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will be to have no swarming. Put it off just as long as you can 
without having the bees actually swarm. If you wait until cells 
are started, and then operate, destroying the cells, you may feel 
pretty easy about swarming. Some report it a perfect preventive. 
You propose to put a comb-honey super under an extracting- 
super. That will be all right if the extracting-combs are nice and 
white. If black from brood-rearing your sections may be black- 
ened. . 
Q. Will you please explain Mr. Allen’s system for swarm pre- 
vention that he gave to the readers of the Bee Journal several 
years ago? If it really has any merit, will you kindly reproduce 
it in the Journal? 
A. If you will turn to page 94 of the American Bee Journal 
tor 1910, you will find the plan given by A. C. Allen, as follows: 
“When the honey-fiow is well started, I go to each strong 
colony, regardless of whether the bees desire to swarm or not, 
and remove it from its stand, putting in its place a hive filled with 
empty combs, less one of the center ones. Next, a comb contain- 
ing a patch of unsealed brood about as large as the hand, is se- 
lected from the colony and placed in the vacant place in the new 
hive; a queen-excluder is put on this lower story, and above this 
a super of empty combs, this one having an escape hole for 
drones; and on top of all, an empty super. A cloth is then nicely 
placed in front of this new hive, on which the bees and queen are 
shaken from the combs of the parent hive, and the third story is 
filled with the combs of sealed brood and brood too old to produce 
queens, and allowed to remain there and hatch, returning to the 
working force.” 
This is really the Demaree plan, which was given to the public 
many years ago, by G. W. Demaree, a prominent Kentucky bee- 
keeper at that time. Mr. Allen has varied it by putting a frame 
with some brood in the lower story, whereas I think Mr. Demaree 
had only empty combs, or combs with starters in the lower story. 
Mr. Allen’s variation is of value, for I think there were cases re- 
ported in which the bees swarmed out with no brood in the lower 
story. Mr. Demaree put all the brood in the second story, while 
Mr. Allen puts it in the third. I don’t know which is better. 
Mr. Allen says “the third story is filled with the combs of 
sealed brood and brood too old to produce queens.” I hardly un- 
derstand that, for he says nothing about putting brood elsewhere, 
