m 



GLEANlNCJS IN liEE CULTUIUi. 



Aug 



CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 



STRANGE ACTIONS OF A SWARM HAVING A CLIP- 

 PED QUEEN. 



N July No. of Gleanings, papre 154, friend Doo- 



little, it seems, can not help but think the 



practice of clipping- queens' wings favorable, 



where the apiarist is working- his bees for 



comb honej'. I have had some experience in 



working for comb honey with bees whose queens 



had their Mings clipped, but soon gave up the 



practice. 



About ten years ago I selected a few of ray 

 strongest stocks of bees, to be used for the purpose 

 of producing comb honey. I found the queen of 

 each hive, and clipped one wing of each one of the 

 queens, and returned them to their hives. I re- 

 member one hi\'e of hybrid bees, of the number I 

 had selected, was stronger in bees than the rest. 

 One daj' these hybrid bees cast a swarm. After the 

 bees had left the hive I began looking for the queen. 

 1 found her five or six feet from the hive, hopping 

 away as best she could. I caught and caged her. 

 The bees did not cluster, but continued flying 

 through the air in search of their queen. After 

 failing to find her they returned to the hive they 

 came from. As they were going in, 1 i-eleased the 

 queen, and let her enter the hive with the bees. As 

 I was working them for comb honey I concluded to 

 let the queens settle their own business mat- 

 ters. The afternoon of the same day, that hive 

 swarmed again. I found the queen as before. The 

 bees, after fl.ving through the air without clustering, 

 came back to their hive. I released the queen, and 

 they all went in together. The next day they 

 swarmed again. I found the queen quite a little 

 distance from the hive, trying to get away as fast 

 as she could. I caught her and watched the bees. 

 They flew through the air for some time, and re- 

 turned to the hive, but did not enter, but clustered 

 on a tree near by the hive. I thought there might 

 be a young queen with them, and v.-as about to get 

 an empty hive to put them in. I observed the 

 cluster of bees in motion, and it was no small bunch 

 of bees either. In a moment they were all in the 

 air again, coming tor their hive, and went in as be- 

 fore. Then commenced the liveliest time I ever 

 saw in a hive of bees. The bees came rolling and 

 tumbling out of the hive, stinging each other to 

 death. 



I soon left that hive of bees, without much cere- 

 mony; for a while it was not safe for one to go near 

 It. The battle lasted some time. The liees were 

 cross all that day. That night the bees that were 

 left cleaned house. In the morning the ground in 

 front of the hive was covered with dead bees. 



Since that season I have not clipped the wings of 

 any more queens. Had that queen lieen a vahiable 

 one, 1 am vory certain I should have 1< st her had I 

 been away from home. Of late years, when the 

 swarming season arrives, and should I be away 

 from home (and I usinilly am), I practice artificial 

 swarming, and let the tjiueens have their wings. 

 Canfleld, Ohio, July i;!. 1885. A. S. Pouter. 



Friend P., tlie stiiii^iiiij: may not have been 

 caused by the disaiipoinliueiil of tlic bees be- 

 cause the queen could not accompany tlieni. 

 Notwitlistanding, it looks soniowha't as if 

 tliat were the tioiible. I liav(; never known 

 bees to sling each other because tliey were 

 battled in their desire to swanu, but I have 



known them to ball the queen, and kill her. 

 and then swarm as soon as a yoinig queen was 

 hatched ; and as they loafed around and did 

 little work while w'aiting for the young 

 queen to be hatched, it seems to me it was a 

 rather expensive business f(n- their owner. 

 A great number of articles have been receiv- 

 ed in regard to this matter of clipping queens" 

 wings, and we probably shall not have room 

 for them all. 



SHALL WE CLIP THE WINGS OF OUU QUEENS? 



I clip all of my queens, and would not think for a 

 moment of leaving them undipped. As far iis los- 

 ing our queens is concerned, when the swarm is- 

 sues, if we do not happen to see them, this is not 

 worth spending breath about, as I now have 72 colo- 

 nies of bees, and have not lost a queen on account 

 of having Ihcui clipped, this season. I often find 

 the queen has gone back, on going to the hive which 

 is sending forth the swarm; in this case they will 

 generally swarm again the next daj'. Of course, 

 there will be a queen lost once in a great while, 

 which loss I would not care for if I only knew the 

 hive which lost the queen, and the date of the loss. 

 I think I am safe in saying we shall not lose one 

 queen by having them clipped, while we lose ten 

 swarms and queens whore they are not clipped. 

 The reason I make this statement is, I have lost two 

 swarms this season, which have issued unexpected- 

 ly with 3-oung queens. If j'ou wish, I will give you 

 my way of treating swarms where we wish as little 

 increase as possible. A. P. Cowan. 



Grattan, Mich., July 12. 1SS5. 



FRIEND REl'LOC.LE'S PRACTICE. 



I clip my (|uecns, and could not well get along 

 with(,ut. I left a few undipped last season, and 

 they have given me more trouble than all the rest. 

 One of them came out with a swarm, and started at 

 once to take French leave: but with a vigorous 

 application of dust I succeeded in settling them. 

 Another went with the bees into the top of a tall 

 slender maple-trco, whence they were taken with 

 difiiculty and some danger. When a swarm issues 

 with a clipped queen I know where to find her and 

 how to keep her. I seldom have any trouble to get 

 them to settle in a convenient place, by hanging the 

 cage containing the queen in some place where the 

 bees in their flight will be passing around. They 

 find her, I think, by the peculiar odor she possesses. 

 It is only when bees are compelled to return to the 

 parent hive in quest of the queen that they kill her. 

 When a clipped (lueen gets some distance from the 

 hive the returning bees set up the hiving-note, and 

 she at once, with few exceptions, returns to the 

 hive. This she will usually do two or three times 

 before the bees kill her. To test the <iuestion of 

 the queen's odor, I have often, after releasing her 

 from the cage, hung the cage up a rod or more from 

 where the bees had clustered, and they would And 

 the cage and begin to cluster on it as though the 

 queen were still within. I dislike the "artificial 

 swarming" theory. I want my colonies strong. 1 will 

 not, as a rule, have them divided until the bees will 

 consent to nothing else. It would be better for the 

 world of bee-keepers at large, if those who divide 

 artitlcially had kept their pet theory to themselves. 

 Vou know, Ml. Root, that when the bees have little 

 or nothing to do during warm weather they will 

 " hang out " more than at any other time. Then 

 the unscientific bee-keeper concludes they are go- 



