The Opelousas journal. [volume] (Opelousas, La.) 1868-1878, 1877-09-01
How so Manage Bees-Swarm-
ing.

keE. Mr. Maxim tells in the Bee W0rlG
now TO manage bees during the swarm
lhS season. Much OF success Oh failure
depends upon the ability Of the bee.
htcptr to control the sWarmiug impulse
IL IuctedSc OF stock is desired, by lar
LHe better plan, Ill my Judgment, is to
make Artificial sWarms. ms NAV be,
s! "one Ill several ways. II empty combs
'htah DC mad, Il very good plan Is TO take
ABOUT four combs containing brood and
aulitrlng bees and put them in a hive
on Il new stand, giving them a queen.
on Il queen cell, and filling the hive
| Wlth empty combs. Such Il colony
/ Wculu buIiu up very rapidly. The bees
! may bc all taken hOm one hive, OF from
! three or tour, as the circumstances NAV
dictate. Another way, unu II very good
one, Is to take one comb OF brood from
each OF several hives, and thus ill the
new hVe. The bees that will hatch
out VIII make the new stock very pOpu-
lOus i'll Il short time. PuUempty frames,
or itdhcS containing combs, III The hives
from which bees are taken. In this
way very large Increase may be UU-
tanned, and the stocks all kept strong.
Care should be taken not to allow quen-
less stocks to Oulld QTUue comb.
Ii We want to get the largest yield Of
surplus honey We do not Waut our bees
to swarm at all. We want TO keep the
stocks strong i'll numbers, so that they
may avail themselves OF the honey
harvest. And there is no question Ot
more Importance than this: How can
the aWarmlng impulse be restrained
III this, as In many other things, pre-
VentlUn IS better than cure. Two things
art necessary to prevent bees from
SWarming. The first is to give them
room TnT hV44AfIntr and tbA Stn ,t
honey 1t they become crowded, ami |
forage Is plenty, they Will be almost |
sure to swarm, The second thing nee
essaIy to prevent sWalniug is tile pro-
per shading and ventilation OF the hive. l.
lHt hlYc should be ventilated at the |
top, inside OF the outer caps or covering.
LII hot weather Two OF three inch holes
covered with Wlre-ciOth Will be sufficient.
Bees Will rarely want to swarm if they
nave Sufficient room, and the hive is not
TOO hot. When the swarmlng impulse
once takes possession of Il stock, it is
not very easy to control it.
Perhaps the best cure consists III the
two points above named, and the re-
moVal OF the old queen and OF all queen
cells but one.
1t Is said that bees will be satisfied if
to swarm, and they are put1fR
new place and their combs given to
them, all queen cells being first re-
moved. | have never tried it, and can
not, therefore, do more than to recon- q
mend 1t as an experiment worth trying.
have been successful by destroying !
queen cells and giving abundant ven
tllatlOn.
clip the wings of all the queens, to :
prevent their going to the woods. When !
the bees swarm, as they do sometimes,
ia a Il
to return, and then it | want TO hive
them remove the old hive and put an
empty one IN its place, and us the bees {
Oegiu to enter L put the queen with {
them and let them hive themselves.
10 iliVe IL swarm when in an a"or@g gsagl8i
Die place Is a Ves-s-sies''L~~ IeasY {
operation, when one Knows now to do it.
set the hive conveniently near, and 1
WITH q upper, or any other convenient l
Vessel, dip the bees up and pour them
Town lit the entrance of the hive. This T
must be done very quietly and gently. A
Jhe should never be i'll hurry when I
bees. You will be likely to !
get the queen among the first bees re- F
moved from the cluster, as she is usually [
Il the lower part OF the swarm as they Z
lang on the tree, or on whatever they =
laNe settled. 1t you get the queen into q
lie hive the bees will be sure TO follow. u
As soon as the bees are all in, or even \
N the hive, it should be removed to =
where 1t Is to remain before any of the y
'ees have marked the location and gone /.
way to the fields, To prevent the Z
warm leaving the hive give them plenty 2
t shade and ventilation. In all my J
Experience have had but o2e swain "
abandon its home after being hived 4
nd It had been left standing in full +
unshlne on a very hot day. | was \
way from home, OF it would not have ]