=INCREASE OF COLONIES.=
NATURAL SWARMING.
An abundant secretion of honey and general prosperity of the
colony--with combs crowded with bees and brood--are the immediate
conditions which incite a colony of bees to swarm. If a colony in
prosperous condition be found when the gathering season has fairly
opened, with eggs or larvæ in partly finished queen cells, a swarm
may be expected in a few days should the weather continue favorable.
The first one from a given hive usually issues within twenty-four to
forty-eight hours after the sealing of the first queen cell. In the
case of strong colonies this may occur in favored situations in the
North early in May, in the Middle States in April, and in the extreme
South in March. But most of the swarms will come, in each section, a
month later. When the flow of honey is prolonged the period during
which swarms may issue is also extended, and in case a second flow
occurs in midsummer, after an interruption, a second swarming period
may occur.
The outward indications immediately preceding swarming are a partial
cessation of field work on the part of colonies that have been
industriously gathering and the clustering or loitering of the workers
about the entrances at times when they have usually been engaged in
collecting and when other colonies no more populous are at work.
Apparently many are awaiting the signal to migrate, while some seem
not to have caught the spirit, but continue their field work. Suddenly
great excitement seizes the workers that happen to be in the hive at
the time. They rush forth pellmell, accompanied by the old queen, and
after circling about for some minutes cluster on some neighboring tree
or shrub.
It very rarely happens that a swarm fails to cluster before leaving,
but it may do so if it has swarmed before and returned to the hive
because the queen failed to accompany it. Spraying water on the leaders
or advance portion of the swarm from a force pump, firing a gun among
them, or throwing the reflection from a mirror on them will disconcert
the absconding swarm and nearly always cause the bees to settle, but
the remedy must be at hand and applied instantly.
[Illustration: Fig. 67.--Hiving a swarm. (Original--from photograph.)]
When a swarm has fairly settled it is best to hive it as soon as
possible, lest others coming out may join it, occasioning a loss of
queens, and sometimes of bees, or much trouble in separating them.
The operation of hiving may appear very formidable to the novice and
attended with great risks, but a little experience will dispel such
apprehensions. The bees before swarming usually fill their sacs with
honey and are quite peaceable, so that by the use of a little smoke
in hiving there is seldom any difficulty. But to be doubly sure the
novice should sprinkle sweetened water over the cluster, and at the
same time wear a veil to protect his face. Of course, the hive has
been ready for some time and has been standing in the shade so it will
not be heated. If the cluster should be on a small limb which can be
readily cut off, it can be laid down in front of the new hive, which
should have a full-width entrance or be raised up in front. The bees
will go trooping in, but if not fast enough gentle urging of the rear
guard with a feather will hasten matters. If the bees have clustered
on a branch which it is desirable to preserve, yet where the hive can
conveniently be placed directly under the cluster and close to it, the
swarm may be shaken into the hive at once (fig. 67); or the hive may
be located on the stand it is to occupy and the bees shaken into a
large basket or into a regular swarm catcher and poured in front of the
hive. If the cluster is on the body of the tree it will be necessary
to place the hive near and smoke or brush the bees into it. They will
go up more readily than down, and may often be dipped with a small tin
dipper or a wooden spoon and poured in front of the hive. Whatever plan
be pursued, expedition is advisable, and it is best before leaving
them to see that nearly all of the bees are inside of the hive: at
least no clusters, however small, should be left on the tree, as the
queen might be among those left behind, in which case the swarm would
desert the new hive and return to the tree or go wherever the queen had
settled, or, failing to find her, would return to the hive whence they
had issued, unless meanwhile some other swarm should issue, which they
would be likely to join. A few bees flying about or crawling excitedly
over the spot from which the main part of the swarm has been removed
need not be heeded. They will find their way back to the stand from
which they came. As soon as the swarm is fairly within the new hive the
latter should be carried to its permanent stand, and well shaded and
ventilated. It is better policy, however, to place the hive containing
the first swarm on the stand of the parent colony at once, removing the
latter to a new location. The new swarm, having the old queen, with
nearly all of the flight bees, will be in prime condition for storing
honey, so that supers may be placed on it as soon as it has made a fair
start in its new home--that is, on the second or third day after the
swarm was hived. If there are uncompleted supers on the parent colony
which has been removed, they should be lifted over to the new hive on
the second or third day, as the parent colony, having parted with so
many of its workers, will not be able to store at once. But the new
swarm, placed in a clean hive with starters only, will be in shape to
store in sections at once and produce the whitest combs and honey which
the source of the yield will permit.
