502 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 15 



light at this time of the day enables us to 

 see the queen more readily, and also en- 

 ables us to see to do the work better. But 

 "having- once decided to clip all queens, the 

 time to do this is at any time when we see 

 any queen not clipped which we are sure is 

 a laying one. Thus I am alwa3^s prepared 

 to clip any queen I may find which is lay- 

 ing, and has whole wings; and, besides 

 this, I go over the apiarj^ during fruit-bloom 

 to make sure that all are clipped in advance 

 of the swarming season. Another thing 

 ver}' favorable at this time is that the queen 

 is apt to be laying up to her greatest capac- 

 ity, which makes her more slow of motion, 

 and hinders her from hiding quickljs as 

 they often do, I find, at other times of the 

 year." 



"Can you tell me in brief how you find a 

 queen?" 



" I have several boxes built out of '4 -inch 

 lumber (each having- bottoms so thej' can be 

 set down anywhere), the same size inside 

 as the hive I am using, as they are verj' 

 handy for many purposes about the bee- 

 yard. This thin lumber makes them very 

 light to handle. One of these is set down 

 by the hive; and in taking out the frames 

 from the hive, each is carefully looked over, 

 when, if the queen is not found, it is set in 

 this box. Take out the first frame on the 

 side of the hive next to you, and, when 

 looked over, set it in the further side of the 

 box. As soon as you lift the second frame 

 you will have room enough to glance down 

 into the hive, looking on the face side of the 

 next comb, when, should the queen be there, 

 she is readily seen as she prepares to go 

 around the comb to the dark side. If you 

 do not see her immediately, turn the comb 

 in your hand so as to look on the opposite 

 side of it, or the side which was the dark 

 side when it was in the hive, for a queen 

 does not stay on the side of the comb 

 where the light strikes for any length of 

 time. Not having found her, set this second 

 comb next the other in the box, when the 

 next frame is taken in the same way, look- 

 ing at the face side of the comb in the hive 

 first every time, and next looking at the far 

 side of the comb j'ou are holding in your 

 hands. Keep on in this way, and you will 

 very likely find the queen before you go 

 half through the hive. If you go clear 

 through the hive without having found her, 

 you will begin to set the frames back again. 

 If you see that you put them in the box as 

 I have told, you will note that, as you take 

 each one from the box to set it back in the 

 hive, you have the same chance of seeing 

 the queen, and in the same way that you 

 did when taking the combs from the hive. 

 And you always want to sit or stand with 

 your back to the sun, as much as possible, 

 at all times when hunting for a queen, as 

 you can see so much better. In doing as 

 above I do not fail once in fiftj' times in 

 finding the queen, and will find her thirty- 

 nine times out of forty while setting the 

 combs out of the hive into the box." 



"I think I understand this part now; and 



next, if you will tell me how you clip, I will 

 not bother you longer." 



"Having found the queen I steady the 

 frame by placing one corner on my right 

 knee, or on some part of the hive, while I 

 hold the opposite corner by the top-bar with 

 my right hand, when I take a firm hold of 

 the wings of the queen with the thumb and 

 fore finger of the left hand, when the frame 

 is lifted, allowing the corner which rested 

 on the knee to go down into the hive till the 

 top-bar rests on top of the hive, when the 

 frame is lowered till the bottom-bar rests 

 on the top of the opposite side of the hive. 

 I now lean the top-bar over till the opposite 

 corner of the bottom-bar strikes the side of 

 the hive, and, if I have calculated the dis- 

 tance rightly, the frame will lie so that the 

 flat surface of the comb (brood and bees) 

 will be little less than level. Before going 

 to the work of clipping queens I whet the 

 small blade to my pocket-knife as sharp as 

 possible, and, before opening the hive, place 

 this open sharpened knife where it will be 

 handy to pick up just when I wish it. Hav- 

 ing the queen and frame as above, I place 

 the sharp blade on the wing, wings, or the 

 amount I wish to cut off; lower both hands 

 to within an inch or so of the flat surface 

 of the comb, when I draw the knife a little 

 till the queen falls down among the bees, 

 and the job is done. No danger of cutting 

 3'ourself if you stop drawing the knife as 

 soon as the queen falls. In this way I have 

 not touched the queen, so there is no foreign 

 scent on her; and nine out of ten queens so 

 clipped go about on the comb and among 

 the bees with no more appearance of being 

 disturbed than they had before being 

 caught." 



"That looks quite simple, but I fear it 

 will be quite trying to me before I get used 

 to it." 



" Possibly your hands may shake some; 

 but if you will begin on some old poor queen 

 which you care little for, your confidence 

 will be greater, and yoM will be less likely 

 to get excited." 



"Do not some use scissors in clipping?" 



"Yes, and good work can be done with 

 scissors. The main difliculty here is, that 

 j'ou must make a specialty of having the 

 scissors with you, while the pocket-knife 

 goes with you wherever you go; and because 

 of this latter fact you are always ready to 

 clip any queen at any time when you may 

 chance to find a laying one which has 

 wings. To clip with scissors, catch the 

 queen with the right hand; lower her till 

 she takes hold of the long finger of the left 

 hand, at the end, with her feet. Now bring 

 up the thumb and fore finger so as to take 

 her gently by the thorax, when she can be 

 held in any position you like so that you 

 can take your time and cut oft" just the por- 

 tion of any part of the wings you desire. 

 Cutting off a certain portion of each wing 

 each year, so as to mark the age of the 

 queen, as some do, as well as to clip, is the 

 better waj', as you can take all the time 

 you wish, and be as particular as you like. " 



