64 



February, 1913 



American Hee Journal 



will be less break in the rearing if laying 

 queens are given. 



3. You have eot the thing down pretty fine, 

 and you are dead right in your views. If you 

 are producing a fine brand of extracted 

 honey, and have a satisfied lot of customers, 

 don't you go to fooling with comb honey. 



Using Sections Again 



Sections from %vliich the comb has been 

 cut have marks of the comb attachment 

 around the inside, what would be the result 

 if such sections were placed in the center 

 of a super over a strong colony of good sec- 

 tion workers; it being understood that no 

 foundation is put in, nor any change made 

 after cutting out the comb ? New Jersey. 



Answer. — I never tried it. but my guess 

 would be that although the bees might not 

 follow pattern closely, they would generally 

 come near enough to it to make straight sec- 

 tions between separators. Of course, the 

 more of the old comb left the more effect it 

 would have. If you try it, please report. 



Plan for Requeening 



I wish you would publish, during this win- 

 ter, a statement on what you think is the 

 best method to rear queens for requeening. 

 I will give my idea: 



In the spring, when my bees are well built 

 up and strong. I would get a nice lot of 

 queen-cells capped over, select cells from 

 my best honey gatherers, put them in a 

 queen-nursery, placing this in a strong col- 

 ony to hatch, and take care of them until 

 wanted for introducing into colonies, which 

 I will make queenless a few days before. 

 >New York. 



Answer.— Your plan, if carried out cor- 

 rectly, oueht to work all right. Although I 

 don't believe it is quite so well to have 

 queen-cells in a nursery as to have the bees 

 closely surrounding the cells at all times, 

 yet the nursery is quite a convenience. The 

 Stanley nursery has the advantage that the 

 bees are not excluded from the cells, as 

 they can pass readily through the excluder- 

 zinc of which the cages are made. If you 

 use a nursery that does not allow the bees 

 free access to the cells, then it is best not to 

 cage the cells until nearly time for the vir- 

 gins to emerge. It is just possible that you 

 would do as well to give cells to the queen- 

 less colonies as to wait for the hatching- 



Clipping Queens' Wings 



Clipping queens' wings, as I have repeat- 

 edly read in your journal, is in vogue among 

 American bee-keepers. I would like to 

 make a trial of it in the spring, but have 

 some misgivings. Can one be sure that the 

 issuing swarm will find and cluster about 

 the queen, which, perhaps, has fallen upon 

 the ground a few steps from the bee-house ? 

 Or can it also happen that the swarm does 

 not find the queen, and consequently re- 

 turns to the hive from which it issued ? 



Germany. 



Answer.— 'When the swarm issues, of 

 course the clipped queen falls on the 

 ground. If there is no one on hand to pick 

 up the queen it very rarely happens that 

 the swarm finds her and clusters about her. 

 Indeed, in all my experience 1 never knew 

 such a case. Sometimes the queen will be 

 found at a little distance with a little clus- 

 ter about her. perhaps as big as a walnut. 

 Generally however, she will be entirely 

 alone. The swarm will return to the hive, 

 perhaps in less than five minutes, after cir- 

 cling around in the air for a little time, and 

 will pay no attention to the queen, even if 

 she be quite near the hive on the ground, its 

 only desire apparently being to hurry back 

 into the hive as soon as possible. Often the 

 swarm will cluster on a tree, just the same 

 as if the queen were along, and it may re- 

 main clustered there s, lo, 15 minutes r 



longer In most cases the queen will find 

 her way back into the hive if she is left to 

 herself. The business of the bee-keeper, 

 however, is to pick her up. put her in a cage, 

 move the old hive away, and put an empty 

 one in its place, and then when the swarm 

 returns to let the queen run into the hive 

 with the swarm. 



In Germany, where you use bee-houses, it 

 would, I suppose, not be possible in many 

 cases for the queen to find her way back 

 into the hive; so it would be necessary for 

 some one to be on hand at the time of 

 swarming. Even so, it ought to be less 

 trouble than to manage a swarm whose 

 queen's wings are not clipped. 



Queen-Rearing 



On page ^71 of the December issue, under 

 caption of ' Queen-Rearing Pointers." Frank 

 F. France says: "This device, as pictured 

 here, is the invention of H. Perkins, of Arte- 

 sia. Calif., and is the best device I have yet 

 seen to do the work required." etc. 



We used this method before Mr. Perkins 

 was heard of here. I am almost sure it is 

 the modified Doolittle system. We were 

 very successful in rearing queens by the 

 method, as outlined therein, also by the 

 grafting process. Geo. W, Bercaw. 



Glendale. Calif.. Dec. 17. 1012. 



Good Prospect in 'Wisconsin 



Bees went into winter quarters in excel- 

 lent condition. I predict very successful 

 wintering. White clover made a strong 

 growth last fall, and is now covered with a 

 light snow. I look for a bumper crop of 

 honey next year. C. Sheldon. 



Elroy. Wis.. Dec. 28, 1Q13. 



