The Ronan pioneer., 1917-07-13
HOW TO PREVENT
BEES SWARMlNC
EASY TO CONTROL HIVE ANN
SAVE HONEY If PROPER
STEPS ARE TAKEN.
ihls is Time of Year When Honey
Will Soon BE Flowing; Giving Bees
Plenty of Room Is One of First
PRINCIPLES in Keeping Them in
Hives.

1he honey flow will soon be on in
many parts of Montana and it is high
~ important that the bees spend all
thelr energies during that period in
storing honey. Unfortunately this is
just the time when the bees are most
apt TO get the sWarming fever. The
modern beekeeper knows from expert
ence That after he has given all his en-
efgy TO getting every colony as strong
as possible for the beginning of the
money flow, he must not permit the
bees to spoil it all by dividing their
forces. He is therefore on the alert
for the first indication of swarming
and it ready to put into practice some
OF the various methods of swarm pre-
vention.
There is no certain indication as TO
the exact hour when the bees will
swarm, but by inspecting the hives
frequently during the season when
swarming is due, the operator can
gain some idea of when to expect
sWarming.
Swarming Indications.
In most cases the swarm will not
come off until one or more queen cells
are about ready to hatch. If the bee
keeper finds that the cells are un-
capped, it will be at least a week
before there is danger of swarming,
as seven days are required for the de-
velopment of the queen from the time
the larval cell is capped over. Bees
gathering in large clusters on the
hive sometimes indicates swarming,
but they Oftentimes. do the same
thing during hot days of the summer,
apparently to allow more room for
air circulation in the hive. At such
times it is advisable to block up one
end of the cover to a height of one
inch
There are many different recon-
mendations for the prevention and
control of sWarming, all of which
work at times. The most of these,
when sifted down, however, depend
upon few wellknown principles that
are true under most conditions. One
of the first principles seems to be in
giving the bees plenty of room, since
crowded quarters always give an add
ed tendency to swarm. This means
that the bees should have plenty OF
in the habit of storing they will gen
VI any hCOP tAL ~ uIlC1l 14d1lCu NY 1dCh
of room or a stopping of the honey
flow. If the beekeeper has only a few
hives, swarming can be prevented by
examining the colonies every ten days,
during the swarming period, and cut
ting out the queen cells.
Clip and Wing.
Probably the best and most gener-
ally practiced plan to prevent the loss
of sWarms is to clip one wing of each
queen, then when she comes out of
the hive she cannot get away, and will
be found running about in front of
the hive trying to raise herself into
the air. The bees will not leave with
out her, and if she is put back il the
hive they will soon all come back
again.
If the colony is strong one, cage
the queen and put her in an empty
hive, with frames containing full
sheets of foundation, and put in the
place of the old one, which may be
set to one side. If a frame con-
tanning some developing brood is put
in with the frames, the swarm will
come back and will probably not at
tempt to leave again. AS soon as the
let loose in the hive.
In clipping the queens wing be
very careful not to injure her by
squeezing, and extreme care must be
used to avoid clipping off one or more
legs, for she will usually work her
legs back and forth in attempting to
get away If clipping is practiced,
weeds and grass must be kept around
the hive, for otherwise the queen will
get lost when she comes out and it
will be impossible to find her.