COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT:

:

Copyrist, 1909, -

© ARA DICAL CURE

FOR THE

| Swarming F Habit abit of Bees Bees

HENRY JONES, M. D.
4 Author ¥; .

PRESTON, MININESOTA. |

PRICE PER COPY $1.00

By Henry Jones, M. 1

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A RALICAL CURE FOR THE SWARMING.
| HABIT OF BEES.

| The one essential in bee-keeping is results. In
this practical age the aim of every progressive bee-
_ keeper is to obtain the greatest results with the least
| expenditure of time and labor.
4 _ While some may engage in apiculture for recrea-
tion or a love of the pursuit, without regard to pecun-
Bary returns, the great rank and file are so_ situated
_ that they of necessity must look at the matter from a
» dollar and cent point of view. “How to Reduce the
~ Cost of Honey Production to a Minimum,” is the goal
' which they are seeking.
All short cuts in bee-keeping and all plans to abol-
sish unnecessary manipulation are receiving the
thoughtful attention of all up-to-date bee-keepers.
) Much has been accomplished along these lines in the
; past and yet there is an urgent debe for Detter amd
simpler methods than are now employed. Bee-keepers
“like the rest of humanity often spend a great deal of
time and labor to accomplish a very little thing. Need-
_less manipulation has a money value, whether per-
_tormed by yourself or someone else, ‘and adds to the
“cost of production. In no subject relating to apicul-_
| _ture does this apply more strongly than it does to the
“swarming problem. Natural swarming as practiced by
our grandfathers, has no place in modern bee-keeping.
_ Uhe methods advocated today are far ahead of natural
swarming, yet none of them give total satisfaction.
- Numerous and varied are the plans of swarm-control
3 that do not control. Systems that do not prevent.
There is an element of uncertainty and unreliability
about each and every method heretofore recommend-
eed. Some of them call for costly hives and fixtures,
some for an endless amount of manipulation, and some
-tequire all the skill of a trained expert to carry them
‘into execution. None are infallible. What the bee-

keeping world is watching and waiting for is some
better plan,—some simple, sure and reliable method
that will prevent swarming at all times and under all
circumstances. Is there, or can there be, any manage-
ment, any process or treatment, that will fulfill these
requirements? ‘The answer expected would be “No.”
The good old orthodox ways appeal strongly to the
great majority of bee-keepers, and it seems a difficult
thing for them to cut loose from the old methods that
have the sanction of antiquity. The myths, fables and
superstitions concerning bees—the heritage of our an-
cestors—still clings to us with a strange persistency,
and nearly every advance in bee-keeping has had to
encounter the whims, prejudices and conservatism of
the masses. In this day of progress and discovery is
it safe to deny anything? Many of the unsolved enig-
mas of the past are being solved today, and why
should the non-swarming riddle remain without solu-
tion. Now, brother and sister bee-keepers, it may cause
you some surprise and it may awaken within you some
skepticism when I make the bold broad statement
that I can outline a method of treatment that will cure
the swarming feature every time and all the time yer
will work wherever bees can as it is founded upon an
instinct of the bee which is infallible. The treatment
will cure the “swarming impulse” if already acquired,
or, if given before the bees think of swarming, will
prevent swarm preparation. It is either a preventative
measure or a curative measure, depending upon the
time of giving treatment. It will and absolutely does
prevent all swarming at all times and under all cir-
cumstances notwithstanding that old legend that
“Bees Do Nothing Invariably.”

Not wishing to tax your credulity to the breaking
point, nor wishing you to think these lines penned in
a spirit of egotism, I will desist from any further pre-
liminary statements and outline the plan which I have
followed for the four years past.

“Use all the well known methods early in the

2

ee oe ae

a - —

a

spring to get the colonies strong in bees before the
honey flow is on. Then when the hives are full to
overflowing with bees and you have all the force
you want—all the bees needed to gather the harvest

- —go to these mamouth colonies, open the hives, and
with the uncapping knife or some other sharp in-
strument uncap all the sealed brood you find except
two frames of the sealed brood in each hive which
you leave undisturbed. The two frames of hatching
brood will keep up the strength of the colony during
the honey flow. Any time within fifteen days give
a.second treatment, the same as the first, if you find
any colonies making preparations to swarm. ‘This
treatment will prevent all swarming and enable the
bee-keeper to keep his whole force of workers to-
ecrier during the honey harvest. The bees at once
begin to drag out the headless brood and _= scatter
them far and wide, and in from twelve to twenty-
four hours every, vestige of brood operated upon will
be removed from the hive. The bees will polish up
the cells from which they have removed the dead
brood and the queen will begin laying in them at
once instead of the bees plugging them full of honey
as might be expected. The bees start to work at
once with all the vim and energy of a prime swarm
without any further attempt to swarm out. It is
simply wonderful how quickly a hive full of loafers
can be transformed into the most energetic work-
ers.”