CLIPPING QUEENS.
To prevent swarms from absconding and to facilitate the work of hiving
them, as well as to keep track more easily of the ages of queens, many
persons prefer to clip the wings of their queens as soon as mated. The
first season one of the large or primary wings is clipped half away;
at the opening of the second season the Other large wing, and the
third season an additional clip is taken from one of the large wings,
and with it a portion of one of the secondary or smaller wings. With
finely pointed scissors this operation can be performed while the queen
is loose on the combs, but there is much danger of clipping one or more
of her legs also. If she be caught by her wings with the thumb and
first finger of the right hand, and then grasped by the thorax with
the thumb and first two fingers of the left hand, her wings can easily
be reached with the scissors. It will not do to grasp the queen by the
abdomen? and of course there should be but little pressure exerted on
the thorax. There are some objections against clipping. The queens,
being unable to fly, are liable to get lost in the grass or stray into
the wrong hives when they swarm during the absence of the attendant.
They certainly look unsightly when thus maimed, and occasionally the
bees are more disposed to replace such queens than unmutilated ones. It
is of course preferable to lose one of these occasionally rather than
the whole swarm. When the queen is clipped the operation of hiving is
very easy if the bee keeper is on hand to catch the queen as she falls
from the entrance to the ground. When the swarm is fairly out and while
the bees are still circling in the air an empty hive should be set in
place of the one from which the swarm has issued. The bees, missing
their queen, will soon begin to return to their old location and will
shortly crowd the entrance of the new hive. When about one-fourth have
entered the queen may be allowed to run in, and the treatment will then
not be different from that given any newly hived swarm.
AUTOMATIC HIVERS.
Thus far the automatic hivers have been only partially successful, so
that the experimental stage has not yet been passed; but the practical
perfection of such a device is looked forward to with considerable
confidence.
PREVENTION OF AFTER-SWARMING.
The parent colony, removed from its old hive as soon as the first
swarm issues, will rarely cast a second swarm, especially if a young
queen is at hand to be introduced within a day or two. The surplus
queen cells are likely to be destroyed by this young queen, with the
assistance of the workers. A laying queen will be readily accepted
by a colony which by swarming and removal has lost its old bees,
and ten to fifteen days will be gained in the production of brood.
Unless increase is especially desired it is best to limit it in this
way to first swarms. If still less increase is wanted, methods which
will be referred to later may be followed to prevent swarming as far
as possible, and such chance swarms as do issue may be returned to
the parent hive. If the queens are two or more years old, they may
in most instances be profitably destroyed at this time and young
ones introduced from nuclei; but whether introducing young queens or
returning the swarm with its old queen, great care must be taken to
destroy every queen cell, otherwise the introduced queen may be killed
or the swarm may again issue. If, however, no young queen is at hand
and it is desirable to replace the old queen, all cells but one may be
destroyed, but this must on no account be jarred or dented. The danger
of overlooking a cell where the hive is crowded with bees makes this
method somewhat uncertain: moreover, when the bees have once got the
"swarming fever" they may swarm again without preparation in the way of
queen cells. It is also very troublesome to remove supers to get at the
brood combs. These difficulties will induce many who may wish to limit
the number of their colonies to prefer hiving the swarms on starters
of foundation on the old stands and giving them the supers, while the
parent colonies are placed near them with entrances turned away for
a few days. The flight bees return, of course, to the old stand. The
parent colony should be turned a little each day so as to bring it
in five or six days side by side with the hive containing the swarm,
which is on the old stand, and make its front face in the same way. By
lifting it a day or so later, while the young bees are flying, over to
the opposite side of the old stand and turning its entrance away from
that of the hive on this stand, the bees that are flying, as well as
those that have marked their last location, will join the swarm: and if
the same operation be repeated at the end of another week most of the
remaining bees will find their way within a day or two into the hive on
the old stand. About this time--that is, some fifteen or sixteen days
after the issuance of the first swarm--the young queen will commence
laying and may be put in place of the old one which issued with the
swarm. If honey is still coming in, the young queen, with accompanying
bees, may usually be safely introduced at this time by shaking them in
front of the hive from which the queen has been removed, both lots of
bees having been smoked beforehand so as to get them to fill themselves
with honey: or the two combs between which the queen is found may be
lifted, with adhering bees, and placed in the center of the colony to
which the queen is to be given. Before doing this it is best to smoke
the latter pretty thoroughly, and if two of the brood combs from this
hive have been removed a few hours before and placed, after their
bees have been shaken off, in the colony to be united, and all other
combs taken away from the latter, the bees, with their queen, will
be clustered on these brood combs, and they may be lifted up without
disturbance and placed in the middle of the other hive, whose supers
and cover are to be put in place at once and the bees left to quiet
down and resume storing. Under these circumstances the loss of a queen
will be very rare: nevertheless, in the case of an exceptionally
valuable one, cages and other methods are advisable. (See Chapter IX.)
