A radical cure for the swarming habit of bees

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|4 RADICAL CURE

FOR THE

Swarming Habit of Bees.

_ HENRY JONES, M. D.,
PRESTON, MINNESOTA

: F : % ar fie :

ae PRICE PER COPY, $1.00 ae

_ Copyrieht, ‘1910. ries a Henry Jones, M. D.

A RADICAL CURE

FOR THE

eee Ll it of Bees

HENRY JONES, M. D.
PRESTON, : MINNESOTA

PRICE PER COPY $1.00

Copyright, 1910. By Henry Jones, M. D.

€ clA258964

A Rivical Cure for the Swarm-
ing Habit of Bees.

WHY WE KEEP 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.

While some may engage in apiculture for recrea-
tion or a love of the pursuit, without regard to pecun-
lary returns, they ercamsank and “file -areiso 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-
ish 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 demand for better and
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-
formed 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.
The methods advocated today are far ahead of natural
Swarming, yet none of them give entire satisfaction.
Numerous and varied are the plans of swarm-control
that do not control, system that do not prevent. There
is an element of uncertainty and unreliability about
each and every method heretofore recommended. Some

of them call for costly hives and fixtures, some for an
endless amount of manipulation and some requireallthe
skill’ of a. trained expertito carry thempinto execitiem:
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 circum-
stances. Is there, or can there be any management,
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 and broad statement
that I can outline a method of treatment that will cure
the swarming feature every time and all the time. It
will work wherever bees can as it 1s 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 preventive
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.”

HOW TO PREVENT SWARMING.

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
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 mammoth colonies,’ open the hives, and with
the uncapping knife or some other sharp instrument,
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 wil prevent all swarming and enable the
bee-keeper to keep his whole force of workers to-
gether 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 ex-
pected. The bees start to work at once with all the vim
and energy of a prime swarm without any further at-
tempt to swarm out. It is simply wonderful how quick-
ly a hive full of loafers can be transformed into the
most energetic workers.”

ADVANTAGES GAINED.

Now let us see what the advantages of this
method are as compared with the methods previously
published. 1. It starts the bees to work immediately
and there will be no loafing, sulking or obsconding of
swarms, as so frequently happens with shook swarm-
ing or other well known methods of swarm control. 2.
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 colony are then ef-
fectually cured of all swarm preparations for that sea-
son. 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 croy to pay for the time spent
in useless \manipulation. 3.. ‘The treatment as es=
pecially adapted to the comb honey producer’s needs,
making it as easy to raise comb as extracted honey. The
whole of his working force can be kept together thru-
out 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 honey is today with present methods.

“Asarule 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 or two-thirds full. This is about the
time the bees usually make preparations to swarm.
The first super should be given about ten days be-
fore 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 swarm.

4

Give 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
examination 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 and examine the brood
nest as swarm preparations are under way. Give
them the second treatment at this juncture, and
you will have ‘knocked swarming in the head” tor
the season as far 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.”

4. 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 of
brood nest. Swarming can in this way be reduced to
a minimum. But in order to carry it into effect the
queen must beallowed to roam through the supers at her
own inclination. When the brood chamber becomes
crowded she establishes a brood nest in the first super
and sometimes in the second, and as the honey season
advances there will be preparations for swarming in
spite of the abundance of room. It is a well known
fact that a swarm of bees with a crowded brood nest
will swarm even if hived 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 te)
young bees hatch out and you have a worthless lot of

5

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 isno place for company. By the cut-
ting out capped brood plan of managing swarming you
put a queen excluder over the brood nest and confine
the queen below where she belongs.

“When your extracting colony is full to over-
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 atten-
tion to it except to give plenty or room in the supers.
Examine any that are found clustered out and tak-
ing lnfe easy. You will find them; “preparing to
Swati. iNnepeat the, treatment. and, Idisnmes) aul
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
great improvement over the present methods when
the queen «can be kept Delow and the ‘stipersinee
from brood and pollen and the matter of increase
under perfect control.

5. It does away with all non-swarming hives and
devices, all self-hivers, and all swarm controllers that
cost money. Besides these are usually unsatisfactory
and unreliable. The treatment here outlined does not
cost a single penny’s investment to carry it out; no ex-
tra capital invested to add to the cost of production.
Every bee-keeper has or should have a smoker and an
uncapping knife as a part of his equipment. 6. There

6

is no hunting of queens with all its vexations. Neither
is there any caging or clipping of 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 dome-by the hand tof yman’ Noa
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 there after all such fussing, there is no
assurance that the bee-keeper has accomplished that
which he set out to do. His expectations may be real-
ized and then again they may not.