Now let us see what the advantages of this
method are as compared with the methods previously
published. st. It starts the bees to work immedi-
ately and there will be no loafing, sulking or abscond-
ing of swarms, as so frequently happens. with shook
Swarming or other well known methods of swarm con-
foes 2nd. it*represents the saving of an endless
amount of labor as compared with other methods. Five
to ten minutes is ample time for the first operation
and still less if a second is needed. The bees of that

3

colony are then effectually cured of all swarm prepar-
ations for that season. As a time-saver it is without
a parallel in bee-keeping. Manipulation takes time
and has a money value to the bee-keeper. It takes an
enormous amount of time to carry out some of the
non-swarming systems, and when handling colonies
by the hundred it takes a large share of the honey
crop to pay for the time spent in useless manipulation.
3rd. The treatment is especially adapted 10 the Gomp
honey producer’s needs, making it as ‘easy to raise
comb as extracted honey. The whole of his working
force can be kept together thruout the honey flow
without any desire to swarm, and every comb honey
producer will readily understand what that means.
Out yards can be established, and comb honey raised
cheaper_and with less labor than extracted omeya ss
today with present methods.

“As a rule give the treatment to the comb honey
colonies at the time you put on the second super
which should be given when the first super is about

half to two-thirds full. This is about the time the
bees usually make preparations to swarm. ‘The first
super should be given about ten days before the

honey flow is on. When you have all the bees you

want, give them the treatment, paying no attention
to whether they are making preparations to swarm
or not. In either case they will not swarna jee:
the treatment to all the colonies that are full of bees.
Then on the next round notice all colonies that are
working energetically and let them severely alone
unless they require more super room; and, if so, give
it to them. You can rest assured that there are no
swarm preparations—no need of making an exam-
ination of the brood rest. If any colonies are found
loafing, hanging out, or working in a listless, half-
hearted way, and have not accomplished much in the
supers, open the hive andsexamine the brood nest as
swarm preparations are under way. Give them the
second treatment at this juncture, and you will have

4

9

‘knocked swarming in the head’ for the season as
fame as that colony is concerned. The comb honey
producer can feel that he is master of the situation,
being able to run his bees and not have his bees run
him.”

Ath. It is equally adapted to the producer of ex-
tracted honey. While it is true that in raising extract-
ed honey, swarming is more easily controlled if supers
are given early and often enough so that there will be
an abundance of room at all times and no, crowding.
Swarming can in this way be reduced to a minimum.
mei order to carry it into effect the queen must: be
allowed to roam thru the supers at her own inclina-

tion. When the brood chamber becomes crowded she
establishes a brood nest in the first super and some-
times in the second, and as the honey season advances
there will be preparations for swarming in spite of the
apundance of room. Jt is a well known fact that -a
eyitiadt or bees: with ..a crowded-~ «brood. ‘nest
meiieoswarniy \even in, (haved. in a. «barrel or “in
an attic, as the room outside the brood nest proper
cuts no figure. And-look at the conditions when the
bees are managed by giving them plenty of super
room. As soon as the queen moves to the first super
the bees will commence plugging the old brood nest —
full of pollen as fast as the young bees hatch out and
you have a worthless lot of pollen clogged combs on
your hands. The brood nest will generally be found —
empty of honey, requiring the feeding of the bees to
supply stores for winter. If an excluder is used the
bees will fill up the brood nest with winter stores, the
same as when raising comb honey, and are not inclined
to store everything above. When extracting frames
with young unsealed brood in, the extracting room is
moO place ior company. By the. cutting: out capped
brood plan of managing swarming you put a queen ex-
cluder over the brood nest and confine the queen be-
low where she belongs.
“When your extracting colony is full to over-