Louisiana Experiences 



My bees havedone fairly well this year, 

 although we have had scarcely any rain 

 since Aug. lo, consequently I did not have 

 any fall flow except what the bees got from 

 cotton. It gave from s to lo pounds in the 

 super. Swarming, which was 300 percent 

 this year, has cut the surplus low, although 

 my colonies averaged S5.25 each in honey 

 alone, and I have not taken any honey out of 

 the brood-chambers except the amount that 

 was at the top of a frame of brood which I 

 always give to the swarms. This is the 

 surest way to hold a swarm. 



My bees have had a cleansing flight every 

 week, and some colonies have plenty of 

 brood yet. but these colonies are the ones 

 that have plenty of stores and bees. 



I cut out and transferred to a pane of 

 glass. 10x14 inches. Dr. Miller's method of 

 rearing queens; also the picture of the 

 frame of cells, and it is one of the pictures 

 that adorn my home. 



The American Bee Journal gets better 

 and better all the time. 



W. R. Cunningham. 



Rayville, La., Dec. 11. 1012. 



Bees Going into Winter Quarters Short 

 of Stores 



It was not a very good year for honey here 

 on account of the cold and wet spring, and 

 the hot and dry summer. I only secured 

 1700 pounds from 45 colonies, spring count, 

 and increased to 60. 



My bees went into winter quarters in light 

 condition: they did not seem to get any fall 

 feed, as it was cut off by early frost. This 

 is the first time it has ever happened to 

 me. It caught me unawares, and I fear the 

 loss will be heavy. The bees had enough 

 the last of August, but it seems they ate up 

 their honey instead of bringing any home 

 after that date. E. M. Lawrence. 



Mayfield. N. Y.. Dec. 16. 1Q12. 



[Put a cake of sugar candy over the cluster 

 of each hive which is short of stores.— Ed. 



A Sweet Extractor 



Did you ever realize how sweet a honey- 

 man can be at times ? I never did until 

 someone put into my dress-suit case, the 

 other.day, a leaky can from which all the 

 honey h«d not been taken out. and omitted 



to put any wrappings around the can. I 

 found the contents and myself completely 

 covered with honey before I got through 

 with the mess. So that is why I especially 

 admit that I am a sweet extractor. 



Edward F. Bigelow. 

 Sound Beach, Conn. 



A Good Season in Ontario, and Getting 

 Ready for Another 



I have been fairly successful with my bees 

 this year. I secured about 900 pounds from 

 14 colonies, spring count. ^nd increased to 26 

 by natural swarming. In the fall of i«ii I 

 went into winter quarters with 20 colonies 

 and came out with 13. I bought one in the 

 spring to make up the 14. 



I have 20 colonies, all packed snugly with 

 a superful of chaff on top; the sides and 

 roof are covered with tar paper. We had a 

 splendid honey-flow from clover this year 

 but the buckwheat was an entire failure. I 

 got 300 pounds of fall honey from wild plants. 

 I have sent in my order today for my bee- 

 supplies, and I am looking forward for a big 

 crop next year. R. R. Victor Tippett. 



Quays, Ont. 



The Odor of European Foul Brood 



Concerning a letter of Morley Pettit's (De- 

 cember number, page 350). referring to an 

 article of Dr. Miller's, page 324, the differ- 

 ence in odors may be explained on the basis 

 of mixed infection. The bacillus causes 

 the death of the larva, which, being under 

 most favorable conditions of heat and mois- 

 ture, at once becomes the prey of the ever- 

 present germs of putrefaction. 



It is quite possible that the bacterial flora 

 of one " locality " may be much more pro- 

 ductive of malodorous gases than those of 

 distant " localities." Even in the same 

 neighborhood, and under seemingly identical 

 conditions, the predominance of one " breed 

 of ducks," or the blendingof variousstrains, 

 may produce great variations in odor. 



This appears the most rational explana- 

 tion of the difference noted by two observ- 

 ers, neither of whose accuracy can be ques- 

 tioned. F. A. Stockdale. 



Coal City. III.. Dec, 7, igi2. 



Kerosene to Prevent Robbing 



I see considerable discussion lately in the 

 bee-journals concerning robbing. The be- 

 ginner often has to confront this problem. 

 It is an old and true maxim, that " An ounce 

 of prevention is worth a pound of cure." 

 Many cases of robbing are started by care- 

 lessly spilling honey about the yard. When 

 such accidents happen I pour a little kero- 

 sene over the honey and the bees continue 

 to pursue the even tenor of their cares with- 

 out knowing there is any loose honey about 

 so completely does the kerosene absorb the 

 aroma. Addison Gould. 



Weston. W. Va. 



A 'Wisconsin Report 



I took 30 colonies out of the cellar last 

 March with no winter loss. Last summer I 

 had ID swarms, got 1200 pounds of very fine 

 comb honey, which I sold for 15 cents a 

 pound. John Cline. 



Darlington. Wis.. Dec. 22, 1012. 



'What Influence Bee-Papers Have 



Enclosed find check for the .American Bee 

 Journal for one year. I don't want to miss a 

 single number. Often I find one item worth 