ARTIFICIAL INCREASE.
The time lost in watching for swarms and hiving them, the occasional
losses of swarms, and the vexations attendant upon their issuance, such
as their clustering in tall trees, uniting and killing queens, and the
delay in their swarming when the time has come for it, have led bee
keepers to devise methods which would save their time and avoid as far
as possible the uncertainties connected with this feature of their
work. Where increase is desired the question is one of considerable
importance. In the more northern States, where the main honey yield
comes on suddenly and is abundant for a short period only, and swarming
is confined mainly to a period of four to six weeks, or even to three
weeks if the colonies are of pretty uniform strength, this question
has less weight; but farther south, where the yield is more prolonged
and the period during which swarms are liable to issue is sometimes
extended over three or four months, it is of considerable moment, and
the bee master who intends to multiply the number of his colonies will
do well to follow some good system of control.
DIVIDING.
The simplest method of artificial increase is to lift from the populous
colony a portion of the combs, with adhering bees, and place them in
another hive near the parent colony, taking care that the part without
any queen should have a majority of the bees and should be on the old
stand. If a mature queen cell is at hand to give to this part a day or
two after the division, the new colony will soon have a laying queen,
should all go well. But this last point will need looking after ten
days or so later. Should a laying queen be at hand to supply to the
queenless portion of the divided colony, the queen found in the hive at
the time of the division had better be left in that part of the colony
which remains on the original stand, since the old bees will of course
return to that spot and will not as readily receive a strange queen
as will the removed portion of the colony which has parted with its
flight bees. By introducing a laying queen when the division is made
the deposition of eggs will be begun a week earlier than if a cell only
should be given. At this season of the year this will make a difference
of a good many thousands of workers, and will also prevent the bees
from clogging the brood combs with honey, as they would if left without
a laying queen for a week or more. The supers are to be placed on this
part on the old stand, which, having most of the flight bees, will be
far better able to store surplus than the other portion. The plan of
making the division nearly equal is quite objectionable in case it is
followed closely by the main honey flow of the season, for it places
neither colony in the best condition for immediate storing. But if only
a moderate yet continuous honey flow, followed by a larger yield, is to
be anticipated, both parts will have time to become populous, and the
equal division, if done in time--that is, before the "swarming fever"
has taken hold of the colony--will be likely to prevent swarming.
DRIVING OR BRUSHING.
In case, however, some immediate work is expected of either part of
the divided colony, it is preferable to make the division in such a
way as to secure about all of the flight bees as well as most of the
young bees, which will soon become flight bees, in the hive on the old
stand. This may be done by shaking or brushing nearly all of the bees
from the combs of the hive to be divided, or, if the latter is a box
hive, the swarm may be driven into an empty box, as described under
"Transferring," in Chapter VII, and then hived as an ordinary swarm,
the parent colony receiving also the same treatment as described under
"Natural swarming."
THE NUCLEUS SYSTEM.
