Evening journal., 1908-05-20

-~>-~>r------->>e~-~~-~y-e
God made bees and bees made honey.
| God made man and man made money;
Pride made the devil end the down
made sin.
So God made a coal pit and put the
devil in"
! II the bees would only work away
and not bother about swarmlng, the
average bee man would be happy. But
Just when the bees are in the best
condition to produce an abundance Of
money, they get crazy over swarming
and that interferes most decidedly
with the honey crop. But even this
might be pardonable on their part il
they would only have some way of
letting the bee keeper know where
they were going to swarm. However,
While there is no positive sign to in
dlcate Just when a swarm Is going out,
there are several signs that point very
strongly to the time. In the first place,
the colony will begin the building OF
queen cells before they send out
swarm. And usually the queen cell
Will be sealed before the swarm issues.
Thus the ninth day after the egg is
deposited in the queen cell the swarm
is most likely to ISSUE other things
being favorable. Usually, also, on the
morning Of the day they are to swarm
there is little activity in the hive,
few bees going out or in. But the
swarm may go out before there Is
even a trace Of a queen cell but this
is the exception and may be caused by
a very close and hot day and the hive
standing in the sun.
Bees clustering on the outside Of the
hive is an indication that the hive is
too full Of bees or there is need OF
more ventilation, but is not always a
sign that they are ready to swarm with
the hive shaded from the direct rays
of the sun, and a large entrance Civ
ling plenty of ventilation, the presence
Of sealed queen cells is a pretty sure
sign that a swarm may issue any day
The first swarm seldom goes away
far without first clustering. 1t has the
old queen, and she Is heavy and soon
seeks a place to rest but the second
ary swarms, having young queens. fire.
quenty go direct from the hive to the
woods. But no second swarm should
be allowed to issue from any hive. II
reduces the number OF bees TO such a
small number that they will be un-
able to produce much honey. After
the first swarm issues, open the old
hive and cut out all queen cells but
one. This will leave them only the
one queen, and they will not swarm
Another way is to remove the olo
hive to a new location, at least five
or six feet feet away and put thy
swarm on the old stand. The bees
going out into the fields from the ole
hive on the new stand will come
back TO the old stand where the swarm
is and will strengthen it and
will thus so weaken the old
colony that it will not send out any
more swarms.
How shall we get the swarm wher
it goes up on the top Of a tall tree?
A swarm catcher, which Is nothing
more or less than a wire cage with ;
lid hinged to it. and attached to +;
pole. This is put up to the swarm an,
the swarm caught in it and the liz
brought down on a limb and is by s
: brought into place. A pole with a cir
cular wire fastened to it and a piec
of mosquito netting in the shape Of
bag fastened to it makes a good one
This is brought up under the bees an
' they are scraped off the limb by tn
I wire and then by half turn the wir
effectually closes the bag and the bee
can be carried to a hive and dumpe,
in front Of IT,
The clipped wing method Of hivinl
swarms. If you are sure to be neai
: when the swarms issue you can avoi,
1 much of the work and worry Of tn
9 swarming season by clipping the wing
of all queens Then when the swarm
E issues the queen, unable to fly, cal
cf1 oh
y ground in front Of the hive The bee
e will cluster, but not having the queei
8 with them, will soon return to tn
hive again. But in the meantime tn
@ new hive for the swarm is brought
= and having removed the old hive TO
o new location the empty hive is put il
= its place and when the bees return tn
4 queen Is allowed to run in with then
/, and behold, your swarm is hived.
. There need be no fear of beini
stung by the queen. You can pick he
up without fear and keep her until tn
bees have discovered her absence
when they viii all return.
But everybody cannot depend upoi
I being near when the swarm issues no
. even at home at the time, and 1t niign
not be best 10 clip the wings of tn
n queen. The swarm could not go ava,
2 but after finding that the queen coul
. not go with them after several at
tempts, they would kill the queen an
! then go Off with young queen jus
\ hatched
= There Is no doubt that the swarm
I do often cluster in places that II /
7 difhcult to get them into hive. On
{ of the difficult places is on the trunl
of a tree or around a large limb. 1t
S a comparatively easy matter whel
:; they are on a small limb that can b
r easily cut off, or from which they ca
lbe easily shaken but they cannot b
= shaken off the trunk of a tree If tn
hive can be placed so that the entranc
will be up against the bees and thel
scrape them off on to the alightin
board of the hive, they would ge
started in, and when once started tn
others hear the welcome call and al
would soon find their way in.
Then occasionally we find queel
that persists in flying back instead 0
going into the hive. In that case ther
is likely to be trouble until she can b
gotten in. In probably nineteen case
out of twenty the queen will max
haste to enter the hive just as sool
as the bees entering give the usua
. call, but the twentieth may give on
some trouble. Being away one da
when a swarm came out, my wife, VIII
usually has no difficulty IN hiving them
had shaken the bees down three time
III 10