BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
The swarming season may be expected everywhere in general about the time the bees are rearning the greatest amount of brood in the spring or early summer, for instance, in the northern part of the U n i t e d S t a t e s, in May and June, according to the earliness or lateness of the season. This is the time of most extensive b r o o d-rearing if conditions are favorable to a r a l e, and swarming is the bees' n a t u r a l method of increasing. It is then that, by a sort of seemingmutual agreement, generally between 9 a. m. and 2 p. m. on a warm day, from a strong colony having plenty of brood and honey, most of the old bees with the queen (and perhaps a few of the young bees) will rush pellellell out of the hive until the air is full of them going in every direction. This grand rush from the hive generally continues for only three or four minutes.
If the \(
u\) queen's wings have been clipped (see page 114), as should have been done earlier, of course she can not fly; but she will crawl out of the entrance and will be found in the grass near by, attempting to join the swarm.
In the parent hive are left the young bees that care for the brood, and capped queen-cells from which a queen will be provided for the now queenless colony.
The swarm at first, appearing like a cloud of black particles, soars about for a short time and then generally settles on some branch of a near-by tree or bush; but, if the queen is clipped, the swarm may return to its live without clustering, as soon as the bees discover that the queen is not with them. Seidom does the swarm steal to a new home at some distance without first settling near the old home hive. If discovered while still in flight, the owner of the bees will accomplish nothing by beating tin pans, ringing bells, or making other noise to make them settle. If a fine spray of water from a fountain pump or even from a pail or dipper can be thrown on the swarm in its flight, it is likely to settle very quickly.
### Causes of Swarming.
Without going into lengthy discussion and theories of why bees swarm, the be g i n n e r should know that swarming is the bees' method of reproduction of colonies; and it is, therefore, natural for them to swarm when they have become strong enough to divide, provided, of course, there is enough nectar in the flowers to make them prosperous. The desire to swarm is us u a l l y brought about by a congestion of bees in the hive, especially within the brood-chamber, and lack of sufficient ventilation--in other words, overcrowding of the hive, resulting in discomfort or at least a desire for expansion. It should also be noted that colonies with old queens are more likely to swarm than those having young queens.
Indications of Swarming.
As the swarming season comes on, the beginner should watch for signs of the forthcoming swarm. The clustering of bees on the outside of the hive is one of the general signs, although not a certain one, as bees may cluster on the outside because of hot or sulfry weather, or because there is no nectar to be had from the flowers the field workers may stay at home instead of fruitlessly searching for nectar. But if a colony has been busy at work and then quits work without evident reason, while other colonies continue busy, at the same time clustering on the outside, swarming is probably near at hand. The most certain sign of swarming, if present, can be learned by an examination of the hive. If queen-cells containing eggs or queen-cells containing larvae are found in very strong colonies at the beginning of, or during, the honey flow, the bees are probably contemplating swarming. They usually issue from the hive at about the time the first queen-cells are capped, though Italians sometimes swarm before if the weather is quite warm.
Preparing to Hive the Swarm.
When a swarm issues it should be hived just as soon after the cluster forms as possible, whether the queen is clipped or not. For, if the queen is clipped, she cannot join the cluster, and it may accordingly break up and return to the old hive before the beekeeper has had time to hive it. On the other hand, if the queen is not clipped she will be with the cluster, and the swarm will therefore be likely to leave for a new home in some near-by woods or other possible retreat at any time after the cluster forms.
Therefore, whether one clips his queens or not, it will be necessary to make certain preparations for hiving the swarm before it issues. Even before the swarming season sets in, it is well for the beginner to provide one extra hive for every one of the few colonies he may have, in case he plans to allow natural swarming for increase. He should also have ready in advance frames with drawn combs, or, lacking these, frames with comb foundation (full sheets) with -which to fill the new hive. In case the queen's wings are clipped (as they should be), the beginner will also need a queen cage. If he has no such cages he can easily make a little box out of wire window-screen or mosquito netting drawn tightly over a small box frame, which will serve the purpose of eaging the clipped queen during the short time necessary to effect the capture of the swarm. And, in addition to these necessities, of course, the beginner will also want his veil, his gloves and his smoker in readiness.
Hiving a Swarm Having a Clipped Queen.
