810 
SWARMING 
built in the top story not needed in nuclei 
may be destroyed and this former brood- 
chamber left on the hive as a super. It is 
not always necessary to destroy these queen- 
cells if this brood-chamber now on top is 
separated from the lower brood-chamber by 
at least two standard-depth supers. The 
emergence of young queens in the top story 
then usually causes no trouble. By pushing 
one of the upper stories forward far 
enough to form an opening at the back the 
drones can escape from the hive, and a 
young queen may be permitted to go forth 
to mate thru this opening. 
While this plan can not be depended 
upon everywhere to prevent all swarming, 
if properly put into effect it should be as 
•effective as or more so than a larger brood- 
chamber on account of the added stimulus 
to brood-rearing resulting from the estab¬ 
lishment of a new brood-nest above, then 
later below the excluder in a set of combs 
being rapidly 'vacated by emerging young 
bees. It should be noted that the standard 
10-frame brood-chamber is ample for the 
queen except possibly during a few weeks 
in the spring when she is permitted to go 
into one of the extracting-supers tempo¬ 
rarily. 
(3). IMPORTANCE OP PERFECT WORKER. 
COMB. 
Not only does a large amount of drone 
comb in the brood-chamber result in the 
rearing of a great number of drones, which 
can only be in the way, and help bring 
about a crowded condition within the brood- 
chamber, but also every cell of drone comb 
or every distorted cell that cannot be used 
for rearing workers really reduces the size 
of the brood-chamber so far as brood-rear¬ 
ing is concerned. 
(4). BARRIERS IN THE WAY OP THE QUEEN. 
There should be no barriers in the way 
of the free expansion of the brood-nest in 
the spring. If combs which are unsuitable 
for brood-rearing are between good combs, 
the poor combs stand in the way as a bar¬ 
rier. Sometimes rather than to cross such 
a barrier the queen will confine herself to 
one side of the hive and the colony will be¬ 
come crowded even with an abundance of 
empty comb beyond. This is more liable 
to happen with weak colonies than with 
strong ones; but, even with strong colonies, 
there should be nothing in the way of the 
free expansion of the brood-nest in the 
spring. If two stories are used for brood¬ 
rearing it is important that the combs in 
the lower story at least have worker-cells to 
the top-bar so that the queen will pass 
readily up into the second story. When 
there is an abundance of room in the second 
stoiy the queen, after beginning work there, 
often abandons the lower story entirely un¬ 
less she becomes crowded in the upper story. 
Before this happens, the queen should be 
put below again so that the colony need 
not be crowded for room for brood-rearing. 
(5). PROVIDING ABUNDANT VENTILATION. 
If the entrance is very much contracted 
it renders it extremely difficult for the 
bees to ventilate the hive properly. This 
is a very important factor, especially in a 
hot season. Therefore at the beginning of 
the honey harvest all colonies should have 
their entrances very much enlarged; and 
if any of the colonies still seem inclined to 
cluster and loaf, more ventilation should be 
given by placing four %-inch blocks be¬ 
tween the hive and the bottom-board. This 
will provide an opening on all four sides. 
While the bees will use the front entrance 
mainly, they will also fly from the others. 
With so much ventilation the bees, unless 
the colonies are extraordinarily strong, 
will go back into the hive and go to work. 
Some beekeepers go so far as to claim 
that the procedure will almost entirely 
eliminate swarming. 
During the swarming season the weather 
may be very hot or even sultry, but, no 
matter what the outside temperature, it is 
very important that the internal tempera¬ 
ture be kept down to about 96. If it goes 
much higher, a large portion of the bees 
will be forced outside. 
By giving plenty of bottom ventilation 
it will take fewer bees to keep the hive cool 
than when a restricted entrance is used. In 
this connection it may be well to explain 
that one set of bees will place themselves 
in such a position that they force a current 
of air into the hive, and another set forces 
the warm moist air out of it. After the 
bees have been heavily at work in the field, 
if one will light a match and hold it in 
front of the entrance, he will find there is 
a strong current of air going in on one side 
and another strong current going out at 
the other side. Sometimes the air seems to 
