1902 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



50 r 



The beneficent operation of a general 

 g-overnment is nowhere more apparent than 

 in the establishing of experiment farms in 

 various portions of the country. At these 

 places the ditt'erent kinds of seeds are test- 

 ed very carefully under the most favorable 

 conditions of soil and climate, so that the 

 individual producer may know just what to 

 do without making many costly experiments 

 and provoking failures himself. All know 

 to -what a wonderful degree of excellence 

 the wealthy class of England have brought 

 the sheep, the cow, and the horse, by a line 

 of experiments through many years at their 

 own expense, thus greatly blessing every 

 nation on the earth, especially this. On the 

 first page of Mr. York's journal for June 

 5 is shown the apiary at the Central Ex- 

 perimental Farm, Ottawa, Canada. Some 

 of the hives are on scales to show the daily 

 gain in honey. About 50 colonies is the 

 average capacity of this apiary. 



REVUE INTERNATIONALE. 

 "Practical Treatise on the Rearing of 

 Queens" is the title of a new book written 

 by Giraud-Pabou and sons. In speaking 

 of it Mr. Crepieux-Jamin says: 



Mr. Pabou and his sons are not unknown to the 

 world. For a long time their apicultural establish- 

 ment has been reckoned as among the first in France ; 

 but they have just shown themselves in a new aspect 

 in publishing this in many respects remarkable little 

 book. Those who have any taste for this subject, or 

 who are prompted by curiosity alone, should read it, 

 and they will not regret it. With a simplicity and 

 modesty that imparts full confidence the authors cite 

 the sources from which they draw their information. 

 It is the celebrated American bee-keeper G. M Doo- 

 little who has inspired them the most. It may be 

 proper to state, however, that the transposition of bee 

 larvae from worker-cells to emptj' queen-cells, by the 

 bee-keeper himself, was originally done by Mr. Meh- 

 ring, the inventor of comb foundation. 



A picture of the Pabou family was given 

 in this journal for 1901, p. 11, in an article 

 written by C. P. Dadant. I am sorry to 

 add the following translation, which is too 

 often a necessary task when our friends 

 seem to be the most needed : 



As we write these lines we learn of the death of 

 Mr. Giraud-Pabou. He departed just at the moment 

 when all the apicultural press was rendering him 

 homage for his brilliant achievements. We extend to 

 his sons, Stanislaus and Stephen, co-authors of the 

 work we have just examined, and who will continue 

 the rearing of queens in the establishment of their 

 late father, our sincere sympathy. 



From what I have gleaned in the French 

 journals, Mr. Pabou was a man much re- 

 spected for his personal qualities. 



yd 

 AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



In the June issue Mr. H. H. Smj'th con- 

 tributes a readable article on bee-keeping 

 in the Sandwich Islands. He says: 



l,ast year I took over two tons from 36 hives. Now I 

 have 88, and swarming is not over yet. I expect to in- 

 crease to 100 this j'ear. The trouble here is our inabil- 

 ity to get supplies. There is no agent here for F'alcon- 

 er or Root, and only one man in Honolulu who im- 

 ports, and he just keeps frames and extractors, and 

 charges enormous prices. I think if one of the large 

 firms would have an agency here it would pay well, as 

 the Japs are progressive ; and if they see it is money 

 in pocket they will buy. 



CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 



"Good morning, Doolittle. Last year I 

 vowed that I would never allow my queens 

 to have their wings during another swarm- 

 ing season, for I lost nearly one-fourth of 

 my swarms by their running away, and 

 others went so high to alight or cluster that 

 it was almost more than they were worth to 

 climb for them; therefore I came over this 

 morning to have a little talk with you, hop- 

 ing that you would tell me how to proceed 

 in this matter. When is the best time to 

 clip the queens?" 



"I do not blame you, Jones, for deciding 

 to clip all queens; for doing this simplifies 

 the work in the apiary very much, as well 

 as to save swarms which would otherwise 

 go to the woods, and also the apiarist from 

 endangering his life by climbing high trees 

 for swarms. But before we go further, you 

 know that it will not answer to clip the 

 wings of queens which have not commenced 

 to lay." 



"Well, I had not thought of that. I had 

 calculated to clip every queen I found. 

 Don't you do this way?" 



"At this time of the year you would not 

 be very likely to find many (if any) queens 

 which were not laying; still, you might; 

 and the rule always is, not to clip any 

 queen unless you are sure she is a layer. 

 The clipping of the wings of unfertile 

 queens ruins them for life, as it incapaci- 

 tates them from flying out to meet the drones; 

 consequently, queens clipped before they 

 are fertile always prove to be drone-layers, 

 or never lay at all. Such queens are worse 

 than nothing, as they are hard to find, and 

 are in the way of our introducing good 

 queens to the colonies having- such." 



"I see that point. Now about when to 

 clip." 



"When fruit-trees and dandelions are in 

 bloom is the best time that I know of to clip 

 the wings of queens, as at that time of the 

 year there are not nearly so many bees in 

 the way, this making it easier to find the 

 queen, and when it has also become warm 

 enough so that there is little danger of chill- 

 ing the brood if the combs are out of the 

 hive some time, as is often the case, especial- 

 ly with the beginner, in finding the queen 

 in a hybrid or black colony of bees. Also, 

 at this time, the bees are usually procuring 

 enough nectar and pollen so they are not in- 

 clined to try to rob the combs of honey while 

 we are looking for the queen." 



"Does it make any difference as to time 

 of day for doing this?" 



" Not so far as the bees and queens are 

 concerned; but if done between the hours 

 of nine in the morning and three in the aft- 

 ernoon there will be fewer bees in the hive, 

 so the queen is found easier, and the strong 