First, let us suppose that the swarm has issued from a colony whose queen has had her wings clipped. After the swarm has left the hive the queen will be found, in all probability, hopping about near the entrance, sometimes attended by a little company of worker bees after she has been missed by them. Carefully put her in a queen-cage and temporarily leave her in a safe place out of the sun. Now the super or supers of the hive from which the swarm has issued (and in which supers the bees have already started to work) should be taken off the old brood-chamber and set on the ground near by. The brood-chamber itself should now be removed from its stand and its entrance turned in the opposite direction from which it formerly stood or with its entrance turned only part way around, so the returning field bees will not enter it. If any bees begin to enter the old hive, either cover it up or move it farther away. On the stand where the old hive had stood, now place the new hive containing frames of drawn comb or frames of foundation. Have the entrance face the same direction as did that of the old hive just removed. Now, on top of the frames place a queen-exluder (the rimmed side up always). Above the queen-exluder place the super or supers that have just before been taken from the old hive, and put on the cover. Next, place the queen, still retained in her eage, at the front of the entrance; or, better still, above the eaged queen just inside of the entrance out of the possible heat of the sun's rays, raising the front of the hive a little by blocking up at the front corners if necessary. The swarm, which may still be in the air or may have clustered, will soon discover that the queen is not with them and will return hastily to the old location, and, finding the queen there, will rush into the new hive. After the bees are well started going in, the queen may be released from her eage and she will hurriedly enter with them.
If there is no honey flow on at the time and no honey in the supers that are transferred from the old hive to the new, the beginner should exchange at least one or two frames of foundation of the new hive for one or two frames containing some honey taken from the old hive. The honey so given is necessary to keep the bees from starving until nectar can be gathered from the flowers.
It will surprise the beginner to note how soon this new first swarm goes to work with the greatest energy in its new home. No other bees work with quite so great vigor as do those of a newly hived, natural swarm.
The colony in the old hive is left standing at the side of the new hive for seven days when it should be moved to a new location, this being done at the time the bees are flying freely, as early in the afternoon, and the hive handled so carefully that the bees are not disturbed. When done in this way they do not seem to realize the change and go to the fields without noting their new location. When they return from the fields they go to their old location, and, not finding their own hive, they enter the new hive, thus joining the swarm. When done properly, this so depletes the parent colony of its bees just when the young queens are ready to emerge that it can not send out after-swarms, and at the same time the young bees, drawn from the parent colony, are added to the swarm where they are most useful in helping store honey in the supers. (See pages 87-88).
Soon a new queen will emerge from a queen-cell that had been started before the swarm left the parent colony. The so-called "old" or parent colony (which is in fact really the rewest kind of colony because made up of all newly emerged bees) can be left to shift for itself, except, if the nights are cool, the hive entrance should be contracted so as to prevent the escape of heat. Otherwise the brood might be ehilled and killed. A little later, as the "old" hive fills with new inhabitants and the combs become filled with brood and honey, a super may be required. In a good season some surplus of honey may be expected from this rejuvenated "old" colony, unless the swarm issued late.
This method of handling a natural swarm, which has issued from a colony having a queen with clipped wings, is summed up in a few words: Find the clipped queen, cage her, remove the old hive to a new location, replace it with an empty hive containing frames of drawn comb or foundation, one of which should be replaced with a frame of honey if there is no honey flow on at the time; transfer the supers from the old to the new hive; place the eaged queen at the entrance, and, as the swarming bees return to the new hive, liberate the queen, allowing her to enter with them.
This plan of managing swarms is applicable only when swarming takes place at the beginning of or during the main honey flow, as in the white clover region.
When swarming occurs some time before the main honey flow it is usually better to hive the swarm in a new loeation; and seven days later destroy all but one queen-cell in the parent colony, to prevent after-swarming; then, when the honey flow begins, put supers on both hives. In this ease both the parent colony and the newly-hived colony would likely produce a surplus of honey.
**Hiving Swarm Having Unclipped Queen.**
Suppose the swarm has issued from a colony whose queen's wings are not clipped, and she accompanies the swarm in its flight and clustering. This presents quite a different problem from that of hiving the swarm whose queen has had her wings clipped and so is to be found near the entrance of the parent hive. The swarming bees with their queen aeompanying them will not return to the hive of their own will, for their queen is not there. They are likely, at any time after clustering, to put off to a new home which "seout bees" have previously located, and so be lost to the beekeeper. This they may do within fifteen minutes after clustering, or they may remain clustered twenty-four hours or even longer.
The beginner should have the same equipment ready, and exactly the same new and old hive arrangements made, as in the case of the swarm that issues from a hive whose queen has clipped wings. And don't forget the smoker, as that now may become useful. One additional item of equipment is needed if the bees have clustered high up on some braneh or shrub. If this hit of equipment be purehased in advance it will be a Manum swarming-device, which is a wire-eloth basket made in the shape of an inverted pyramid, and attached to a long rod or pole. It is a good thing _f_or the beginner to have. But, not having one, let him attaeh an ordinary bushel or half-bushel basket to a erotch left at the top of a long pole so cut for the purpose. A loop of rope or strong cord attached to the handle of the basket can be slipped over one of the forks of the erotch at the end of the pole, thus allowing the basket to be easily detached. This contrivance is about as serviceable as any manufactured swarm-eatching device. If the swarm has clustered somewhere low down,and within easy reach, a basket or a commodious box or bag will serve as a swarm-eather.
