Experience is a good teacher, but often a very costly one. Some told me if I wished to prevent swarming, I must cut out the queen cells, which the bees constructed preparatory to swarming. This was simply impossible with the box hive, so I constructed a hive with moveable frames, so the bees could build their combs in the frames, and each comb of the hive could be lifted out separately. But when I attempted to prevent swarming by cutting out the queen cells, I found if I was to thwart nature in that way, I had, to say the least, a big job on my hands. I could cut out the queen cells, but within twenty-four hours after I had done this, the bees would have others constructed, and be ready to swarm, and as I kept cutting, they would keep building. They had the advantage of numbers and position, and when I opened the hive every day and destroyed such, to them, important work, they were not long in declaring and proclaiming me to be an enemy to them, and they would attack me whenever occasion offered. I soon found that if not impossible, it was certainly impracticable to prevent bees swarming by cutting out the queen cells. It was a surprise to me that this plan should be recommended by bee keepers claiming to be well skilled in bee management. After proving this plan of no value, I was told if I would contract the entrances to my hives so the queen could not pass, I could thereby successfully prevent swarming, as the swarms would not leave without the queen. This looked to me like a very nice operation, to say the least, in fact, more nice than wise. However, I determined to test the plan. I accordingly contracted the entrance to my hives, and lo! the drones being larger than the queen, they could not pass! So they clustered about the entrance, and in their efforts to get out, completely blocked up the passage, so the workers could not pass. Yet this plan of contracting the entrance was claimed to be protected by letters patent of the U. S. I found this plan for preventing swarming of no value whatever. Very many other plans were tendered me and tested with like results. I was all this time pushing my experiments, and learning something from experience every day. I was determined to arrange and construct a hive which would render bee keeping successful and profitable, and I can say at the present time, my labors have been rewarded with success.
I ought to go on and write out a description of all the old methods of bee keeping, and all the patent bee hive humbugs, with the thousand and one wow-patent hives and fixtures, gotten up expressly to swindle bee keepers out of their hard earnings, by a class of rascals, many of whom never owned a swarm of bees, and who care not one cent whether bee keeping is a success or otherwise, if they can pocket a round sum by their fraud. Were I to write out minutely these points, this work would become too voluminous and extended; besides it would be of no practical value to the bee keeper who wishes to keep bees for profit. I will not, therefore, give such minute descriptions of all the old systems, hives, etc., but will confine myself more closely to such practical information as will be of value to the bee keeper.
SWARMING CONTROLLED.
How to control swarming is truly an important question. I believe the successful controlling of swarming is the key to success and profit in bee keeping. Now how shall we do it. I will tell you. But first a few preliminary words. If swarms are desired, we arrange in early spring to have them issue in the swarming season, and at such a time as will best suit our convenience. When no swarms are wanted, we turn the whole force of bees to storing surplus honey in small glass boxes, throughout the entire season, and have no swarms, yet have the same increase of bees that would be gained if they swarmed. Then all the bees work at storing honey in boxes, instead of swarming out; and to any one who has not tested the matter, it is surprising to see the amount of honey which a swarm of bees will store when not allowed to swarm, and fed judiciously; ample box room being provided, of easy access, so that all the bees have room to work; and by this plan, we are not constantly watching and waiting for swarms with uncertainty throughout the entire summer, for we know with certainty, when and where to look for swarms. In my plan, the swarming properties of bees are effectively controlled, without frequently disturbing or overhauling them, but by observing rules strictly in accordance with the habits and instincts of bees.[1]
[1] Here let me be clearly understood. I admit that bees will sometimes swarm, with abundant room for work in their boxes. Yet I claim that on my plan, all increase by swarming may be prevented without great trouble or perplexity, such as has heretofore attended all attempts to bring about this greatly to be desired object. If a person commences bee keeping, with a certain number of swarms in Controllable Hives, and in early spring gives the bees access to the side boxes, and later, after they commence work in them, gives the bees access to the top boxes, giving them otherwise ordinary care, (except to feed if desired,) but a small proportion will swarm on the average yearly. Much the larger portion will work in the boxes without swarming out, and give a handsome yield of surplus box honey, the yield of course being governed by the amount of feed given them, and the yield from flowers, etc. But if increase of stocks is preferred, rather than surplus honey—if the bees are not given access to the boxes, but confined in their labors to the brood section of the hive, being fed as directed, nearly every one will swarm, and swarm early. After long experience, however, I recommend putting on the boxes early, we shall thus, in most cases, get a greater profit than otherwise.