7. The ease and simplicity of the treament 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 fur-
nish honey for his own use, can give them the treat-
ment at his leisure feeling confident that he will not be
called from his work ne that oldsiamiliameny.nn lake
bees are swarming.” The professional with his out-
yards can raise either comb or extracted honey feeling
sure that there will be no absconding of swarms during
his absence. And whether he be amateur 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 production will be so
cheapened that honey will not be considered a luxury.
When this plan of treatment becomes generally known,
the honey production of the world will be doubled.

8. The treatment will cure the swarming impulse
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-swarm-

fi

ing methods. All other systems require to be carried
out before the bees think of swarming. All plans
hitherto advocated have been preventative and not cur-
ative measures. All authorities agree that their methods
are not remedial methods and all 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 as an express train
issahead ot-an ox team..9: ~If-you-desireto re-queen
you have on hand a nice lot of choice queen-cells raised
under the swarming impulse. No occasion to search
for a non-Swarming race of bees! no necessity of try-
ing to breed out the swarming instinct, for at all times
you have swarm control right under your thumb.

OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.

Again, what are some of the disadvantages of this
system? Objections such as these are all of a minus
quantity. 1. “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 for
the exercise and excitement he gets out of it chasing
swarms, climbing trees and hiving swarms. ‘The heat,
sweat and stings makes him think that swarming 1s
the chief end or apiculture. Such a trifle as a honey
yield is a minor consideration with him. 2. Cutting
off the heads of so much sealed brood may seem a cruel
useless ‘slaughter of the innocents.” Admitting, for
the sake of argument, that it is, does man 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 beheaded, if it had been

8

left undisturbed would not have hatched out in time to
help gather the harvest. They would arrive upon the
scene at a time to become consumers and not produc-
ers. The unsealed brood, together with the newly laid
eggs in the empty cells from which the bees have re-
moved the brood will hatch out in time to assist with
the fall flow, if there should be one, and your colonies
will go into winter quarters as strong as they would
have been if the capped 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 taking it all away at once and replacing it
with empty combs or foundation will not cure the bees’
impulse to swarm. Cutting out of the brood will stop
all swarming. It 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 lone as these conditions -are
prensent 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
any 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
roof off from ‘over our heads, déstroy 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 aamage done to our home or we
might give up in despair. Bee nature being built along

9

different lines at once applies itself to the wreck and
starts to repair the damage done 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 demontrated to a
mathematical certainty. Admitting that bees do freak-
things at times, is it not a conceded fact that a colony
of 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 is it not
also an established fact that when the brood nest be-
comes congested and the queen is restricted in her
egg-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 center, and
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 banked 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

10

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 been 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. As
an easy, sure method, the uncapping brood plan stands
in a class by itself.

A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

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 reader,
and also thinking that it might take up more space
than the scope of this little booklet would warrant, my
first impulse 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 engaged in
bee-keeping on a small scale away back in the “seven-
ties.’ Found the pursuit extremely fascinating 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 beginners. In 1878
one colony was worked for comb honey and the pro-
ceeds of that one hive netted thirty dollars. Kept them
from swarming by pinching off the queen cells—a pro-
cedure which worked satisfactorily in that particular
case. That was the beginning of a non-swarming

11

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 entire-
ly. 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 “he
present I have seldom talked with a bee-keeper with-
out winding up by asking him how he controlled
swarming and any article published on the subject al-
ways 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 Journal for March Ist,
1906, on page 185 and signed, “C. Davenport, South-
ern Minnesota.” The writer stated that he had discov-
ered a treatment that would absolutely 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 hundreds of colonies and
that none of them had swarmed, but he failed to give
the treatment. In the same journal for July 12th, 1906,
on page 602 he refuses to make his treatment known
and gives his reasons that it would make bee-keeping
too easy and honey too cheap. Never having read an
article on swarming 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 fre-
quently do when they have a complication of symp-
toms and are not just sure what ails the patient. Rea-
soned that the treatment he gave his colonies must be
one of two kinds—either medical or surgical. Medical
treatment was soon excluded as being out of the ques-

