Swarming.
All colonies do not behave alike as to swarming. (1) There are certain colonies that go through the season with apparently no thought of swarming. Such colonies do the very best work in the supers, and their number can be increased by skillful management. (2) Other colonies start queen cells preparatory to swarming, but can be persuaded to give it up by such mild measures as destroying the queen cells and perhaps removing a few frames of brood. (3) Certain colonies are determined to swarm and, unless the flow ceases, nothing short of swarming or some radical manipulation will satisfy them. (4) A certain percentage of queens fail during the honey flow and swarming may occur in connection with the supersedure. Such colonies usually do very poor work in comb-honey supers.
The beekeeper can do much (1) toward increasing the percentage in the first group and discouraging those of the second—preventive measures, and (2) toward making the most of the colonies under the third and fourth groups—control measures.
PREVENTIVE MEASURES.
Some effort has been made toward the final elimination of swarming by breeding from colonies showing the least disposition to swarm. Although after years of selection bees continue to swarm when conditions are favorable, many practical beekeepers testify to having greatly reduced the percentage of swarming colonies by years of careful selection and breeding. It would certainly seem advisable to replace the queens of all colonies which persist in swarming with young queens reared from colonies less inclined to swarm. The swarming problem has also been attacked from the standpoint of the hive and mechanical attachments, finally resulting in the invention of a "nonswarming" hive. More attention has, however, been paid to the prevention and control of swarming by manipulation than along either of the other fines, probably because proper manipulation gives immediate results and is now available as a means of preventing the losses due to swarming. The success in swarm control attained by the best beekeepers is a result of some effort along all three of the above fines at the same time.
Among the manipulations that tend to discourage swarming are (1) the introduction of young queens (preferably reared from selected stock); (2) an abundance of empty comb in the brood chamber at all times previous to the honey flow; (3) prompt work in the supers at the beginning of the flow induced by using "bait sections" or extracting combs in the first super given, thus tiding the colony over one of the critical periods; (4) a judicious manipulation of the supers during the honey flow ([p. 41]); (5) the use of more nearly perfect worker combs in the brood chamber, since drone comb and imperfect cells ([p. 22]) have the effect of contracting the brood chamber, thus bringing about a crowded condition; (6) an abundance of ventilation during the honey flow, obtained by means of a large entrance or by raising the hive above the bottom board by means of small blocks; (7) protection of the hive from direct rays of the sun during the hottest portion of the day by some such means as a double cover or shade board; (8) the removal of one or two frames of brood and the substitution therefor of empty combs or sheets of foundation; (9) the destruction of all queen cells provided they contain only eggs or very small larvæ.
If queen cells are well advanced, their destruction usually has little or no effect as a swarm preventive measure. While destroying queen cells in their early stages can not be relied upon as a preventive of swarming, beekeepers who practice examining the brood chambers once a week for queen cells during the swarming season are usually surprised at the number of colonies that can be induced to give up swarming and turn their attention to storing in this way. Such a result at least partly compensates for the large amount of labor required for these weekly examinations.
CONTROL MEASURES.
After having taken all precautions as to preventive measures there win still be some colonies that will attempt to swarm when producing comb honey. During poor seasons of course the percentage may be quite low, but during good seasons the conditions are sometimes such that a majority of the colonies may make an effort to swarm. Swarming colonies, however, may be controlled in such a manner that practically as much surplus honey is secured as if the colony made no attempt to swarm. If but a single apiary is being operated and the beekeeper is present during the swarming season, the bees may be permitted to swarm naturally without loss to the beekeeper; but if several apiaries are being operated, it is more economical to employ some method by which swarming may be controlled by visiting each apiary at given intervals during the swarming season, rather than to have an attendant at each.