5

flowing with bees, open the hive and with your
knife cut the heads off all the capped brood except
the two frames left to make good the loss of fielders.
As a matter of fact give them the same treatment as
the comb-honey colony. Give second treatment if
any colonies require it. If on your next visit you
find the bees going in and out with a rush, pay no at-
tention to it except to give plenty of reom mare
supers. Examine any that are found clustered out
and taking life easy. You will find them preparing
to swarm. Repeat the treatment and dismiss all
thought of their swarming from your mind. No
one would tolerate a brood nest in a second story if
it were not that it retards swarming. Certainly a
ereat improvement over present methods when the
queen can be kept below and the supers free from
brood and pollen, and the matter of increase under
perfect control. :
sth. It does away with all non-swarming hives
and devices, all self-hivers, and all swarm controllers
that cost money. Besides these are usually unsatis-
factory and unreliable. The treatment here @mmlamen
does not cost a single penny’s investment to carry it
out; no extra capital invested to add to the cost of pro-
duction. Every bee-keeper has or should have a smok-
er and an uncapping knife as a part of his equipment.
6th. There is no hunting of queens with all its vexa-
tions. Neither is there any caging. or “Clippaneiae
queens or need for any extra attention directed toward
her. There is no pinching of queen cells as the bees
will attend to that better than it can be done by the
hand of man. No stacking of brood on other colonies,
no bumping of-hives around, nor shaking of bees into
another hive and compelling them to build a new
brood nest during the honey flow. No interruption of
the queen’s laying right along in the old brood nest.
All of these take up valuable time right in the busy
season when the rush is on, and even then, after all
such fussing, there is no assurance that the bee-keep-

6

er has accomplished that which he set out to do. His
expectations may be realized and then again they may
not.

gee Phe ease and simplicity. of ..the.. treatment
makes it a boon to the amateur bee-keeper. The man
with a few bees on a village lot can give treatment and
go on about his business knowing that he has his bees
under control. The farmer with a few stands of bees
to furnish honey. for his own use, can give them the
treatment at his leisure feeling confident that he will
not be called from his work by that old familiar cry,
“The bees are swarming.” The professional with his
- outyards can raise either comb or extracted honey
feeling sure that there will be no absconding of
Swarms during his absence. And whether he be ama-
teur or specialist, he can care for double the number of
.colonies and can double the amount of his honey crop
with the same amount of labor. The cost of produc-
tion will be so cheapened that honey will not be con-
sidered a luxury. When this plan of treatment be-
comes generally known, the Bee production of the
world will be doubled.

Sth. The treatment will cure the swarming im-
pulse after queen cells are built and capped over, and
it will also prevent swarming if applied before the
bees have made any preparations to swarm. Therein
consists its great superiority over any and all known
non-swarming methods. All other systems require to
be carried out before the bees think of swarming. All
plans hitherto advocated have been preventative and
not curative measures. All authorities agree that their
methods are not remedial methods and on admit that
they do not know of any such method. The _ simple
fact that it will cause the bees to destroy the queen
cells after they are built and prevent their swarming
out stamps it as being as far ahead of other methods
ee am express train 1s ahead ofan ox team. 9Oth. If
you desire to re-queen you have on hand a nice lot of
choice queen-cells raised under the swarming impulse.

7

No occasion to search for a non-swarming race of
bees; no necessity of trying to breed out the swarming
instinct, for at all times you have swarm control right
under your thumb.
Again, what are some of the disadvantages of this
system’? Objections such as they are all of a minus
quantity. Ist. Not adapted to the man who keeps his
bees in the “invisible brood chamber hives,” better
known in common parlance as the straw skep, the box —
hive, the log gum and the proverbial nail keg. Neither
the bees nor the man can see what is going on within
the hives. Yet both the bees and the man seem Satis-
fied. That kind of bee-keeper seems to keep bees ser
the exercise and excitement he gets out of it emasime
swarms, climbing trees and hiving swarms. The heat,
sweat and stings makes him think that swarming is
the chief end of apiculture. Such a. trifle%asyamme@mens
yield is a minor consideration with him. 2nd. Cut-
ting off the heads of so much sealed brood may seem
a cruel, useless “slaughter of the innocents.’ Admit-
ting’, for the sake of argument, that it 1s, d@esmamiam
hesitate to sterilize and weed out all inferior animals
even tho his methods involve pain and even death. All
our methods of preparing animal food inflict cruelty
and death upon the animal. Again, the brood behead-
ed, if it had been left undisturbed would not have
hatched out. in time to help gather the harvest Wiaey
would arrive upon the scene at a time to become con-
sumers and not producers. ‘The unsealed brood, to-
eether with the newly laid eggs in the empty cells
from which the bees have removed the brood will
hatch out in time to assist with the fall flow, 1f there
should be one, and your colonies will go into winter
quarters as strong as they would have been if the cap-
ped brood had not been destroyed. It seems the only
way to knock the swarming impulse out of their head.
Taking a few frames of brood away at a time or tak-
ing it all away at once and replacing it with empty
combs or foundation will not cure the bees’ impulse to

8

swarm. Cutting out of the brood will stop all swarm-
me. if Seems to require a heroic remedy to put a
quietus on the swarming habit.