If the bees have clustered low on the branch of some tree or bush, the capture of them is made easy. Either shake the bees into a box or basket or cut off the branch and carry it to the newly prepared hive, then shake the bees off on the alighting-board or other broad board placed temporarily in front of the entrance of the hive. Some prefer spreading a sheet in front of the hive on which to shake the bees; but while this is a little neater it is not essential.
When the swarm has been shaken down in front of the hive entrance hebees will be directed into it by brushing or gently smoking) and continue to enter the hive in the most enthusiastic way. Once in, they remain there contented, if the queen be with them. But if the bees begin running out of the hive and acting dissatisfaction, apparently searching for something, the beginner may know that the queen has not entered the hive. He should then make diligent search for her, and will be likely to find her near by, perhaps under the hive, attended by a little group of bees, or he may find her at the original clustering place if all the cluster was not at first secured, and she will be found with an accompaniment of worker bees.
But suppose the swarm has clustered high in a tree or bush and the bees cannot he shaken into a box or basket nor carried on the branch when cut off, to the hive, as in the supposed case just described. Then, climbing or the use of a ladder may have to be resorted to, or the basket attached to the long pole (before described) brought into use. Having got the basket or box just beneath the cluster, with a smart shake or jar drop the cluster of bees into the basket or box. The queen is altogether likely to be in the mass of bees so shaken. Then carry them quickly to the hive entrance and proceed there as before described. If the basket attached to the end of the long pole has to be resorted to, a thrust upward with the pole, striking the branch with the crotch of the pole or the edge of the basket, will serve to jar the bees into the basket, which may then be quickly lowered and earried to the hive entrance.
If the bees chance to
cluster in a place where
they can not be shaken
down, as on a large
branch or at the erotch
of a tree or on a fence
post- or on any other unshakable place, it will
then be found necessary
to brush them off into the
box or basket with a beeb
brush or to dip them up
with a tin dipper or even
with the gloved hands.
Bees that have to be captured in this way should
be carried to the hive entrance just as soon after
they have been got into
the basket or box as possible. They may need a
little smoking, too.
If a swarm of bees is
to be captured at some
considerable dist a ne e
Baking the swarm into a basket.
from the apiary of the
beginner and then has to be carried there, such a swarm should be shaken
into a loose-woven bag--a cleaned phosphate sack will do--and then by
tying or holding tight the mouth of the bag the bees can be carried for a
long distance to the hive awaiting them as their new home.
Mechanical Contrivances Sometimes Used.
To prevent an unelipped queen from leaving the hive with an issuing swarm, two contrivances are sometimes used. These are the queen and
drone trap, and the wire entrance-guard. Either of these placed over the
hive entrance allows the passage of worker bees but not of queens or
drones. The queen and drone trap catches and retains the queen in an
upper compartment, and when the swarm returns to the new hive which
is placed on the old stand, the trap having been transferred to the new
hive, the slide may be drawn releasing the queen so that she may enter
the new hive with the returning swarms. Although the use of this
contrivance makes it unnecessary to clip the queen's wings, it has one great
objection--it is some inconvenience to the bees when entering and leaving
the hive. It should be left on the hive just as little as possible. Its use is
not generally recommended by experienced beekeepers, but the beginner
who does not wish to clip his queen's wings will find this device a great
convenience. (See illustration on page 70.)The wire entrance-guard does not trap the queen when a swarm issues, but simply prevents her from leaving the hive, thus compelling the bees to return exactly as they would do in case the queen's wings were clipped. The objection is the same as that to the queen trap.
### Swarming Out.
After a swarm has been hived it sometimes deserts the new hive. This is called "swarming out." This may oceur the day the swarm is hived, or the next day and sometimes even on the third day after hiving. It may oceur either with natural swarms or with artificial swarms. Swarming out apparently is often caused by a lack of room in the new hive or by discomfort from some other cause, though occasionally a newly hived swarm uay leave the hive when no cause for their dissatisfaction is apparent. This trouble may be prevented or greatly reduced by placing an empty hive-body, without frames, below the new brood-chamber for two or three days, by providing ample ventilation and shade for the new hive at the time of hiving the swarm, and by using one or more empty eombs (which have been used previously for brood-rearing) in the new brood-chamber instead of frames of foundation exclusively. Combs of n s e a l e d brood are not re e o mended for this purpose. Entrance guards or queen-traps may be placed on the entrance of the new hive for a few days to prevent the queen's es a p i n g g, if newly h i v e d swarms are inclined to swarm out, but t the trouble usually can be prevent-ed by making provision for the comfort of the bees, especially for the first day or two.
After-Swarms.
