Swarm Control and Increase 
269 
Breeding. 
Some beekeepers make a practice of requeening colonies 
which swarm with young queens which are the progeny of 
queens whose colonies have not swarmed, in an effort to 
eliminate swarming by selection of non-swarming stock. In 
a sense, this work has failed, for after years of such selection 
the bees still swarm under favorable conditions, but the 
testimony of many practical beekeepers indicates that the 
percentage of colonies that swarm under proper management 
is reduced by selection of non-swarming stock. Since the 
men who are making this selection are, at the same time, 
improving the manipulations in swarm control and are be¬ 
coming more skilled in this work, it is somewhat difficult to 
measure the value of this effort. Since requeening from 
good stock is a highly commendable practice for other rea¬ 
sons, it seems advisable to choose breeders from those which 
have not swarmed, wherever possible. If breeding queens 
are chosen from the colonies which show the best results in 
honey crops, these queens will usually be from colonies that 
have not swarmed during the season. 
Mechanical devices. 
Efforts have been made to devise a hive which will give 
to the bees an environment in which the swarming tendency 
will usually not be developed, a well-known example of which 
is the Aspinwall hive, with slatted frames between the combs. 
Similar slats between the frames of ordinary hives have 
been used. Since a non-swarming hive is needed especially 
in the production of comb-honey, it would appear that there 
should be provision for more crowding of the bees than is 
given in the Aspinwall hive, but it is perhaps too early to 
pass judgment on the efforts in this line. A deep (two inch) 
bottom board with a large entrance (Miller, “ Fifty Years 
among the Bees ”) leaves space under the frames in which 
may be placed a slatted rack during the active season. This 
provides abundant ventilation and room for bees and may 
