Gleanings in bee culture . became a beekeeper 1 hadtrouble with the swarming problem. Mybees would get a nice start in the supers,and, about the time the supers were two-thirds full, the bees woukl swarm, and thereI was with a partly filled sui)er. Of course1 gave such supers to other colonies to com- 1166 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE plete; but if the bees can be kept at home,and swarming prevented, we can secure agreater amount of surplus honey. I have a plan that I have followed for thelast ten years that has proven very success-ful. I had only four swarms this seasonout of forty colonies. Some
Gleanings in bee culture . became a beekeeper 1 hadtrouble with the swarming problem. Mybees would get a nice start in the supers,and, about the time the supers were two-thirds full, the bees woukl swarm, and thereI was with a partly filled sui)er. Of course1 gave such supers to other colonies to com- 1166 GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE plete; but if the bees can be kept at home,and swarming prevented, we can secure agreater amount of surplus honey. I have a plan that I have followed for thelast ten years that has proven very success-ful. I had only four swarms this seasonout of forty colonies. Some colonies willswarm, regardless of what is done to preventit. I can prevent swarming by cutting thequeen-cells; but every beekeeper knowsthat this is a very troublesome job. I control swarming by giving plenty ofventilation to the bees. It is useless to giveplenty of supers unless there is also plentyof air. I use the eight-frame dovetailedhive; and before I nail the hive-body to-gether I rijD a piece 5 inches wide off the. lower side of one of the end pieces, this endthat has been ripped is to be the front of thehive. I then put the hive-body together,leaving the five-inch piece out. I saw thedovetails off the five-inch strip, and fasten it back in place with two small makes a five-inch door the width ofthe hive, for an entrance door. In hotweather, when my bees begin to get strongin the spring, or at the beginning of thehoney-fiow, I open this door and turn itback up against the hive. This gives thebees plenty of air. If there is also plentyof super room there will not be one swarmin ten colonies. With this large entrance itis no trouble for the bees to force plenty ofair up into the supers where it is neededin hot weather. I have two small buttonson each side of the door to hold it in placewhen closed for winter. At the close of the honey-flow in order toprevent robbing I close the door to all hivesthat are weak and not able to guard solarge an entrance; but the
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbees, bookyear1874