12

tion. Then it must of necessity be of a surgical nature
Surgical treatment of the hive was impossible so the
five was eliminated. ‘There then remained the queen,
workers, drones, brood and possibly queen cells to be
operated upon. But he had stated that he did not even
fook for the queen or queen cells, so they were exclud-
ed from being a factor in the problem to be solved.
There now remained the worker, the drones and the
brood to be treated. It being a self-evident propostion
that he could not catch all the drones or workers and
operate upon them in five minutes, they too were ex-
cluded, leaving only the brood for a surgical operation
of five minutes or less. To decide what surgical opera-
tion 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
cutting it out, that idea was abondoned as poor surg-
ceive nen, Lithoucht of mutilating the brood an’some
manner and also of uncapping it. The uncapping
scheme looked the most plausible as | 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 to I de-
ieRIMMed, LOttyit-out. Che adea that the effect ot the
operation would be to relieve a crowded brood nest
had not as yet dawned upon my mind. In due course
of time | found a colony building queen cells prepara-
tory to swarming out. I determined to unca .p 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

13

boast of. Too much dwindling and not enough recruits
to enforce the workers. They built upingood 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 treat-
ment 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 treament was further
strengthened by an article written by F. Cloverdale of
Maquoketa, Iowa, which appeared in the June number
of the “Bee-keeper’s Review.” 1907. It was entitled
“Controlling Increase By Cutting Out the Brood.’ He
stated that:

“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 brood in a box
with a screen cone on one side and moved up close
to: the entrance of the old’ hive, (the mounm amecs
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 heat for the
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-

14

sibilities. Further along in his article he makes this
statement:

“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 Langsroth 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 uber,
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
‘n 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 toa cold late spring they built up
slowly in the early part of the season. The weather be-
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 ands these:
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
days after 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, all
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-

15

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.” .1t was. given the second treatment nme
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 |, 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 of the colonies in the
apiary. 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 methods was appled
to extracting colonies but more of that later. Opening
the hives and examining frames 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
commend it. I did not wish to leave a single loop hole
for some doubting Thomas to jump up and say that
perhaps my bees wouldn’t have swarmed if I had left
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; and) alsove
know the effect of the treatment given. If it was or
was not a cure for swarming I wanted to know the

16

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 found,
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 30th. July ist I noticed that
they were clustering out and not working as they
should. The next day, July 2nd, as I was working
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 as a last
resort | grabbel up a small piece of board lying near
and closed the entrance with it, all but about two
inches at one end. Into this small entrance I blew
clouds of smoke until I had them partly quieted and
then I stopped it up with grass. Went next to the
bee house and procured a piece of perforated zinc. Af-
ter adjusting it | stepped back to await results. The
bees swarmed out at once and after circling around for
several minutes without clustering, they finally began
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
ever. This happened about 8:00 a. m., and about
ii OO, .a, md. they cante out again, circled around and
ence more returned to the hive. At about 3 p.-m. the
performance was again repeated. Early on the morn-
ing of July 3rd I 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
care not to disturb any of the queen cells, and then
closed up the hive wondering what they would do.

a Oy

Was in the apiary all 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 cwarm and gave me nearly one hundred
pounds of nice comb honey despite the drouth that
Game on soon alter! ‘Certainly nelséverer test onamy
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) theme dices
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=treatmenn
and only one made preparations to swarm again and
had to be given a second treatment. Only two out of
twenty-nine colonies thus far operated upon required
the second treatment. I will now account for the 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. Wall digress
long enough to state that thirty extracting supers or-
dered thru a local dealer failed to materialize untilea
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 preparation. 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 re-

18

ceived 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 es-
tablish a brood nest. The weather being excessively
hot and the bees being unable to break their cluster,
became dissatisfied and deserted their hive the next
day and settled on a low branch of an apple tree. Be-
fore they could be hived a swarm issued from another
hive and settled with it on the same branch. Hived
both swarms in the hive with starters, capturing 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 disturb any capped
queen cells. After operation, placed old hive over new
double swarm with a queen excluder between, putting
the super on top, making a three story hive. Result,
queen; celle) destroyed and ‘no further attempt), at
swarming out. The hive from which the second swarm
issued had all queen cells destroyed but one on the
seventh day and no swarm issued from that hive.

The next day another swarm issued from a colony
tat had notebeem treated: “chlived! it on iranres. with
full sheets of foundation setting the old hive to one
side and placing new hive on old 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 belong, 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. triadgwhen no increases 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

i)

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 |
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:

I5 were given the treatment after queen cells were
built.