Among the neutron w ar d things that the beginner may have to meet in the swarming problem is that of after-swarms. If the parent colony which easts the first swarm was very strong in numbers, there may have been left in it enough bees to result in other swarms issuing after seven or eight days, called after-swarms. There may be a second or third or fourth or even more such after-swarms. This can be prevented by destroying all but one of the queen-cells after the issuing of the first swarm, for the cause of these after-swarms is a plurality of emerging young queens. When the virgin queen emerges after the preceding swarm has left the hive, she is prevented by the bees from destroying queen-cells that may be present, flies from the parent hive with another swarm, and this process may be repeated several times as other queens emerge in the parent hive. These after-swarms are undesirable, as they are generally too weak to be valuable. They also weaken the parent colony to such an extent that no surplus honey is likely to be produced. The plan outlined on pages 64 and 65, by which the parent colony is moved to a new location on the seventh or eighth day, prevents most after-swarms. This plan is also described and illustrated on pages 87 and 88.
Swarms Uniting.
Another emergency that may confront the beginner is that of two or more swarms issuing at the same time and clustering together. If the beginner has clipped his queens as he should have done, the best plan is to divide the cluster as evenly as he can and distribute about the same number of bees to each of the clipped queens now eaged in the new hives on the old stands.
In case the queens are laying-queens and not clipped, he may treat the large cluster in the same way. If one of these divisions has more than one queen, all but one will probably be killed or else the bees may form as many clusters as there are queens, when each cluster may be hired. If one of the divisions has no queen the bees will appear restless, running all about the outside of the hive and in the grass looking for her.
Such a division may be united with one having a queen, if this can be done before the bees go back to their respective old locations.
Whenever living bees that may be accompanied by a virgin queen, one of the frames in the new hive may well be replaced by a frame of comb containing young larvae. This provides against failure of the virgin to mate.
Smoking the Swarm.Common sense will dictate to the beginner that he handle swarming bees as gently as possible. They are usually gorged with honey when issuing in a swarm from the hive, and ordinarily they may be handled without fear of stings. Yet they can and do occasionally sting when swarming. This is the reason for having a smoker on hand and using it, if necessary, when first closely approaching a swarm clustered on a bush or tree. Use the smoke, too, on the clustered swarm whenever they appear to show any signs of hostility. Swarms that have been clustered for a half day or more are sometimes inclined to be very cross and extra precaution should be taken in such cases. But under ordinary circumstances the smoker will be little needed in hiving a swarm.
General Observations on Swarming.Let it be remembered that, excepting in parts of the South, the more swarming there is in an apiary the smaller will be the surplus-honey crop. Therefore, swarming is not desirable when the owner of bees is working for a crop of honey. This fact leads the owners of many apiaries either to restrict swarming greatly or to try to prevent it altogether. (See pages 73-76 and 84-88.)
Swarm Prevention and Control.Swarm prevention is one of the greatest problems which the bekeeper has to solve. For the particular methods of prevention or control of swarming in extracted-honey production and in comb-honey production, see the discussion of this subject in Chapters XII and XIV.
**EXTRACTED Honey--Honey FLOW AND HARVEST.**
CHAPTER XII.
The outfit for extracted-honey production, it will be remembered (page 11), is the same for comb-honey except that an extractor and an uneapping-knife will be needed, and instead of comb-honey supers extracting-supers will be needed.
**Differences Between Comb and Extracted Honey Production:**
As already pointed out it is much easier to produce extracted honey than to produce comb honey, for bees are less inclined to begin work in a super of small section boxes than they are in a super of large combs; also the bees are obliged to convert considerable honey into wax in order to draw the foundation of the sections into comb, whereas in extracted-honey production the same comb is used year after year and the bees are therefore able to store all their freshly gathered honey in the combs, instead of converting part of it into wax. Furthermore, the extracted-honey producer is able to give an abundance of empty combs in order to prevent swarming, but the comb-honey producer is obliged to keep his colonies more crowded for room in order that the sections shall be well filled and most of them completed. For partially scaled sections of comb honey bring a lower price than fully sealed sections, while this is not true of ripe but unsealed honey in extracted-honey supers, all of which can be extracted and sold.
These differences, as we have already noted, necessitate a difference in management, and we shall accordingly discuss the management for extracted-honey production and the management for comb-honey production separately.
**Preceding the Honey Flow.**
Throughout the spring each colony from which the bekeeper expects surplus should be supplied with sufficient packing to keep it warm, a good queen, and plenty of stores--at least 10 pounds or the equivalent of two combs of honey. In case one uses double-walled hives as we advised, the top packing should be left on as long as it does not interfere with handling the colonies, and the entrances should not be made large until the weather becomes so warm and the colonies so strong that more ventilation is necessary, as indicated by bees hanging out on warm days. Sometimes it may be of advantage to leave top packing and contracted entrances until a few weeks before the main honey flow.