638 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 



ed. Perforated metal in front of the en- 

 trance will answer the purpose of clipping ; 

 but on account of the drones, and the gen- 

 eral hindrance of a limited number of holes 

 for the bees to pass, it makes considerable 

 obstruction at the entrance. A perforated 

 honey-board placed directly under the 

 brood -frames is about as perfect as any 

 thing we have ever tried, and it does the 

 business too. In the basswood orchard we 

 have restrained a number of queens in that 

 way. 



Question 138 — a. Tf you )>n<cticr, clipping are you 

 not sometimes troubled by queen* getting lest In the 

 grass? i>. !>■' you estimatethat such loss is counterbal- 

 anced by an occasional absconding swarm with an un- 

 dipped queen? 



a. No. Geo. Giumm. 



a. Yos; b. Yes, and more. S. T. Freeborn. 



I do not practice clipping. Mrs. L. Hahrison. 



a. Yes. b. Ye?, many times over 



C. C. Miller. 

 I have never had any experience in clipping- 

 queens. H. R. Boardman. 



T should prefer to lose a swarm occasionally to 

 clipping the wings of queens. C. F. Moth. 



Having- clipped but very few queens, I do not re- 

 member to have ever lost one in that way. 



E. E. Hasty. 



a. Yes. b. We have so few swarms abscond that 

 it is hardly worth considering as a factor against 

 us. James Heddon. 



a. No; h. I have practiced this clipping for 20 

 years, and there has been no loss to counterbal- 

 ance. A. J. Cook. 



a. Seldom, b. Losses from both of these causes 

 have been too small with me to need taking into ac- 

 count. O. O. Poppleton. 



a. Yes. occasionally, when too careless, b. Yes, 

 especially now that queens can be bought so cheap 

 all over the country. Paul L. Viallon. 



a. Yes, especially when we get behind in our 

 work. b. We lose very few, and the loss is not to 

 be c >mparcd to loss of swarms. P. H. Elwood. 



a. There is no grass in my apiary for queens to 

 get lost in. I should not anticipate much trouble 

 if there were. d. Yes. J.A.Green. 



a. I suppose I do not lose one queen in thirty at 

 swarming; but I reckon myself as more skilled in 

 finding queens than in any other part of my busi- 

 ness. R. Wilkin. 



a. No. What on earth do you suppose I want 

 grass around for that is, tall enough for that pur- 

 pose? One of friend Root's 12-inch $4.30 lawn-mow- 

 ers docs away with that nuisance, and makes " flngs 

 look beauful " in the apiary. A. B. Mason. 



a. No, not when the attendant attends to busi- 

 ness, b. Yes, as the loss of a queen at swarming 

 time is of but little value, compared with a swarm 

 of bees, as queens and queen-cells are plentiful at 

 this season, or ought to be, in every well-managed 

 apiary. A. E. Manum. 



I formerly clipped all queens' wings; but in 

 swarming, unless the apiarist was looking at the 

 yard all the time, queens were liable to get lost. If 

 an apiary is run in a common-sense manner, there 



is no swarming to contend with, and no loss of 

 queens. The Rambler has had but one swarm in 

 the past three years, and that swarm came from 

 somewhere else. Rambler. 



a. No, I have lost but one queen in this way in an 

 experience covering a period of 19 years. If you 

 do not allow the grass to get tall, and no apiarist 

 should so allow, there should be no trouble in find- 

 ing queens, b. I have lost only the one queen as 

 spoken of above, and not a single swarm by ab- 

 sconding, so I shall keep up the practice of clipping 

 the wings of my queen, as I believe it is very profita- 

 ble for me to do so. G. M. Doolittle. 



We do sometimes lose a queen when swarms 

 come out in our absence; but we lose but very few 

 in that way. I would rather lose 20 queens than 

 one swarm during our swarming season. The loss 

 of a swarm is the loss of the honey that they would 

 have gathered, but the loss of a queen at that time 

 i* no loss at all, as the eggs laid now would not be 

 hatched in time to gather any of our surplus honey. 

 Our surplus-honey season closes with the bass- 

 wood. If a queen is lost during our honey harvest, 

 the bees have plenty of time to raise another. We 

 want our workers all hatched before the middle of 

 June. From the middle of June to July 15 T would 

 rather not have any brood to feed, and we often 

 cage queens to prevent raising brood at this time, 

 as our honey harvest is short and we want to make 

 the most of it. E. France. 



]^erajs wd Queried 



We solicit for this department short items and questions of 

 a practical nature; but all questions, if accompanied by oth- 

 er matter, must be put upon a separate slip of paper with 

 name and address. 



HOW TO BURN SULPHUR. 



The best way to burn sulphur is to melt it over a 

 fire and dip strips of muslin in it. The muslin will 

 burn like a tallow candle, and burn all the sulphur 

 it will take up. Make a trial and satisfy yourself. 



Souderton, Pa , June 18, 1889. M. B. Bergey. 



the best locality for honey. 



What portion of the United States do you con- 

 sider best for the abode of a bee-keeper, every thing 

 considered? A. M. Doty. 



Kansas City, Mo., July 12, 1889. 



[Southern California and Southwestern Wiscon- 

 sin are as good as any. All the Northern are good 

 honey States. As to your own State, you might not 

 better yourself if you moved.] 



HOW TO SILENCE THE BOGUS-HONEY STORIES. 



I see a great deal in Gleanings about adulterat- 

 ed honey. Now, there are some right here who be- 

 lieve that honey and comb can be manufactured. 

 I argue by the hour some days, and tell them you 

 will give them enough to get married if they can 

 prove it. J. G. Earl. 



Arden, N. Y., July 8, 1889. 



THE QUEEN-EXCLUDING HONEY-BOARDS DO THE 

 BUSINESS. 



The No. 1 honey-boards, 15 x 17!4, are the finest 

 thing for raising extracted honey I have ever seen. 

 I used the fifty I had of you in May, and used lull 

 frames of comb in upper hive, and not any brood 

 above in one of them. J. H. Haight. 



Brothertown, Wis., July 8, 1889. 



