THE APIARY.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4, 20 October 1928, Page 280

THE APIARY.

SWARMING AND HOW TO DEAL WITH IT.

Until a beekeeper has passed through his first season it is well to depend upon natural swarming for any increase required. After a season’s experience a more reliable method may be adopted for enlarging his operations. If increase by natural swarming is followed it is well to effect delay so far as the first swarms of the season are concerned. Very early swarms are not advisable, as the weather and flow of nectar are not always to be relied upon. Usually the swarms are smaller than when delayed, and may have to be fed should the weather prove unfavourable after they have been hived. On the other hand, when swarming has been delayed for two to three weeks the weather and flow of nectar are certain to be much more favourable. In any case, the swarms will be larger, and the work of the parent hive and the swarm will go on rapidly and without interruption.

One of the chief factors in delaying swarming is. to enlarge the hive. By giving the colony a super more working-room is provided, the nurse bees are kept busy, and the queen has additional combs in which to lay. Of course, there is a right and wrong time for doing this. The best time to add additional supers is when the broodchamber is getting fairly full of bees, the weather mild, with a fair flow of nectar, and before queen-cells are started. If the supers are placed on the hives before there is a good force of bees and plenty of emerging brood, there is a danger of the extra space causing a check on brood-bearing, as the additional space will affect the temperature of the hive. However, if the supers are not put on before queencells are started it will be too late to have the desired effect, and the preparations for swarming will proceed.

When putting on the supers, if the weather is mild, a frame containing a little sealed brood should be transferred from the broodchamber to the centre of the upper box, and also two.of the side frames of comb, all with adhering bees, placing the latter combs one on each side of that . containing brood, and filling their places below with drawn-out combs or frames of foundation.

The presence of several queen-cells in a hive points almost invariably to the fact that swarming is about to take place. When a number of queen-cells are sealed the swarm emerges headed by the old queen, accompanied by the majority of the field-bees. The swarm will seek an alighting-place usually some distance from the hive, and cluster there like a huge bunch of grapes, while skirmishers from the cluster will go further afield seeking a permanent home. However, the beekeeper usually intervenes and provides the permanent home before the swarm has decided on one. The swarm is gathered into a box, which is placed in the shade, and towards sunset is transferred to a clean hive in its permanent position. Next day work starts with vigour, and, given favourable weather, within a week honey and pollen and worker-eggs will be appearing in the combs. The presence of worker-eggs is an indication that the colony is queen-right.

In the parent hive the young queen will be developing, and the first one to hatch will, unless prevented by the workers, crawl over

the combs and endeavour to tear down any other queen-cells she may find and to sting to death their occupants. If foiled in this she will probably lead another swarm from the hive. This may occur three or four times in one hive, leaving the parent stock badly reduced in numbers and the beekeeper . with several small swarms which will be useless to provide a surplus. The remedy for this state of affairs is for the beekeeper to examine the hive immediately after the first swarm has emerged, and himself destroy or remove all the queen-cells but one or two. ■ •

Unless there is a good honey-flow, or if bad weather sets in, the swarms should be fed inside the hive. ' This is to give them a good start, and to provide them with material for producing wax. Excellent combs can be produced from sugarsyrup. Feed only the best white cane-sugar. It is advisable in all cases to hive the swarm on full sheets of foundation, and thus take advantage of the natural instinct of the bees to produce wax after swarming. Very little time will be gained if the bees are put on to drawn-out combs. •

Frequent examinations of the colonies—every week or ten days during the swarming season —for the purpose of cutting out queen-cells will help to check swarming, but this requires considerable work, and, since it frequently fails in spite of every care, is not usually relied on.

The occurrence of swarming is largely due to overcrowded broodchambers. This condition of affairs irritates the nurse-bees, which start rearing queen-cells. Therefore, give the queen plenty of room to lay. A suitable plan is to remove all the frames of brood, except the two centre combs, from the bottom chamber. Empty combs or frames fitted with sheets of foundation are put in their place. Secure the queen, and confine her in the new brood-chamber below a queenexcluder, placing the old brood-nest directly above, thus giving additional work for the nurse-bees and plenty of room for the queen to lay. In six to eight days examine the top frames, and remove any queen-cells that may have been built. If for some reason this plan is not desirable, swarming may be controlled and the strength of the colonies equalized by transferring part of the brood from the strong to the weaker ones. Empty worker combs or frames fitted with sheets of foundation are used to replace the transferred brood-combs.

The age of the queen is another factor in promoting swarming. Just as the poultryman relies on his pullets for greater egg-production, so the beekeeper should rely on young queens, and the sooner he realizes this the less trouble he will have in keeping swarming down to a minimum. It is the exception for a queen of the current season’s rearing to swarm. Ventilation also plays an important part in controlling the natural inclination to swarm, and care should be taken to provide sufficient at all times of the season. No single system will be found universally '''effective. Climatic conditions frequently play an important part in bee behaviour. It will be found, however, that the methods stated, or a variation of the same employed either singly or in combination,, will materially assist in the prevention of swarming.

-E. A. Earp,

Senior Apiary Instructor, Wellington.