If you wish your bees in Controllable Hives to swarm, keep the partition in place at the sides of the brood section, and the honey board over the top; or in other words, keep the bees confined in their labors to the central or brood section of the hive. Now, if you wish them to swarm in any particular week of the swarming season, ten days before, remove the old queen. [It is well to keep her, and to do so take with her about a pint of bees, and put them in a small miniature hive, six or eight inches square, with moveable frames, like those in the central part of the Controllable Hive. Keep them shut in twenty-four hours; then give them their liberty, and they will work the same as a large swarm through the summer; but will not winter. If such queens are known to be very old, it is best to destroy them when we take them from the swarm. Keep only young, vigorous queens!] The bees in the hive from which you have taken the queen will in nearly every instance construct queen cells immediately to replace the loss of their queen. At the earliest possible moment, they seem to sense fully their loss, and to know that if they do not get another queen at once, their loss is irreparable. They usually will construct a number of cells, perhaps a half dozen or more. These will hatch in about ten days, and then swarms will issue.[2]
[2] Should any stock fall to swarm within two weeks from the time the queen is removed, at the end of that time, examine such stock, and if they have no queen, they must be furnished with one. About one stock in twenty, deprived of its queen as directed, will fail to rear queens.
If you wish to devote but little time to your bees, and are not particular as to the time of swarming, and wish to have but very few swarms, or perhaps none at all, early in the spring, as soon as the bees commence their work, put on the boxes (sides and top) and give the bees access to them; side boxes first, top boxes later. By this course, but a very small proportion of your stock will swarm, (if this plan is to be practiced each year, it will be necessary to replace the old queens with young ones, every three or four years: if this is not done, queens will die or become barren from old age, and consequently loss of stocks follow; keep this point in your mind; young, healthy, prolific queens are essential to success,) as they will have ample room in the boxes for their labor. Occasionally a hive treated in this way will swarm, and if you wish to have no increase of stocks whatever, if a swarm comes out, hive it in a light box, and as soon as this is done, go to the hive which they came from and smoke lightly, if the bees are cross, lift out the comb frames from the brood section with the bees adhering; examine each and every comb carefully, for queen cells, and cut off all but one. Success here depends on care and thoroughness, for if you leave more than one cell, your bees may swarm out again in a day or two.
After this is done, spread a sheet on the ground; set a light box, like the one in which you have the bees, near one side; raise the edge towards where you will shake the bees one inch or a little more, to give the bees a chance to enter the box. Shake the bees from the hive, by a quick, jerking motion, upon the sheet, the most of them some two or three feet from the box. With a large spoon or ladle, put a few up near the box, so they will enter, and disturb the others gently with a quill or light brush. When they commence to enter the box, they will set up a loud and continual humming or call, and the bees on the sheet if lightly disturbed with the quill or brush, will spread out and march toward the hive, while those on the wing will alight, and join them in the march. Now look closely for the queen and capture her. If she is not found before the bees get into the box, shake them out again, and go through the same process, till you find her. As soon as you have secured the queen, the bees in a few minutes, finding themselves destitute of a queen, and not having the means of raising another to take her place, will rise on the wing, and return to the old stock from which they came, and will not come out again, but will work in the boxes throughout the season. I will treat of this subject of swarming no further in this chapter. The merits of the Controllable Hive and New System of Bee Management will be fully shown further on in this work, and the most explicit instructions given for rearing bees with profit.
