to hive entrances ; si, slide for closing entrance; c,C, conical 
wire-cloth bee-escapes ; ex % ex', exits of same. (From Insect Life.) 
(6) Also for the same reason honey can be taken oft" by the full case instead of by 
the section or holderful. 
(7) Drones will be fewer in number, as a double handful will often be killed off in 
the closed hive while the other is storing boney rapidly. 
(8) Artificial swarms and nuclei can be more easily made, as combs of brood and 
bees can be taken from the closed hive in which the queen can be found very 
quickly. 
(9) It enables one to care for more than twice as many colonies as under the 
swarming system. 
Eesults according with the claims mentioned above have been reported 
from various localities, but numerous adverse reports have also been 
given, the latter indicating clearly that some modification of the device 
is necessary if it is to be made generally serviceable. A further trial 
of the principle under varying conditions and climates will also be 
required to decide its exact value. 