Instinct teaches the bee that its very existence de-
pends upon a prolific queen and a well regulated and
ample brood nest. As long as these conditions are
present the colony works on in contentment, but as
soon as the brood nest becomes crowded and there is
no place for the queen to deposit her eggs, instinct
teaches the bee that its existence is imperiled, and they
become discouraged and swarm out to establish a new
home. If the brood nest should sustain an injury in
aay. way nature teaches the bee to repair it at once:
These instincts seem to be inborn and a part of the
very nature of the bee. It appears reasonable to me
that uncapping the brood would have about the same
effect upon the bee in regard to its swarming out as
we would be affected if we had made preparations for
a journey and some giant would come along, tear the
root off from over our heads, destroy our furniture,
kill our babies and raise cain generally. Our desire
to travel would be squelched forthwith and we would
stay at home the same as the bees do. We might start
in at once to repair the damage done to our home or
we might give up in despair. Bee nature being built ©
along different lines at once applies itself to the wreck
and starts to repair the damage to its home. The dead
are carried out, the cells are cleaned up and the queen ©
has ample room to lay again. Everything in the econ-
omy of the hive goes on as before, the bees having no
desire to swarm until the brood nest again becomes
crowded, when bee nature again asserts itself and they
once more begin to make preparations to swarm. But
the bee’s thoughts are not my thoughts, neither are
my thoughts the bee’s thoughts, so if I have not inter-
preted their actions aright you have the privilege of

giving a better explanation. One guess is as good as *

another as long as it. cannot be demonstrated to a
mathematical certainty. Admitting that bees do freak-

9

things at times, is it not a conceded fact that a colony
ot bees under normal conditions will not make prepar-
ations to swarm as long as the queen has ample room
in the brood nest to deposit her eggs: And 18 1 not
also an established fact that when the brood nest be-
comes congested and the queen is restricted in her
ege-laying, that then, and not until then, does the
swarming instinct assert itself? Examination of #a
colony prior to swarming when queen cells are under
way shows the outside combs full of honey and pollen, ©
the inside combs full of sealed brood, eggs and larva,
with honey in top and corners of center frames, the
sealed brood predominating in the outer frames of the
brood nest proper, and open brood in’ the) cemtemy ame
nearly every cell in the hive filled with honey, pollen
or brood and no room for the queen to lay—an ideal
condition to cause the bees to become discontented.
Bees thrown into an abnormal condition will often
swarm, out; starvation swarms, colonies infested with
worms and with their combs a mass of web, shaken
swarms that have been bumped and banged and shak-
en out and compelled to establish themselves in a new
home, thinking their condition could not be worse, in
their discouragement swarm and light out for pastures
new. ‘The condition of the brood nest cuts no figure
with them, but be it remembered that they have been
thrown, into an abnormal condition, and the vagaries
of bee nature under abnormal conditions is past com-
prehension. . Given all other conditions that lead to
swarming minus a crowded brood nest and there is no
swarming. Natural swarming, shook swarming, cag-
ing the queen all have as their underlying principle
and do directly or indirectly relieve the congested con-
dition of the brood nest. The Aspinwall non-swarm-
ing hive has as its leading feature the prevention of
swarming by breaking up the solid brood nest. That is
‘ the one feature common to all methods of swarm con-
trol. It resolves itself into what is the simplest, sur-
est and safest method of accomplishing this end. Asan

IO

Neem

easy, sure method, the uncapping brood plan stands in
a class by itself. :

