SWARMING 
807 
old or two weeks old. This one thing- that 
is always present is a congestion of bees 
within the brood-nest, bringing to the col¬ 
ony a feeling of strength or a need for ex¬ 
pansion. 
This, then, must be the cause of swarm¬ 
ing. The many other things, often men¬ 
tioned as the cause but which are not always 
present, are contributory to swarming only 
inasmuch as they may help to bring about 
the crowded condition within the brood-nest 
(not in the entire hive), which suggests to 
the colony its strength or need for expan¬ 
sion. 
If this congestion is brought about in 
weak and medium colonies by the colony’s 
confining its work to the brood-chamber, 
leaving the supers and remote brood-combs 
vacant and crowding the queen by sur¬ 
rounding the brood-nest with honey, the 
congestion within this little brood-nest is as 
real and as potent in bringing on the 
swarming impulse as tho the colony 
were 20 times as strong. The remedy is 
stronger colonies or a strain of bees less 
inclined to crowd the queen in this man¬ 
ner. If the congestion and discomfort are 
brought about by a lack of ventilation or 
shade, the remedy is obvious. If the con¬ 
gestion is caused by a preponderance of 
young bees which are inclined to stay in 
the brood-nest too long, the remedy is to 
invite these youngsters upstairs by giving 
a set of attractive empty combs immediate¬ 
ly above the brood-combs, or if comb honey 
is being produced, a skilful management of 
the supers to attract the younger bees into 
the supers to the greatest possible degree. 
If the congestion is brought about by field 
bees staying at home as they often do, 
even when nectar is plentiful, because the 
hive is already crowded and uncomfortable, 
the remedy is to invite more bees upstairs 
and give more ventilation if needed. How 
foolish for field bees to stay at home be¬ 
cause the hive is not comfortable, when by 
doing so they orly add to the discomfort! 
Congestion of the brood-nest is a matter 
of distribution of the bees rather than 
numbers, for the hive can be expanded to 
accommodate all; but the bees must be in¬ 
duced to expand their work also as the hive 
is expanded. If most of the bees can be 
induced to -leave the brood-nest, going 
either into the supei's or to the fields, all is 
well. If the congestion in the brood-nest is 
caused by field bees staying at home during 
the heat of the day waiting for the flowers 
to begin to yield, the problem becomes more 
difficult; but here again anything that adds 
to the comfort of the colony should help. 
Anyway, it is some comfort to know the 
cause of swarming even tho we have not 
yet learned how to remove it in every case. 
PREVENTION OF SWARMING. 
Under this head will be considered the 
methods which reduce the tendency to swarm. 
Swarm-preventive measures, as here consid¬ 
ered, are those which result in fewer colo¬ 
nies building queen-cells preparatory to 
swarming. After a colony has started to 
build queen-cells in preparation for swarm¬ 
ing, especially after the queen-cells are well 
developed, the beekeeper may apply some 
measure to prevent the issuing of a swarm, 
such as removing the queen or making an 
artificial swarm. These are really remedial 
measures instead of preventive measures 
and are accordingly discussed under a sep¬ 
arate head. See Remedial Measures. 
The reader will understand from the dis¬ 
cussion on preceding pages that swarm-pre¬ 
ventive measures which work well in one 
locality may fail entirely in another; and 
that measures which prevent swarming one 
season may fail to do so the next; and 
that measures which will prevent swarming 
in one colony may fail to do so in another 
colony in the same apiary. However, 
swarming can be greatly reduced for any 
locality during any season, and in some lo¬ 
calities entirely prevented by careful at¬ 
tention to well-known preventive measures. 
Following is a summary of some of the 
most important swarm-preventive measures. 
It will be noted that, with the exception of 
the first and the last items in the list, each 
of these is directly concerned with the pre¬ 
vention of congestion and discomfort with¬ 
in the brood-nest itself; or, in other words, 
the removal of the cause of swarming as 
given on the preceding pages. No doubt if 
all of the facts were known, even the first- 
mentioned item, that of the selection of 
stock less inclined to swarm, would also be 
included in the list of measures tending to 
reduce congestion and discomfort within 
the brood-nest, since some strains of bees 
are much more inclined to crowd the brood- 
nest than other strains. 