Perhaps the safest plan, considering that the yield, even when one is
acquainted with the flora, can not be foretold, is to follow the plan
of making nuclei, and, as soon as these have laying queens, building
them up gradually to full colonies by adding frames of brood, frames
filled with worker comb, or with comb foundation, or merely starters,
as may seem best. This system, besides being safe, has certain other
advantages. It leaves the parent hives strong for the working season,
yet tends to discourage swarming, because whenever colonies become
overcrowded, and before they have contracted the swarming fever, one or
more brood combs are removed and the colony is thus induced to continue
work in the brood chamber to fill the empty space, while, of course,
they are kept supplied with plenty of storage room above for surplus
honey. Furthermore, it is easy to exchange the young queen of the
nucleus, as soon as she commences laying, with the queen of the full
colony. If the nucleus has been started early, the full colony will
thus secure a queen of the current season's raising sufficiently early
to reduce greatly the probability of its wanting to swarm that year,
even though permitted to get very strong, as it is almost certain to do
under such circumstances. These nuclei build straight combs and may be
relied on to build, even without foundation, worker comb only.
On the whole, a rational method of artificial increase is preferable to
natural swarming; but experience and judgment in carrying it out are
required to make it advantageous. It should be cautiously undertaken by
the beginner, and the main reliance placed upon natural swarming until
the bee keeper is familiar with the bees' way.
PREVENTION OF SWARMING.
The most commonly practiced and easily applied preventive measure is
that of giving abundant room for storage of honey. This to be effective
should be given early in the season, before the bees get fairly into
the swarming notion, and the honey should be removed frequently,
unless additional empty combs can be given in the case of colonies
managed for extracted honey, while those storing in sections should be
given additional supers before those already on are completed. With
colonies run for comb honey it is not so easy to keep down swarming as
in those run for extracted honey and kept supplied with empty comb.
Free ventilation and shading of the hives as soon as warm days come
will also tend toward prevention. Opening the hives once or twice
weekly and destroying all queen cells that have been commenced will
check swarming for a time in many instances, and is a plan which
seems very thorough and the most plausible of any to beginners. But
sometimes swarms issue without waiting to form cells; it is also very
difficult to find all cells without shaking the bees from each comb in
succession, an operation which, besides consuming much time, is very
laborious when supers have to be removed, and greatly disturbs the
labors of the bees. If but one cell is overlooked the colony will still
swarm. The plan therefore leaves at best much to be desired, and is in
general not worth the effort it costs and can not be depended on.
DEQUEENING.
The removal of a queen at the opening of the swarming season
interferes, of course, with the plans of the bees, and they will then
delay swarming until they get a young queen. Then if the bee keeper
destroys all queen cells before the tenth day, swarming will again be
checked. But to prevent swarming by keeping colonies queenless longer
than a few days at most is to attain a certain desired result at a
disproportionate cost, for the bees will not store diligently when
first made queenless, and the whole yield of honey, especially if the
flow is extended over some time or other yields come later in the
season, is likely, or even nearly sure, to be less from such colonies,
while the interruption to brood rearing may decimate the colony and
prove very disastrous to it. The plan is therefore not to be commended.
REQUEENING.
Quite the opposite of this, and more efficacious in the prevention
of swarming, is the practice of replacing the old queen early in
the season with a young one of the same season's raising, produced,
perhaps, in the South before it is possible to rear queens in the
North. Such queens are not likely to swarm during the first season,
and as they are vigorous layers the hive will be well populated at
all times and thus ready for any harvest. This is important inasmuch
as a flow of honey may come unexpectedly from some plant ordinarily
not counted upon, and also since the conditions essential to the
development of the various honey-yielding plants differ greatly, their
time and succession of honey yield will also differ with the season,
the same as the quantity may vary. Young queens are also safest to
head the colonies for the winter. The plan is conducive to the highest
prosperity of the colonies and is consistent with the securing of the
largest average yield of honey, since besides giving them vigorous
layers it generally keeps the population together in powerful colonies.
It is therefore to be commended on all accounts as being in line with
the most progressive management, without at the same time interfering
with the application of other preventive measures.
[Illustration: Fig. 68.--The Simmins non-swarming system--single-story
hive with supers: _bc_, brood chamber; _sc_, super; _st_, starters of
foundation; _c_, entrance. (Redrawn from A Modern Bee-Farm.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 69.--The Simmins non-swarming system--double-story
hive with supers; _bc_, brood chamber; _sc_, supers; _st_, chamber with
starters; _e_, entrance. (Redrawn from A Modern Bee Farm.)]
SPACE NEAR ENTRANCES.