Some of my bee-keeping friends have requested
that I give the steps that led up to the discovery of
the treatment herein outlined. Being somewhat in
doubt as to its being of sufficient interest to the read-
er, and also thinking that it might take up more space
than the scope of this little booklet would warrant,
my first inpulse was to decline, but finally decided to
give the details as briefly as possible. In order to do
so will have to refer a little to “ancient history.” I en-
gaged in bee-keeping on a small scale away back in
the “seventies.” Found the pursuit extremely fascin-
mane and soon had a bad case of “bee fever’ on. my
hands. My enthusiasm did not develop into a mania
for inventing a hive as is usually the case with begin-
ners. In 1878 one colony was worked for comb honey
and the proceeds of that one hive netted thirty dollars.
Kept them from swarming by pinching off the queen
cells—a procedure which worked satisfactorily in that
particular case. That was the beginning of a _ non-
Swarming mania that has possessed me ever since.
Wished then as I have thousands of times since that
there was some safe, sure and easy method to prevent
Swarming entirely. A combination of circumstances
made it necessary that I dispose of my bees and active
professional life and the want of a suitable location
prevented me from again taking up the work for a
quarter of a century. Since my first experience as a
bee-keeper until the present I have seldom talked with
a bee-keeper without winding up by asking him how
he controlled swarming and any article published on
the subject always received careful reading. The very
inception or rather the beginning of the train of
thought that led up to the present treatment was due
to an article that appeared in the American Bee Jour-
mal for March ist, 1906, on page 185 and signed, “€.

y’ Davenport, Southern Minnesota.” The writer stated

that he had discovered a treatment that would abso-

TE

lutely prevent all swarming; that he gave a treatment
that could be done in five minutes or less and in from
one to fifteen days a second treatment requiring less
than two minutes. He said that there was no hunting
queens, no pinching of queen cells and no bumping of
hives around; that he had given the treatment to hun-
dreds of colonies and that none of them had swarmed,
but he failed to give the treatment. In the same jour-
nal for July 12th, 1906, on page 602 he refuses to make
his treatment known and gives as his reasons that it
would make bee-keeping too easy and honey too
cheap... Never having read an-article on swemmae
that impressed me as that did, and the matter kept
“simmering” in my mind for days and weeks. Sought

to discover the treatment he gave his bees by a process
of exclusion, as medical men frequently do when they
have a complication of symptoms and are not just
sure what ails the patient. Reasoned that the treat-
ment he gave his colonies must be one of two kinds—
either medical-or surgical. Medical treatments was
soon excluded as being out of the question. Then it
must of necessity be of a surgical nature. Simo
treatment of the hive was impossible so the hive was
eliminated. There then remained the queen, workers,
drones, brood and possible queen cells to be operated
upon. But he had stated that he did not even look for
the queen or queen cells, so they were excluded from
being a factor in the problem to be solved. There now
remained the workers, the drones and the brood to be
treated. It being a self-evident proposition that he
could not catch all the drones or workers and operate
upon then, in five minutes, they too -were ~excimded,
leaving only the brood for a surgical operation of five
minutes or less. To decide what surgical operation he
performed on the brood was the hardest part of the
whole proposition. Thought of cutting the brood out
of the frames, but thought of the drone comb they
would build if compelled to build a brood nest anew,
and not knowing how to dispose of the brood after

12

cutting it out, that idea was abandoned as poor surg-
ery. Then | thought of mutilating the brood in some
manner and also of uncapping it. ‘The uncapping
scheme looked the most plausible as I had somewhere
read that in hives where there was an excess of drone
brood the bees would immediately remove it from the
cells if it was uncapped. Why would they not serve
worker brood the same way? ‘This treatment looked
the most plausible of any that suggested itself so I de-
mrmined to try it out. The idea that the effect of the
operation would be to relieve a crowded brood nest
had not as yet dawned upon my mind. In due course
of time I found a colony building queen cells prepara-
tory to swarming out. I determined to uncap all the
sealed brood if it ruined the colony. In two days af-
ter uncapping the brood I made an examination of the
hive and found the capped queen cells torn down and
the young queens removed and the bees made no fur-
ther preparations to swarm that season. Candor com-
pels me to say that they did not do anything else to
boast of. Too much dwindling and not enough re-
eriits to reinforce the workers. ‘They built up. in
eood shape and were strong in numbers for the fall
flow. Did not try any further experiments on any of
the colonies during 1906. When 1907 season was on
I operated upon two colonies leaving some of the
sealed brood to reinforce the workers. Again in 1908
tried the treatment upon a few colonies successfully,
concluding before the season was over that two solid
frames of brood in each hive was sufficient to make
good the losses of the field bees. Not having enough
bees at any time to give the treatment a thorough test,
it was deferred until the past season (1909) to try it
out. Will digress enough to state that my confidence
in this treatment was further strengthened by an arti-
meowiitten by F. Cloverdale of- Maquoketa, lJowa,
which appeared in the June number of the “Bee-keep-
ers Review.” 1907. It was entitled “Controlling In-
crease By Cutting Out the Brood.” He stated that:

