Beekeeping for New Hampshire by Wolff William H

Author:Wolff, William H
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: Bees
Publisher: [Durham] New Hampshire College of Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts
Published: 1921-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

changing these conditions plans to prevent the development of the instinct, the "swarming fever" as it is called, and to secure the desired increase in other, safer ways. .

The colony among bees is the unit, and swarming is nature s method, not only ot increasing the number of colonies, but also of perpetuating the original colony, ine latter is made possible by the habit of the old queen of leaving with the outgoing swarm and surrendering the all-important work of egg laying in the old home to the young daughter.

If a colony can be built up strong and these forces can be held working contentedly together during the main honey'flow, as, for instance, when white clover is in bloom, that colony is almost sure to be able to gather considerable surplus. On the other hand, if a colony, strong in numbers, swarms in the beginning of or prior to the honey flow, as it is likely to do without attention, neither the parent hive nor the new swarm may be able to gather much more than they need for maintenance. For this reason, and because many swarms are lost, beekeepers have for years given miich thought to means of eon-trolling and preventing natural swarming.

The principal factor which appears to induce swarming is the crowding of the hive with bees and brood at a time when stores are being brought in in small to moderate amounts. In case a colony can be brought up to the white clover flow without developing the "swarming fever," they will invariably not develop it while rapid storing is in progress, provided they are given plenty of storage room.

When the swarming fever is developed, the bees set to work to build queen cells, the queen lays in these, and with their development swarming is sure to follow. The first swarm, with the old queen, leaves soon after the queen cells' are sealed over and, if nothing is done to prevent it, a second swarm is hkely to issue in a week to ten days after the first.

CLIPPING THE QUEEN'S WINGS

The practice of clipping the wings of the queen wiU help temporarily to prevent the loss of the swarm, since the old queen will not be able to fly and the bees finding that she is not in the cluster, will return to the old stand. This, however, is only a temporary preventive of loss of swarms; for if conditions within the hive are not quickly changed, the bees, after making one or two false starts with the old queen, will finally kiU her and swarm with a virgin queen. The queen may be held in the fingers or against the comb while wings are being clipped. Cuts should not be made too close to the body, and it is usually well to leave wing stubs about an eighth of an inch in length.

SWARM PREVENTION

The dependence on natural swarming invariably results in the loss of some swarms, and it requires much daily watchfulness on the part of the beekeeper during the period when swarms may be expected.

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