538 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 15. 



every time they are hived. When bees get to 

 acting in this way I would make them entirely 

 queenless. This will make them stay at home 

 even if every thing else fails. After they get 

 the combs drawn out, and get to work and set- 

 tle down, and the swarming season is over, in- 

 troduce to them another queen. 



At last pure Cyprian queens are to be had. 

 See Mrs. AtchJey's card in the advertising 

 columns. 



Particulars and program regarding the 

 next North American, to be held at Lincoln, 

 Neb., will be found on page 547. 



The Mystery of Crystal Mountain is not al- 

 together explained yet. The chapter in this 

 number is thrilling with interest, and the sub- 

 sequent chapters are not less so, so far as 1 have 

 read them. 



I STILL use the bicycle in going to and from 

 our out-yards. With the exception of one 

 two-horse wagonload 1 have been able so far to 

 carry down tools and a few minor sundries on 

 the wheel; and in some cases I have gone so 

 far as to carry on my back, pack-peddler fash- 

 ion, supers of sections containing full sheets of 

 foundation when it would happen that there 

 would be a colony or two that just had to have 

 more room before the next wagonload; and the 

 only way to give it was to strap the supers on 

 my back. 



THE DOOLITTLE METHOD OF CLIPPING QUEENS' 

 WINGS. 



1 HAVE just been trying this method, and 

 find it works to perfection. At our out-yard I 

 found that one swarm had left, and I determin- 

 ed to clip the queens' wings of all colonies that 

 were liable to swarm. To go clear home and 

 get a pair of scissors would have taken too 

 much time; so I determined upon the Doolittle 

 plan. I pulled out my knife, opened it, and 

 stuck it into the hive-cover, so as to have it 

 handy. I found my queen, and picked her up 

 by the wings, with the right hand. With the 

 left, I grasped the queen by the thorax, between 

 thumb and forefinger, and released the hold 

 upon the wings. Then, with the right hand 

 free, I carefully shoved the small blade of the 

 knife under one of the pair of wings. The 

 thumb of the right hand was then placed upon 

 the blade edge, just over the wings. A slight 

 drawing motion of the knife over the pair of 

 wings against the thumb severed them, and her 

 majesty quietly dropped between the combs, 

 an inch below, and disappeared. This 1 did 



with several queens, and a pair of scissors Is 

 nowhere to be compared with it. 



I have never tried Davenport's queen-clipping 

 device, although 1 am satisfied it would work. 

 But the special convenience of the Doolittle 

 method is that every one has a pocket-knife; 

 and whenever he comes to a hive where a 

 queen's wing is not clipped, all he has to do is 

 to whip out his knife and clip wings then and 

 there before she gets out of sight. 



It should be staled that the knife should have 

 at least a moderately keen edge, although a 

 very dull edge can be used by varying the 

 method somewhat. Hold the queen by the 

 thorax, between the forefinger and thumb of 

 the left hand. Place her gently on her back on 

 the hive cover, and then with your dull-pointed 

 knife cut through the wings into the cover. 

 This is no theory, for 1 have tried it with the 

 dull blade I had, because I assumed that there 

 would be some, at least, who would have a dull 

 knife, and would, perhaps, like to know how to 

 use such an implement; but the sharp blade 

 against the thumb is very much better. 



THE VALUE OF DRAVFN COMBS FOR THE PRO- 

 DUCTION OF SURPLUS HONEY. 



I AM becoming more and more convinced of 

 the great value of drawn combs. Supers con- 

 taining sections with full sheets of foundation 

 do very well; but it is plainly evident that 

 those supers containing drawn combs are en- 

 tered more quickly, and filled with honey, and 

 capped over. My attention was especially call- 

 ed to this by noting how much more readily 

 the bees would fill and cap over supers contain- 

 ing half-depth drawn combs for extracting. In 

 the case of colonies of equal strength, the 

 extracting-combs will be filled and capped over 

 before the bees have begun to draw out a full 

 sheets of foundation in the comb-honey supers 

 —at least, that is our experience. For experi- 

 ment, where some of the colonies were holding 

 oS and didn't seem to draw out the starters, I 

 put on a super containing drawn combs, and, 

 presto! the bees went into them immediately, 

 and in a few days they were filled with honey 

 and capped over. 



DRAWN COMBS FOR CONTROLLING SWARMING. 



I feel hopeful — yes, almost confident — that we 

 can, to a very great extent, at least, control 

 swarming, even in the production of comb 

 honey, providing that the drawn combs are 

 used in the sections. So far, at least at our out- 

 yard, we have had no swarms that have had 

 plenty of drawn comb. But we have plenty of 

 swarming from colonies having supers on them 

 of foundation not yet even touched. 



You see, the point is right here: Such a colo- 

 ny — that is, one having a super containing full 

 sheets of foundation on top, and which the bees 

 have not yet touched, is, in one sense of the 

 word, a colony cramped for room— that is, it 