13

“Any plan that rids the hive of all brood, kills
all swarming just as effectually as if natural swarm-
ing had taken place. His plan consists in cutting
out and removing all the brood, leaving the honey
parts in the frames. Setting the: Dbraode gaa
box with a screen cone on one side and) moveuwup
close to the entrance of the old hive, the young bees
hatched out constantly and reinforced the old hive.
The cut out combs had to be spaced in the box so as
not to touch each other and enough bees run in to
clean up the drippings and furnish heaty tema
brood. And this plan required further that enough
honey be cut out with the brood to last until all the
bees were hatched—the empty brood combs in the
hatching box being finally melted up into wax.”

The queer part of it is that Mr. Cloverdale stum-
bled right over one of the most important discoveries
of the last half century but failed to recognize its pos-
sibilities. Further along in his article he makes this
statement: | 3

“To manipulate colonies so as not to swarm at
all when run for comb honey is.a thing yet to be dis-
covered.”

It read to me like another case of history repeat-
ing itself. While it is true that Langstroth was not
really the inventor of the movable frame hive, he was
the inventor of the first practical movable frame hive,
a hive that was of real use to the world. To Huber,
the Swiss, belongs the credit of inventing the first
movable frame, but his invention was impracticable
and not adapted to bee-keeping on a commercial scale.

Returning again to the season of 1909, having set-
tled upon a routine of treatment to be carried out, will
state that I began the season with fifty-four colonies
in ten-frame dove-tailed hives with Hoffman frames.
Ten colonies were Italians and the rest were hybrids—
the apiary being located upon the back part of two vil-
lage lots. Owing to a cold late spring they built up
slowly in the early part of the season. The weather be-

14

ing more favorable from May 15th to June 15th, they
built up rapidly and were in good condition for the
honey flow from white clover that began about that
time and was at its best from June 20th to July 5th,
when a severe drouth began to make itself felt. Seven-
teen colonies were worked for comb honey and the re-
maining thirty-seven for extracted. From June 26th
to July 12th the swarming season was on in earnest,
the most of them preparing to swarm out within ten
Gays aiter June 26th. Of: the’ seventeen; colonies
worked for comb honey, twelve of them built queen
cells and were given the treatment, one of them being
operated upon after it had started to swarm out, an
account of which will be given later. Getting behind
with my work two colonies were given the treatment
before making swarm preparations as they were very
populous and the treatment was given as a preventa-
tive. Only one comb honey colony made swarming
preparations after the treatment was given. That col-
ony had a poor lot of brood combs, quite a large per-
centage of drone comb, and some of the remaining
combs badly clogged with old pollen which the bees
were trying to chew up and carry out. They seemed
to be hampered for room to establish a normal sized
brood nest. It was given the second treatment nine
days after the first one. None of the fourteen colonies
treated made any further preparations to swarm but
worked on with untiring energy giving a good account
of themselves as honey gatherers. Three of the comb
honey hives made no attempt at swarming. They were
weak colonies that were late in building up and were
of the number I had intended to run for extracted
honey but had been forced to give them supers with
‘sections owing to a delayed order for supplies. They
built up to the swarming point and made each about
a super full of honey and would have needed a treat-
ment soon only the drouth set in and cut short the
flow of honey to such an extent that there were no more
Swarm preparations by any ofthecoloniesintheapiary.

