Liability To Enter Wrong Stocks
Categories:
SWARMING.
Bee Keeping:
Mysteries Of Bee-keeping Explained
In all cases, whether you set a new hive in place of the old one or
not, whenever a swarm returns, if other stocks stand close on each
side, they are quite sure to receive a portion of the bees--probably a
few hundreds; these are certain to be massacred. To prevent which, it
is necessary to throw sheets over them until the swarm has gathered on
their own hive. This is another reason for plenty of room between
stocks. S
ould no queen be discovered during their issue, or return,
she should be sought for in the vicinity of the hive, and put back if
found, and the swarm will be likely to issue several days earlier, than
to wait for a young queen.
When the old queen is actually lost, and the bees have returned to wait
for a young one, it is often ready to leave one or two days short of
the time required for second swarms. Whether a greater number of bees
in the old stock creating more animal heat, matures the chrysalis in
less time than a stock thinned by casting a swarm, or some other cause,
I cannot say. I mention it because I have known it to occur frequently,
but not invariably. A swarm flying, unaccompanied by a queen, is
scattered more than usual.