490 



|J0.V.\1.\(;S IN lilOK CULTURE. 



July 



A KEPORT ON CARP CULTURE AS WELL AS BEES. 



My carp are doing- finely. We have a guantity of 

 younj? flsh about one inch in length. Those that 

 are one year old make a fine showing when fed, 

 which are from H to VZ inches long. We seined 

 our I'O'id in April; caught ]!) old ones that weighed 

 »i to 7 lbs. apiece: sold si-v of them and 12.5 small 

 ones C to 10 inches. The old ones were 20 to 24 inch- 

 es in length. We put 7 large ones in a pond built 

 last fall, where our small ones are. 



Springboro. Ohio. W. H. t'ARPENTEK. 



Our friends will notice from the above the 

 length of time it took an average farmer to 

 get properly hold of the subject of bees so 

 he could make it a safe and paying invest- 

 mnnt. It also illustrates pretty well the rea- 

 son why our ventures in these industries 

 sometimes pay and wiiy they do not pay. 

 You see. it all de))ends upon getting ac- 

 quainted with our business, and managing 

 understandinely. Another point comes in 

 right here. If a man has learned to succeed 

 witli bees, he will be pretty sure to succeed 

 with otlier things— carp, strawberries, or 

 whatever he may take a notion to go into ; 

 because the same fundamental rules that 

 give success in tiie one case are pretty likely 

 to give success in another. 



swahms with clipped queens. 



§()ME ai)iarists seem to think that a colony hav- 

 ing- a elipiied (jueen ca\ises much trouble 

 when swarming, and I note an expression in 

 ii late number of Glea.mngs which looks as 

 if the editor of that jiaper held the same 

 views. This seems strange to nic, for I would rath- 

 er care for three swarms whose queens are clipped, 

 than for one where the queen is not clipped. Be- 

 lieving that all can not understand the best plan of 

 managing such swarms (else the above idea would 

 not obtain), I will give my [ilans, with a view of 

 helping the many who practice natural swarming. 



I first get a light strong- pole, from 10 to 18 ft. long, 

 according to the height of the trees near the apiary, 

 and to the top of this pole I wire some mullein- 

 toi)s of last season's growth. These should be loft 

 open, and should reach up and down the pole eigh- 

 teen inches, so the bees can get a good foot-hold, in 

 order that they need not keep dropping off when 

 clustering ujion it. 



We next wnnt a round wii-e-cloth cage, about two 

 inches in diameter and eight inches long, Avith a 

 permanent ])lug in one end, and a movable one in 

 the other. Having attached a wire to one end fif 

 the cage, we are ready for the swarm. Seeing- one 

 issuing 1 step to one side <,f the front of the hive, 

 and stand about five feet away, so 1 can take a view 

 of the whole front of the hive, and two or three feet 

 of the ground in front of the entrance, at a glance, 

 when, if the (jiieen is out, I almost instantly see 

 her; and if not out I see her as soon as she issues. I 

 used to get close to the entrance to look for her, and 

 often looked a long time before I found her, owing 

 to the short range of vision which contracted the 

 breadth of the Held seen at one time. When the 

 queen is seen, put the open end of the wire-cloth 

 cage down so she can crawl into it. which she will at 

 once do, when shp is secured by i)uttirig- in the mov- 



able stopper. By means of the wire, attach the cage 

 to the mullein-tops, and hold the top of the pole in 

 the midst of the bees; for by so doing they do not 

 scatter over a large field, as does a swarm not hav- 

 ing- a queen with them, and they will often alight on 

 the pole besides. If they begin to alight on a tree 

 instead of the pole, place the bunch of mullein-tops 

 close up under them, when they will at once begin 

 to cluster on it. After a part are clustered on the 

 l>ole, push the pole up and out of the limbs, so that 

 no leafy twigs hit it, and leave it until they are all 

 clustered, when you can carry the swarm and hive 

 it wherever yon choose. If the place of hiving is 

 within four rods of the alighting-place I >vait for 

 only a few bees to get clustered on the pole when I 

 take it to the hive and start those I have to running 

 in, when the whole swarm will come. In this case 

 it is w('ll to coAcr uj) the old hi\e with a sheet, or 

 close the entrance to it for a short time, as a part of 

 the bees may go to the old hive before they hear the 

 call of '* A new honie is found 1 " 



As the season advances I use the Ileddon i)lan (as 

 given in (Jleanings for June 15), of working the 

 hives to prevent after swarms; and here especially 

 is a clipped (|ueen a decided improvement over those 

 that sire not, Heddon to tlie contrary notwithstand- 

 ing. Proceed to catch the queen as before; and as 

 soon as >ou have her, get your new hive and bring 

 it to the old stand. Now wheel the old hive half 

 way round so it faces in the opposite direction, and 

 lilacc the new hive just where the old one stood, 

 when I place the cage, with the (jueen in it, endwise 

 to the entrance, one end being within an inch of the 

 center of the entrance. The bees from the field 

 which have, during this process of changing hi\es, 

 been hovering around, now find the queen, when 

 they set up a hum and fan their wings, Avhich soon 

 attracts the swarm, that comes pouring into the 

 new hive by the thousand. I now take the cage, 

 giving it a little jerk to shake the bees off from it, 

 when I remove the stopper; and as the queen runs 

 to the open end, hold it down to the entrance, when 

 in she walks as nice as you please. If two or more 

 swarms get out at once 1 always let them alight on 

 the i)ole as first given, when I can carry and divide 

 them as 1 please in hiving. 



When I am away from home. Mrs. D. <u- some one 

 else watches the apiary, simply noting the hives 

 which swarm, so as to tell me which they are when 

 I get home. If the (juecn does not get back, a look 

 about and near the hives always reveals her in a 

 little ball of bees, from the size of a butteriuit to 

 that of a goose-egg. In short, the clii)ping of our 

 queens' wings is one of the improvements of the 

 age, second to none of the advancements made 

 within the last twenty-five years, in the opinion of— 



Borodino, N. Y. (J. M. Dooi.itti.e. 



I am (juite familiar with all you mention 

 above, friend I).; but when we worked en- 

 tirely witli clii)ped (jueens, a great many 

 times we did not tiiul them at all ; and at 

 other times, as you may rememl)er. the 

 svv;uin would unite with some other swarm 

 having perhaps a virgin (lueen.and then they 

 would all go olf togetiier. We have also 

 practiced putting the (jueen in a cage and 

 tying her on a pole, witli different kinds of 

 anangeineiits on the pole to induce them to 

 cluster; luit while some swarms clustered 

 around their (pteen almost immediately, as 

 nice as could be, a good many would persist 

 in clustering almost anywhere except near 

 that caged tpieen. 