T5

In applying the treatment to the comb honey colonies
my aim was to let them build cells and get as near to
the swarming out point as possible without actually
swarming. ‘The same method was applied to extract-
ing colonies but more of that later. Opening the hives
and examining fromes for queen cells made work and
plenty of it, too, and if the method had to be carried
out along such lines it would have but little to com-
mend it. I did not wish to leave a single loop hole for
some doubting Thomas to jump up and say that per-
haps my bees wouldn’t have swarmed if VY hage er:
them alone, so in testing the plan for publication I
proposed to know just how. many were preparing to
swarm and their condition at all times, amd) aleowne
know.-the effect of the treatment. given, 31 aia ee
was not a cure for swarming | wanted to know the
facts. In order to show the severe test it was put to
I will now give a brief outline of colony No. 36, with
a pure Italian queen one year old. Records show that
it was examined June 23 and no queen ‘cells “tome
strong in bees and brood and working in the comb
honey super. Owing to press of work I could not ex-
amine them: again June 20th. July tered
that they were clustering out and not working as they
should. The next day, July 2nd, as 1 was? woaeue
near them with a smoker in working order, I was dis-
mayed to see the bees suddenly rush pell mell out of
the hive just as I was on the point of examining them.
Tried smoking them to stop their rush but they kept
coming .right out thru the smoke. Finally sae @aa em
resort 1 grabbed up a small piece of board lying meat
and closed the entrance with it, all but about two
inches at onée. end. Into this small entrances apie
clouds of smoke until 1 had them partially quieted and
then I stopped it up with grass. Went mex =tamgpac
bee house and procured a piece of perforated zinc. Af-
ter adjusting it I stepped back to await results. The
bees swarmed out at once and after circling around for
several minutes without clustering, they finally began

10

going back into the hive. I knew then that I had suc-
ceeded in imprisoning the queen, but was afraid to
. open the hive for fear they would swarm out. So de
cided to wait until the next morning to look them
over. This happened about 8:00 a. m., and about
11:00 a. m. they came out again, circled around and
once more returned to the hive. At about 3 p. m. the
performance was again repeated. Early on the morn-
ing of July 3rd 1 opened the hive and counted fourteen
queen cells in various stages of development, three of
them being capped over. Slashed off all the heads of
the capped brood found in six frames, leaving two
frames of nearly solid capped brood. ‘Took especial
Pane nor to disturb any. of the queen. cells,>:dnd -then
closed up the hive wondering what they would do.
Was in the apiary ali of that day but they did not once
offer to swarm out, but worked for dear life dragging
out dead brood. Opened the hive again July 4th and
found the capped queen cells torn open and the young
queens removed. That colony made no further at-
tempt to swarm and gave me nearly one hundred
pounds of nice comb honey despite the drouth that
Game On Soon aiter. Cértainly no severer’ test of any
non-swarming system could be made.

I will also give a condensed statement as to how ~
the extracting colonies were managed. Having. six
queen excluders, they were placed over six of the larg-
est colonies at the time they were given their first ©
super. They all made preparations to swarm. They
were given the treatment and no further attempts at
Swarming were made. Procured a dozen more exclud-
ers later and used them where the queen was found
below, selecting populous colonies when possible. Not
all of them built cells, due to the lateness of their use,
perhaps. Besides the six colonies mentioned above
there were nine other colonies devoted to extracting
that built queen cells and were given the treatment,
and only one made preparations to swarm again and
had to be given a second treatment. Only two out of

17

twenty-nine colonies thus far operated upon required
the second treatment. I will now account Gop
other twenty-two extracting colonies, for the reader
may have gotten the impression by this time that I
had no swarming, which would be erroneous. Will
digress long enough to state that thirty extracting
supers ordered thru a local dealer failed to materialize
until a month too late for the rush, and the extracting
colonies were crowded for room,which accounts in a
measure for the large percentage of swarm prepara...
tion. Office duties, wiring of frames, and putting in of
foundation consumed so much time that the colonies
could not all be examined every seven days as had
been originally intended and as a result three colonies
that had not received treatment threw off swarms and
were managed as follows. The first swarm that issued
was hived on frames containing starters and placed
upon the old stand. ‘The old hive with super on was
moved to one side as I intended to give the new swarm
the old super as soon as they had drawn out sufficient
comb to establish a brood nest. The weather being ex-
cessively hot and the bees being unable to breale tae
cluster, became dissatisfied and deserted their hive the ©
next day and settled on a low branch of an apple tree.
Before they could be hived a swarm issued from an-
other hive and settled with it on the same branch.
Hived both swarms in the hive with the starters, cap-
turing one queen as they were running in, and set the
hive back on its original stand. Opened the old hive
from which the first swarm issued and uncapped all
brood but two frames and was very careful not to dis-
turb any capped queen cells. After operation, placed
old hive over new double swarm with a queen ex-
cluder between, putting the super on top, making a
three story hive. Result, queen cells destroyed and no
further attempt at swarming out: “The hive dom
which the second swarm issued had all queen cells de-
stroyed but one on the seventh day and no swarm 1s-
sued from that hime.

