AuKiist, 1915. 



2S1 



American Hee Journal 



week after the first swarm lias issued, go to 

 the hive every evening when the bees have 

 stopped Hying, put your ear to the hive and 

 listen. When the tirst virgin has emerged 

 from her cell, you will hear her piping, a 

 shrill high-pitched voice, saying pe-eeeep. 

 pe-eeep. several times, each time shorter 

 than the previous time. Then the virgins 

 yet in their cells will reply. " Quahk. auahk, 

 iiuahk." in a coarser and more hurried tone. 

 ,\ext morning kill aH the cells in the hive, 

 paying no attention to the queen at liberty. 

 There's a still easier way. a way of getting 

 the bees themselves to do the killing for you. 

 When you hive the first swarm, set it close 

 beside the old hive, facing the same way. or. 

 perhaps better still, set the swarm on the 

 old stand with the old hive close beside 

 it. A week later move the old hive to a 

 new stand lo feet or more away. The bees 

 will do the rest. 



1. A uueen may come out more than once 

 on her wedding flight, and she may come out 

 with a swarm; at any other time there's no 

 danger of catching her in a trap. 



4. Like enough they may supersede the 

 queen. At any rate, if you can keep them 

 from swarming year after year you needn't 

 trouble about a queen. But it won't work 

 to merely keep killing queen-cells. They'll 

 balk you every time. Don t be afraid to send 

 all the questions you like directly to me. 



Buying Bees— Location, Etc. 



1. What will a swarm of bees cost in Penn- 

 sylvania without a hive ? 



2. Where would you keep the bees, under 

 a tree or in the sun ? 



(. What kind of bees would you get ? 

 4. Would you get the bees in Pennsylvania? 

 Pennsylvania. 



Answers— I. The price of a swarm of 

 bees varies greatly according to circum- 

 stances and places. There are places where 

 you might not be able to buy a swarm for 

 $10. In other places you might get plenty of 

 swarms at a dollar apiece. What they can 

 be bought for in your locality you can find 

 out by inquiry easier than I. 



2. In Pennsylvania under a tree is better. 



3. Probably you can get nothing better 

 than Italians. 



4. Other things being equal, the nearer 

 home the better. 



Increasing Income by Judicious Selection and 

 Breeding 



In a locality where the yearly average 

 production is $3.00 per colony, could one 

 reasonably expect to increase it to $s. 00 by 

 iudicious breeding? New York. 



Answer.— That depends. If the locality 

 is one where the highest type of beekeeping 

 has been carried on for years, with constant 

 attention to quality of stock, and set the 

 pasturage of such character that only $3.00 

 per colony can be obtained as an average, 

 then I should say that in an ordinary life- 

 time it is not likely the intake could be in- 

 creased even to $4.00 per colony. Such a 

 condition, however, is hardly contemplated 

 by the questioner. If the supposition be 

 that average bees are considered, having 

 had the average management, then I should 

 say that within a very few years the $^ 00 

 could be increased not only to l.s.oo but to 

 $6.00. and how much more I do not like to 

 say. for I don't want to be considered a vis- 

 ionary. The fact is I don't believe the aver- 

 age beekeeper has any right conception of 

 the possibilities in beekeeping in the way of 

 improvement of stock and the gains to be 

 made by it. 



If there's any one thing more important 

 than another that I would like to urge upon 

 the ambitious young beekeeper, it is to 



work constantly and persistently toward 

 the improvement of his stock, breeding 

 always from the best. Too often all that he 

 does is to buy from some one a queen sup- 

 posed to be good, introduce her into a col- 

 ony, and then let things take just the same 

 course ther did before. At that he may be 

 largely the gainer for the amount he has in- 

 vested. But left lo themselves the bees are 

 likely to begin deterioration after the first 

 year or so. The poorer bees are likely to 



swarm the most, and his increase will be 

 mostly from them, the better blood soon 

 disappearing. Instead of that he should 

 encourage increase from his best stock, 

 keeping close tab on yields so as to know 

 which his best colonies are; rearing at least 

 a few extra queens, so as to have them on 

 hand whenever there is occasion for their 

 use. Let this be kept up year after year, 

 and he will be surprised at the increase in 

 his yields. 



North Carolina Experience 



I noticed in the June issue of your most 

 valuable Journal, that you have very little 

 information concerning North Carolina bee- 

 keeping. I arrived here April 2. and found 

 the country covered with heavy snow, and 

 after that we had a continuous cold rain for 

 two weeks, so you see it was a hard start for 

 me. 



I bought 61 colonies of bees. 17 in movable 

 frame, and 47 in old fashioned log hives. 

 With the movable frames I had it easy, but 

 with log hives I had an awful time to trans- 

 fer them, but I succeeded, I set the log 

 hives upside down and put my hives on top. 

 and thought they would go in when they got 

 ready: but some did not. so I drummed 

 them up and put a queen-excluder between 

 and kept on adding bodies, three and four 

 high. After three weeks 1 set the old hives 

 sideways for a week, and then took them 

 away empty. 



I brought 266 empty hives with me. and I 

 have them nearly all full from those above 

 mentioned. 1 hope to report later how 

 much honey and how much more increase I 

 will make Peter Schaffhouser. 



Havelock. N. C , June 12 



lar. 1 am in northwest Connecticut, and 

 have already had five strong swarms. We 

 are hoping for a better crop, as we have 

 more corn, buckwheat and white clover 

 than in other years. We like your journal 

 very much. F. B. Reed. 



Lakeville. Conn.. June 25- 



Late Season 



The season here is very backward, the 

 first sweet clover bloom is just opening. I 

 believe, however, that after the abundant 

 rains we can look for a good flow, and com- 

 ing late there will be lots of bees to take 

 care of it. A. 'V. Small. 



St. Joseph, Mo., June 15, 



Outlook Not Bright 



The outlook for a big honey crop is not so 

 bright now as it was in April. Swarms are 

 coming sparingly. The weather is too cool 

 and wet. Rudolph Umlauft. 



Dorchester, Wis.. June 21. 



Good Prospects 



My loss on beesfrom prolonged cold spells 

 last winter and poor honey has been heav- 

 ier than for many years, but I kept on feed- 

 ing those that were left, and they are start- 

 ing nicely. There are not many bees left in 

 the county. Our honey crop last year was 

 the poorest in many years, as white clover 

 was all killed by two drouthy seasons. 



We are having excessive rains, and the 

 white clover is getting a good start. The 

 linden bloom is extra fine, so we may exoect 

 a medium honey crop. Ma.x Zahner. Sr. 



Lenexa. Kans , June 22. 



Good Flow On 



Poor Wintering, But Good Prospects 



Bees are not doing very well as yet; it is 

 cold and wet My wintered swarms came 

 out very poorly. Out of 40 hives put into the 

 cellar last fall, but 22 came through. They 

 died after having been taken from the cel- 



The bees have been doing finely here the 

 last three weeks. There is the best honey 

 flow I have known for several years. I 

 started with 12 colonies, and now have 36. I 

 bought g of these and 2 were given tome. 

 I cut one bee tree and secured a fair sized 

 swarm, and I found one swarm. The other 

 colonies I made by artificial increase. Some 



WALTER WRIGHT IN HIS APIARY AT RIVES JUNCTION, MICH, 



