June, 1915. 



Americaq I BecJonrn alj 



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their pictures^taken, and it'was'a mere 

 incident that a number of bee-hives 

 happened to be in the vicinity. Instead 

 of that let the person or persons ap- 

 pear just as they would naturally appear 

 at their work, and then there will be a 

 picture of the apiary with one happen- 

 ing to be at work at the time the pic- 

 ture was taken. 



It should be nothing strange if the 

 first picture sent should not be avail- 

 able and subsequent ones satisfactory. 

 The "Try, try again" motto applies 

 here. So don't hesitate to send in pic- 

 tures, and to send more than once. 

 The -.vorst that can happen will be that 

 the publisher will express his regret 

 that the pictures cannot be used. And 

 the regret will be real. 



Preveutioii ot lucrea.se 



Our forefathers prevented increase 

 by the simple plan of returning the 

 swarm to its hive as often as it issued. 

 Simple, to be sure, but somewhat labor- 

 ious; for a swarm might issue several 

 times with the old queen, and when the 

 first virgin emerged, there would be 

 swarming until the last virgin was 

 allowed to issue from her cell. But 

 when this happened, there would be no 

 more swarming for the season, and so 

 no increase. 



But this plan obliges some one to be 

 on the watch during the middle of the 

 day for several days, and would by no 

 means suit that rather large class of 

 beekeepers who keep a few colonies 

 that they can look after only evenings 

 and mornings. 



For such beekeepers a large hive is 

 a first desideratum. It may be a Da- 

 dant or a Quinby hive; it may be a 12- 

 frame Langstroth ; or it may be a hive 

 of two shallow stories. With such 

 hives there have been apiaries with 

 not more than .5 percent of the colonies 

 swarming, thus lessening the problem 

 of preventing increase. Another de- 

 sideratum is clipped queens. 



As a third factor in making the prob- 

 lem easier, let extracted honey be pro- 

 duced in preference to sections. Then 

 use the Demaree plan to prevent 

 swarming, a plan given to the public 

 years ago by a Kentucky beekeeper, G. 

 W. Demaree, and lately brought forth 

 again as something new. When dan- 

 ger of swarming begins, set beside the 

 hive an empty hive-body, and into this 

 put all the combs with adhering bees 

 except one comb, preferably the one 

 with the least brood. Leave this comb 

 in the old hive, and also the queen. 

 Fill up the hive with empty combs — no 

 matter if a little honey in them — or 

 with frames filled with foundation. 

 Put an excluder over the hive, on this 



set the story of brood, killing any 

 queen-cells that may be present, and 

 fill the one vacancy with comb or foun- 

 dation. A week later queen-cells may 

 or may not be found in this upper 

 story, and if found they must be de- 

 stroyed. As the brood hatches out of 

 this upper story the bees will fill the 

 empty cells with honey, and the story 

 of brood will become an extracting 

 super. 



Some, however, will prefer section 

 honey, and for them the Demaree plan 

 will not work. They may have small 

 hives, not caring to change. So it may 

 be well to give a plan for those who 

 are working for section honey, whether 

 with large hives or small, seeing their 

 bees only evenings and mornings. 

 Queens must be clipped. About once 

 a week look for queen cells. In about 

 eight days from the time an egg is 

 found in a queen-cell the cell will be 

 sealed. Then a swarm will issue with 

 the old queen, if the beekeeper does 

 not interfere. So it may be as well to 

 put the old queen out of the way a lit- 

 tle before this. Then about a week 

 from the time the cell is sealed a virgin 

 will emerge, ready to issue with a 

 swarm. Belore she has a chance to 

 hatch, kill all cells but one. That ends 

 the possibibility of swarming, and of 

 course also the possibility of increase. 



It may not, however, always work so 

 smoothly. By some means you may 

 neglect to notice the queen-cells until 

 the swarm is ready to issue, and actually 

 does issue, and you are not on hand to 

 observe it. Well and good, let it issue. 

 The queen, being clipped, cannot go 

 with the swarm, and after whirling 

 about in the air the swarm will return 

 to the hive. Possibly it may settle on 

 a tree for a time, but it will return, see- 

 ing there is no queen with it. The 

 queen may wander off on the ground 

 and be lost. She may find her way back 

 into the hive, and if she does the 

 swarm will issue again in a day or two. 



and this will continue for several days, 

 so long as she returns to the hive. It 

 is not very likely, however, to continue 

 the week ; either the tjueen will be lost, 

 or the bees, becoming impatient, will 

 ball and kill her. At any rate, the bees 

 will not go off until a virgin has 

 emerged to go with them. Before that 

 you can surely be on hand to kill all 

 cells but one. 



Instead of killing the cells, you may 

 elect to take a different course that has 

 advantages. Before the virgin has time 

 to emerge from her cell, go to the hive 

 each evening after the bees have stop- 

 ped fiying, when it is still, and put your 

 ear to the hive. You will hear all sorts 

 of hummings and buzzings and squeak- 

 ings, but pay no attention to them un- 

 less you hear something especially dis- 

 tinct, loud, and entirely separate from 

 the other noises. Continue listening 

 each evening until you hear that noise, 

 and when you do you will have no sort 

 of question that you are hearing a new 

 sound, the sound of a queen piping. It 

 will be a sharp, clear, long drawn out 

 tone, pe-ep, followed by several other 

 tones, each one shorter than the one 

 preceding. In response to it you will 

 hear one or more vigins in their cells 

 replying in a more hurried manner, 

 " quahk, quahk, quahk." Then for a 

 few minutes you will hear nothing but 

 the usual murmurs in the hive, to be 

 followed again by the shrill and delib- 

 erate tone of the queen which is at 

 liberty. 



Next morning take out the frames 

 one by one, shake or brush all the bees 

 from each one in turn, and kill «// the 

 queen-cells found; return the frames 

 to their places and close the hive. 

 Don't worry about the virgin at liberty 

 running over the combs ; she will take 

 care of herself, and you are done with 

 swarming and increase for that year. 



Other plans may happen to suit your 

 case better ; but the one given is sim- 

 ple and efficient. c. c. M. 



Miscellaneous ^ News Items 



Field Meeting at Hamilton. At the 



field meeting at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, last 

 year it was decided to hold a joint 

 meeting of the Iowa, Illinois and Mis- 

 souri beekeepers' associations at the 

 Dadant apiaries in 191.5. Ofiicers of 

 both the Iowa and Illinois associations 

 were present at that time, and Mr. W. 

 B. Moore, of Illinois, and .1. W. Stine, 

 of Iowa, were appointed to represent 

 their respective associations in mak- 

 ing arrangements for the meeting. R. 



A. Holekamp was selected to represent 

 the Missouri association on this com- 

 mittee, as no officer ot that association 

 was present. 



September 7 has been selected as the 

 date for the meeting, and a conference 

 of inspectors has been called to meet 

 at Keokuk the following day. There 

 are ample hotel accommodations in both 

 Hamilton and Keokuk, and a good at- 

 tendance is expected. The big dam 

 across the Mississippi, together with a 