18

The next day another swarm issued from a colony
that had not been treated. Hived it on frames with
full sheets of foundation setting the old hive to one
side and placing new hive o nold stand. At once gave
old colony treatment and placed it on new hive with
excluder between and extracting super on top—the
Same procedure as before. It destroyed the queen
cells and made no further attempt at swarming. The
plan was a success in the two cases mentioned
and is worthy a trial when no increase is desired. The
method outlined prevented all increase in the number
of colonies. There were fifty-four colonies spring
count and fifty-four when the swarming season was
over. The remaining nineteen colonies which were run
to extracting made no attempt at swarming, but three
of the stronger colonies were given the treatment, as
a preventative as they were becoming populous and I
was getting somewhat tired of making such frequent
examinations. The three made no _ preparations to
swarm. The sixteen remaining colonies that did not
arrive at the swarming point were colonies that were
weak in the spring and were slow in building up and
by giving them super room the swarming impulse was
retarded. A summary of the season’s work would be
as follows:

Of the seventeen colonies run for comb honey:

II were given the treatment after queen cells were
built.

2 were given the treatment as a preventative of
Swarming.

I was given the treatment after swarming out had
commenced.

3 made no preparations to swarm.

Of the thirty-seven colonies run for extracted
honey: 3
15 were given the treatment after queen cells were
built.

3 were given the treatment as a _ preventative
measure.

19

2 were given the treatment after swarming and
before uniting.

1 had all queen cells but one pinched off on
seventh day.

16 made no preparations to swarm.

One comb honey colony and one extracting col-
ony made preparations to swarm the second time and
were given the second treatment.

In no single instance did a colony swarm out that
had received the treatment. Neither did amy “ornate
few colonies that were treated during 1906, 1907, 1908
swarm.

Whether the method of swarm control here de-
scribed is really the C. Davenport secret or not will
never be known unless perchance some of his neigh-
bors have knowledge of it for in the article of March
Ist, 1906, referred to, he speaks of operating upon his
neighbors’ bees free of cost in order to test the treat-
ment. If it is fot his treatment, it “at. “leaseaiaenee
every indication claimed for his - method) >View ie.
Journals for July, 1908, announced that C. Davenport,
whose real name was C. Davenport Monette, met an
untimely death one night in June when his house
burned down and that he was a resident of Chatfield,
Minn. For the information of the reader will say that
Chatfield is a town fifteen miles north of here.

Now, as to whether uncapping a less amount of
the sealed brood would prevent all swarming or not,
is a problem that I have not as-yet tested out. Perhaps
if one-third or even one-half of the sealed brood was
allowed to remain, the over-crowded condition of the
brood nest might be relieved sufficiently to cause the
bees to abandon swarm preparations. My experiments
ranged between leaving two frames of sealed brood
and uncapping all there was in the hive. Ii a Jess
amount of uncapping would “knock swarming in the
head” it would be an advantage to the timid bee-keep-
er who might have some compunction of conscience

20

about destroying so much sealed brood. Personally I
do not consider the matter of material importance as
the plan outlined gives all the workers needed for the
clover and basswood flow in our northern climate, and
the open brood left undisturbed, together with the
newly laid eggs that have been deposited in the cells
from which the uncapped brood has been removed,
gives an army of workers for the late fall flow, with-
out having a hive full of consumers right after the
first honey flow is over. The plan can be adapted to
southern conditions where the swarming season be-
gins a month or so earlier than the main honey flow.
Can see no reason why the plan cannot be adapted to
any locality where bees are kept. It is bound to revo-
lutionize bee-keeping all over the world or | am woe-
fully mistaken in my judgment.

It is perhaps hardly necessary to caution the read-
er not to use this method if his apiary is infected with
foul brood, owing to the danger of carrying the disease
from infected to healthy colonies.

And now, brother and sister bee-keepers, allow me
to state in conclusion that I have outlined a simple
plan of swarm control that the bee-keeping world
knows nothing about so far as I am aware. And I of-
fer it to you for your approval or condemnation. At
a rough guess ] expect nine out of ten of you to read
the statements herein made with a good deal of sus-
picion, furthermore I expect all of you to accept them
with a “grain of salt.” All I ask of you is that you give
the plan a fair trial for I know that you will be sur-
prised at the results. The treatment being so simple
and easy and the results so surprising it was a difficult
matter for me to believe it myself even after having
proof right before my eyes. After you have given ita
trial I feel sure that you will not consider my statements
extravagant and when the full extent of its possibili-
ties are realized the bee-keeping world will render
their verdict in accordance with the claims I have
made for the treatment.

21

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