October, 1913. 



331 



American IBae Journal 



hives may be the means of capturing 

 swarms which would have made off fo"" 

 the woods, or of catching those issuing 

 either from bee-trees or from some 

 neighboring apiary, there is the added 

 advantage that many of the swarms 

 issuing will enter the decoys, easy of 

 access, whereas otherwise they may 

 cluster in the highest branch of the 

 tallest tree, as is generally the cas^ 

 when the bee-keeper is the busiest. 



In the fall is a good time to get 

 these hives in readiness for the next 

 season. Weak or queenless colonies 

 are broken up or united now, and the 

 poorest combs sorted out. These poor 

 combs, if left in the decoy hives over 

 winter, are practically immune to the 

 bee-moth for a good share of the fol- 

 lowing summer; at least until the 

 swarming fever is over. This applief> 

 of course, to that section of the coun- 

 try where there is sufficient cold 

 weather to destroy the moth and its 

 eggs. In the South, the combs will 

 have to be made moth proof in some 

 other manner. 



As an illustration of the efficiency of 

 decoy hives, besidesthe one mentioned 

 in Dr. Bonney's article, two California 

 bee-keepers wrote of their experiences 

 with these during the spring of 1912. 

 One man caught (17 swarms in his de- 

 coys, while the other had increased his 

 number of colonies by 34 in the same 

 manner. On page 316, September 

 American Bee Journal, Rev. Geo. A. 

 Hood tells of an Illinois bee-keeper 

 who put up l.j decoys and caught 13 

 swarms the same season. 



In all probability the success is 

 greatest where the vicinity is well sup- 

 plied with bees. Most likely the percent- 

 age of increase in this manner will also 

 be largest in a wooded country where 

 modern bee-keeping is yet in its in- 

 fancy; for in such localities the per- 

 centage of swarming is usually the 

 largest, as is the number of colonies 

 housed in bee-trees. 



We recommend the decoy hive to all 

 our readers. Get a few decoys ready 

 this fall, use old combs as baits ; the 

 older the comb the better. Place the 

 hives in and about your apiary, or out- 

 apiary if you have one. Have them 10 

 feet or more from the ground in well 

 chosen places, and watch results. 



White Clover iu Euroi>e 



Mr. Crepieux, of Rouen, writes us as 

 follows : 



"In the American Bee Journal of 

 August, page 2.j8, you speak of my ob- 

 servations concerning white clover 

 along the roadways. I have not said 



Apiary of Iohn Reid. of Glasgow. Scotland 



Another View of a Scottish .'\piary 



that the bees never went upon it, but 

 only that the white clover of the road- 

 side, which is here in rather large 

 quantities, gives no appreciable quan- 

 tity of crop. It is rarely that we see 

 bees upon it, and when we do see them, 

 the result is nil. I have sometimes 

 traveled several kilometers without 

 seeing a single bee upon it. The day 

 upon which you came, the hive on 

 scales showed a loss of 300 grams. 



That was the result of the work upon 

 clover bloom that you witnessed." 



We must acknowledge that all through 

 France and Switzerland, as far as vis- 

 ited, the verdict is the same. The white 

 clover, which is a good honey plant 

 both in America and England, is not a 

 honey producer on the European con- 

 tinent. 



Miscellaneous <^ News Items 



Ontario Buckwheat Honey Crop Re- 

 port. — The crop report committee of 

 the Ontario Bee-Keepers' Association 

 met on Thursday, Sept. 4. to consider 

 the crop of buckwheat honey. It was 

 found that 252 members had reported 



239,400 pounds from 10,463 colonies 

 being an average of 23 pounds per col- 

 ony. This is about the same average 

 as last year, and the committee advises 

 members to ask the same price as was 

 obtained in 1912, i. e., lyi to 8^ cents 