3 were given the treatment as a preventative
measure.

2 were given the treatment after swarming and
before uniting.

t had all queen cells but one pinched off on sev-
enth 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 any of the
few colonies that were treated during 1906, 1907, 1908
Swarm.

Whether the method of swarm control here de-

20

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 not his treatment, it at least fulfills
every indication claimed for his method. The Bee
Journals for July, 1908, announced that C. Davenport,
whose real name was C. Daevnport 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 brod 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. If a less
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
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 south-
ern conditions where the swarming season begins a
month or so earlier than the main honey flow. Can see
no reason why the plan cannot be adapted to any lo-

21

cality where bees are kept. It is bound to revolution-
ize bee-keeping all over the world or I am woefully
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 carry 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 I 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 it a
trial I feel sure that you will not consider my state-
ments extravagant and when the full extent of its pos-
sibilities are realized the bee-keeping world will render
their verdict in accordance with the claims I have
made for the treatment.

22

APPENDIX

All copies of the previous edition on swarm pre-
vention having been sold out, it becomes necessary to
get out a new edition.

Do not consider it advisable to rewrite the pamph-
let as the new matter I wish to offer can best be em-
bodied in a brief appendix.

The major portion of the criticisms that have
reached me, have been quite favorable, but a few lead-
ing bee-keepers of the country have decided convic-
tions against uncapping worker brood, claiming they
could never get their colonies too strong—that they
needed every worker they could get to help gather the
harvest. Certainly good logic, provided they secured
their army of workers before the honey flow was on,
and provided further that the pesky bees do not take a
notion to swarm right in the midst of the harvest. A
couple of correspondents from the Southern states do
not think the plan adapted to their particular localities
where the honey flow is intermittent, consisting of
short flows extending over a long period of time. They
claim that shook swarming can not be practiced suc-
cessfully, that their only resource is to cage the queen
for eight or ten days. To those who object to uncap-
ping worker brood and to those who live in localities
with a succession of short honey flows a non-swarm-
ing plan will be given that has every indication of
meeting their requirements. It dovetails in very nice-
ly with the method given in my booklet and has all the
indications of meeting the requirements of the class of
bee-keepers referred to. The plan was new to me and
I am not aware that it has ever been published. At the
annual meeting of the Fillmore County Bee Associa-
tion, held in Preston, Minn., Dec. 8 and 9, 1909, a

23

young man by the name of Paul Bigalk of Cresco,
Iowa, outlined his method of preventing swarming. —
Wrote him asking him to describe his method and re-
quested the privilege of publishing it, which was grant-
ed. His reply being substantially as follows:

“Have over fity..colonies) of Italian bees, in“ten
frame standard dovetailed hives. For three years I
have practiced uncapping all drone brood and at the
same time pinching off-all’queen) cells: “to. “preven
swarming. One treatment is enough to prevent swarm-
ing for the entire season if well done and done at the
right time. I prefer to do this when there is a good
honey flow on and the bees ready to swarm. Be sure
that the bees have plenty of room to work. If there is
no drone comb, then worker comb must be taken in-
stead. This treatment has been a success with me. As
I remember I have only had two or three swarms since
using it. Have used this method on about thirty-five
colonies each year.”

In colonies having a large amount of drone comb
Mr. Bigalk’s plan has much to commend it, as it serves
the double purpose of controlling the swarming im-
pulse as well as getting rid of a lot of useless drones.
Personally I have had no experience in uncapping
drone brood to prevent swarming as I uncap both
drone and worker fast as I come to it. Have but very
little drone comb in the brood nest. Exchange for full
sheets of foundation and use the drone comb in the ex-
tracting super. A young man near here with seventy-
five colonies restricted swarming to twelve swarms last
season my simply uncapping all the drone brood
found in the hives. Being the first season that he had
tried the scheme and matters being as yet in the ex-
perimental stage, he declined to have his name men-
tioned in connection with the plan. It certainly had
quite an effect in controlling the swarming fever, for
with our hot days and rapid honey flow during the clo-
ver season the bees seem to have a regular mania for

24

swarming in this locality. Judging trom present indi-
cations there will be a thorough trial given the plan
this coming season and with the additional methods
given it should be entirely feasible to evolve a periect
system of swarm control that would be adapted to
every locality, every condition and every climate.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

WANN

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