May, 1918 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



805 



may be transferred into the new hives onto 

 frames of foundation and then fed continu- 

 ously until the foundation is drawn out into 

 comb; but it gives the bees a much nicer 

 start to give them drawn combs. This spring 



A look into an old-fashioned box hive, 

 there ought to be little difficulty in obtaining 

 such combs from beekeepers in the vicinity 

 whose bees have died during the winter; but 

 one should make sure that such combs do 

 not come from diseased colonies. 

 Feeding the Bees. 

 Unless there happens to be plenty of stores 

 in the combs, the colonies will need to be 

 fed after transferring. It is always safer 

 for the beginner to feed candy or combs of 

 honey rather than syrup, as there is less 

 danger of starting robbing. During a deartn 

 of honey there is always a chance that bees 



A queen laying and her attendants. 



may get a taste of stolen sweets, and soon 

 be in a regular turmoil of excitement. 

 Whenever the bees begin robbing, the en- 

 trances should be contracted and loosely cov- 

 cied with dampened grass. This subject will 

 be discussed at greater length in a succeed- 

 ing "talk." 



Re-cLueeuing. 

 In all probability the bees purchased will 



not have tlie distinguishing marks of Italians 

 — three yellow bands on the abdomen — but 

 will be either blacks or hybrids which are a 

 cross between any two strains. Since the 

 Italians are the best strain, being very good- 

 natured, excellent honey-gatherers, and quite 

 resistant to disease, it will be advisable to 

 )e-queen the poor stock with good Italian 

 queens, which may be purchased from any 

 reliable breeder, and each introduced ac- 

 cording to the directions which accompany 

 her, the old queen being removed at the time 

 of introduction. 



Clipping the Queen's Wings. 

 During the middle of a warm day in fruit 

 bloom all laying queens should have their 

 wings clipped in order to prevent the bees 

 from swarming later and decamping to 

 the woods; for with clipped wings the queen 

 cannot fly, and the bees will not leave with- 

 out her. Any warm day in May, when most 

 of the field bees are out gathering nectar, 



How to hold queen when clipping wings. 



the queen may be easily found. She will 

 probably be on one of the central 

 frames of brood, and may readily be dis- 

 tinguished by her marked dignity, larger 

 size, and suirounding circle of worshippers, 

 as described in our last .lesson. On no ac- 

 count should a queen be held by the ab- 

 domen, as it is very easy to injure her in 

 this way. She should be picked up by the 

 wings, transferred to the left hand, and with 

 thumb and fore finger held securely by the 

 thorax, as shown in the illustration. About 

 two -thirds the length of one pair of wings 

 should be clipped, care being taken not to 

 lender her useless by clipping a leg at the 

 sam.e time. Those feeling a little timid about 

 clipping valuable queens might first practice 

 on drones until the trick is learned. (Neither 

 drone nor queen can sting you.) 



In general we may say that the ordinary 

 May work consists in keeping the colonies 

 sufficiently warm, well supplied with good 

 queens and plenty of stores, and, along to- 

 ward the end of the month, provided with 

 supers if indications seem to warrant them. 

 This subject is more fully treated in the 

 article on page 273, this same number. 



