Tom wrote:
> > Conversely, does this not make the Demaree or the Snelgrove or the
> > Jenter systems superior (or not).
 
And I answered:
> What makes any of the above systems (an excellent list by the way)....
 
I was expecting to be critiqued on my response regarding the excellent
list of swarm control methods.  Lloyd touched on the Jenter system being
a queen raising technique rather than a swarm control methodology.  I
own (but have never used) a Jenter Queen raising system (will use it
this year, honest)!  I assumed there must be more behind Jenter than
queen raising and hit the books last night to research the issue.  I was
surprised to find no reference to Jenter in either
_The_Hive_and_the_Honey_Bee_ or _The_ABCs_and_XYZs..._!  I assume this
is because it is a relatively new innovation in beekeeping.  But as near
as I can find, Who(?) Jenter has no advice to offer regarding swarm
control (although I bet he/she advises young queens raised in a Jenter
system!).
 
For those unfamiliar with the Jenter system, it consists of a plastic
frame with queen excluder grids on front and back, into which a queen
can be confined and forced/enduced to lay eggs into little plastic queen
cups which can then be given to cell builder colonies.  Advantages are
that the queen cups will all have eggs of the same age (only hours
variation in age vs days) and since the eggs are laid directly in the
queen cups, no larval grafting is necessary.  I purchased the system
because my eyes are bad enough that if I can see a larva it is too
big/old to graft.
 
Back to swarm control, Demaree and Snelgrove both offer effective (ergo
labor intensive) methods to address bees' inherent desire to swarm.  I
had the opportunity to hear Dr. Dewey Caron speak at the Empire State
Honey Producers fall meeting last November, where he addressed swarming.
Dr. Caron spoke about preparations within a hive prior to casting a
swarm.  Of interest was the assertion that one of the last preparations
in the hive is most often the first clue picked up upon by the
beekeeper!  That would be swarm cells.  By the time a hive is raising
swarm cells, conditions in the hive have approached those which
encourage a hive to reproduce (have a calf as Dave Green would say) and
by then most beekeeper efforts to prevent swarming work against the bees
rather than working with the bees.  How many beekeepers have cut out
many, many swarm cells, added supers, figured they've "solved" the
problem and then discovered a day or two later that their bees have
swarmed anyway?!?
 
The best approach to swarm prevention is proactive vs reactive, and
all proactive approaches in one way or another approximate the
conditions of a "post swarm" hive.  Demaree shuffles hives around such
that populations are split (populous hives augment weak hives).
Snelgrove shuffles populations such that the nurse bees go upstairs and
the field bees go downstairs.  Both methods relieve the congestion
within the hive and ease the conditions that will encourage swarming.
 
The gist of Dr. Caron's presentation was that whatever method
a keeper uses (Demaree, Snelgrove, shook swarming, let 'em swarm and
catch it, ...), methods that allow the bees to accomplish their
natural, instinctual, biologically necessary to survive requirement of
swarming is a de facto REQUIRED lesson for every beekeeper to learn!
 
I also expected to be challanged on my assertion that selecting for
nonswarming disposition is a red herring and that BEES SWARM, period.  I
reviewed _In_Search_of_the_Best_Strains_of_Bees_ by Brother Adam in
which he lists the traits of the different genetic material/bee strains
he collected from across Europe and Northern Africa for use in developing
the Buckfast bee.  Brother Adam definitivly states that some strains are
more inclined to swarm than others and lists that as a major fault of
Apis carnica and a strong point in favor of Apis caucasia.  So again,
I stand corrected (am I arguing with myself here?).  However, it is pointed
out in his book as well as many other writings that pure strains of any
kind are harder and harder to find in our ever increasingly homogonous
world.  Again I recommend this text to everyone to help foster an
appreciation for the range of characteristics in the "common" honey bee.
As Robert Watson posted, "There's so much to learn about beekeeping!"
 
Aaron Morris - I think, therefore I bee!