Beekeeping in the Buckwheat Region. i 
fruit-bloom. If it is thought necessary to examine any of the col- 
onies early, this should be done from below, but if the proper care 
has been given the beekeeper knows the.condition of each colony 
without examination, and the bees are better off without disturbance. 
If the bees were wintered in packing-cases outdoors, the packing 
should not be removed until this is necessary to permit some essential 
spring manipulation. If there is any evidence of preparation for 
swarming or if there is an unexpected early spring honey-flow, the 
bees may need either more room or some different arrangement of 
the parts of the hive. Ordinarily the only spring manipulation 
necessary up to the time of unpacking is that of enlarging the 
entrances to the hives as the population of the colonies seems to 
require. 
Some beekeepers practice the clipping of the wings of their queens 
in the spring to prevent the swarms from leaving, and this is most 
easily done before the colony population is so greatly increased. If 
the queens are clipped, the operation should be delayed at least until 
the time of unpacking outdoor colonies, as the bees need the pro- 
tection until the time specified. With the methods of swarm control 
and requeening adaptable to and desirable for the buckwheat region, 
the clipping of queens is superfluous. 
In some seasons the bees may make preparations for swarming 
before the usual time for removal of the packing. If this is general 
throughout the apiary, the packing-cases should then be removed. 
If any swarms should issue before the packing is off, they should be 
hived on new stands, thereby increasing the number of colonies in 
the apiary. Within a week of the issuance of the swarm, the parent 
colony must be unpacked and all queencells removed except one. 
to prevent the issuance of afterswarms. The swarm can be handled 
in this way, because in the buckwheat region both the swarm and 
the parent colony may be built up to full strength before the buck- 
wheat honey-flow. 
MODIFICATIONS OF PRACTICE BASED ON THE POSSIBILITY OF A 
JUNE HONEY-FLOW. 
In the buckwheat region it is essential that every colony be brought 
practically to full strength by June 10 because of the widespread dis- 
tribution of European foulbrood, even though no honey-flow is to be 
expected from clovers. <A failure to recognize this fact fully is re- 
sponsible for the terrible devastation from this disease in this region. 
However, if this is done the bees normally, in the absence of a clover 
honey-flow, come to the beginning of the buckwheat honey-flow with 
the colonies composed largely of old bees incapable of gathering the 
full crop of buckwheat honey. If there is a clover honey-flow there 