Arranging frames with starters or combs merely begun between the
brood nest and the flight hole of the hive while the bees are given
storing space above or back of the brood-nest (figs. 68 and 69) La
a plan strongly recommended by Mr. Samuel Simmins, of England, and
which has come to be known as "the Simmins non-swarming method," some
features of it and the combination into a well defined method having
been original with him. It is an excellent preventive measure, though
not invariably successful even when the distinctive features brought
forward prominently by Mr. Simmins--empty space between the brood
combs and entrance, together with the employment of drawn combs in the
supers--are supplemented by other measures already mentioned; but when,
in addition to the space between the brood and the flight hole, the
precaution be taken to get supers on in time, to ventilate the hive
well, and to keep queens not over two years old, swarming will be very
limited. If to these precautions be added that of substituting for the
old queens young ones of the current season's raising, before swarming
has begun, practical immunity from swarming is generally insured.
[Illustration: Fig. 70.--Beehives with Langdon non-swarmer attached:
_A, B_, hives; _S, S′_, supers; _D_, non-swarming device; _e, e′_,
entrances corresponding to hive entrances; _sl_, slide for closing
entrance; _c, c′_, conical wire-cloth bee-escapes; _ex, ex′_, exits of
same. (From Insect Life.)]
LANGDON NON-SWARMING DEVICE.
This device (fig. 70, _D_), first described and illustrated in Insect
Life for April, 1893 (Vol. V, No. 4), is designed to do more than
merely prevent swarming. The following claims are made by the inventor:
(1) It prevents all swarming without caging queens, cutting out
queen cells or manipulation of brood combs.
(2) Two light colonies that would not do much in sections if
working separately make one good one by running the field force
of both into the same set of supers.
(3) No bait sections are needed, as the bees can be crowded into
the sections without swarming.
(4) The honey will be finished in better condition, that is, with
less travel stain, because the union of the field forces enables
them to complete the work in less time.
(5) There will be fewer unfinished sections at the close of the
honey harvest for the reason just mentioned.
(6) Also for the same reason honey can be taken off by the full
case instead of by the section or holderful.
(7) Drones will be fewer in number, as a double handful will often
be killed off in the closed hive while the other is storing
honey rapidly.
(8) Artificial swarms and nuclei can be more easily made, as combs
of brood and bees can be taken from the closed hive in which the
queen can be found very quickly.
(9) It enables one to care for more than twice as many colonies as
under the swarming system.
Results according with the claims mentioned above have been reported
from various localities, but numerous adverse reports have also been
given, the latter indicating clearly that some modification of the
device is necessary if it is to be made generally serviceable. A
further trial of the principle under varying conditions and climates
will also be required to decide its exact value.
The manner of using the device is simple. Before the colonies swarm
the device is attached to the fronts of two adjacent hives. The slide
(fig. 70, _sl_) having been inserted at one end of the device, the bees
returning from the fields are all run into the other hive, on which the
supers are then placed. Before the colony, thus made doubly populous,
decides to swarm, the slide and supers are both changed to the other
hive. This is repeated every four or five days during the swarming
period.
SELECTION IN BREEDING.
Some races of bees show greater inclination than others toward
swarming, and the same difference can be noted between individual
colonies of a given race; therefore, whatever methods be adopted to
prevent or limit increase, no doubt the constant selection of those
queens to breed from whose workers show the least tendency toward
swarming would in time greatly reduce this disposition. Indeed, it is
perfectly consistent to believe that persistent effort, coupled with
rigid and intelligent selection, will eventually result in a strain
of bees quite as much entitled to be termed non-swarming as certain
breeds of fowls which have been produced by artificial selection are to
be called non-sitters. These terms are of course only relative, being
merely indicative of the possession of a certain disposition in a less
degree than that shown by others of the same species. It might never
be possible to change the nature of our honey bees so completely that
they would never swarm under any circumstances, and even if possible it
would take a long period, so strongly implanted seems this instinct.
But to modify it is within the reach of any intelligent breeder who
will persistently make the effort. Such work should be undertaken in
experimental apiaries where its continuance when a single point has
been gained will not be affected by the changes of individual fortunes.
Many features connected with swarming still remain mysteries. The whole
subject requires still more study, and its full elucidation would no
doubt be of great practical value to apiculture. The field is inviting.