April, 19 19 



GI. EANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



219 



after having tried it for several years, but 

 wo know of some large apiarists who are 

 successful with it." 



Dr. C. C. Miller. — "For if a colony should 

 have an undipped queen there is a fair 

 chance that it might swarm and decamp;" 

 » * * 



Dr. E. F. Phillips.— "The clipping of 

 queens is advantageous in the control of 

 swarms," * * * 



M. Quinby.^ — ' ' I am satisfied that I have 

 had many fine queens superseded from the 

 dissatisfaction of the bees with a queen 

 with this imperfection. I do not imagine, 

 however, that it is any real detriment to the 

 value of the queen. ' ' 



W. Z. Hutchinson. — ' ' When swarming is 

 allowed, I believe that the majority of ad- 

 vanced beekeepers now hive their swarms 

 by having the queens ' wings clipped, and 

 allowing the bees to return to their old lo- 

 cation," * * * 



ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture.—' ' The 

 majority of honey-producers practice what 

 is known as clipping;" * * * "There 

 are very few who believe, or profess to be- 

 lieve that clipping is injurious to the 

 queen. ' ' 



Stimulative Feeding. 



L. L. Langstroth - Dadaut. — "To build 

 up strong colonies by feeding requires more 

 care and judgment than any other process 

 in bee culture, and will rarely be required 

 by those who have movable frame hives. ' ' 

 * * * " When bees first begin to fly in 

 the spring, it is well to feed them a little, 

 as a small addition to their hoard en- 

 courages the production of brood." * * * 

 ' ' Colonies which have abundant stores may 

 be incited to breed by simply bruising the 

 cajjpings of a part of their honey. ' ' 



Dr. C. C. Miller. — "But it takes a good 

 deal of wisdom to know at all times just 

 how to manage stimulative feeding so as 

 not to do harm instead of good; and I am 

 not certain that I have the wisdom." * * 

 " If a colony comes out of the cellar strong, 

 and with combs full of stores, I have some 

 doubts if I can hasten its building up by 

 anything I can do. So my feeding in the 

 spring is to make sure they have abundant 

 stores rather than for the stimulation of 

 frequent giving." 



Dr. E. F. Phillips. — "If a colony has win- 

 tered well, has a good queen, is in a large 

 hive, abundantly supplied with stores, and 

 is well protected from changes in tempera- 

 ture, it is doubtful whether it can be stimu- 

 lated to much greater brood-rearing than 

 these conditions will bring about. Even if 

 stimulative feeding results in increased 

 brood-rearing, as it may under some cir- 

 cumstances, the beekeeper may still find it 

 to be unprofitable practice. ' ' 



M. Quinby. — ' ' Use honey or thick syrup. ' ' 

 ' ' Care should be taken not to give them 

 too much." "Begin as soon as they will 

 take it up in the spring, and continue in 



accordance with the weather until white 

 clover blossoms or swarms issue." 



W. Z. Hutchinson. — "is now looked upon 

 l)y many as of doubtful value;" * * * 

 "The only time that spring feeding is ad- 

 visable is where there is a dearth of nectar, 

 after the early spring flow and before the 

 coming of the main harvest. ' ' 



E. W. Alexander. — "If made of one pound 

 of sugar to three pounds of water, it gives 

 the best results." * * * "Now, if you 

 have done your duty by your bees since tak- 

 ing them from their winter quarters as I 

 have recommended in the above, keeping 

 them snug and warm, and feeding them a lit- 

 tle thin syrup nearly every day for the 

 first 30 days after they commence to fly, 

 you can have two good strong colonies in 

 the place of one, ready to commence work 

 on your clover harvest," * * * "With 

 us, spring feeding has been the means of 

 our securing fully twice the amount of sur- 

 plus honey from nearly every colony. ' ' 



A B C and X Y Z of Bee Culture.—' ' Ex- 

 perience seems to show that spring feeding 

 very often does more harm that good by 

 over-stimulation. " * * * " Many bee- 

 keepers of experience, especially in some lo- 

 calities, can doubtless practice spring feed- 

 ing to advantage; but as 

 a rule beginners will do 

 better to give all their 

 colonies enough in the 

 fall. ' ' 



Spreading the Brood. 



Dr. C. C. Miller.— "For 

 some years I have been 

 of the opinion that for 

 me there is no time when 

 it is profitable to spread 

 brood. " 



Dr. E. F. Phillips.— 

 ' ' If the brood-cluster is divided and an 

 empty comb is inserted, the bees will at- 

 tempt to cover all the brood, and, in so do- 

 ing, that part of the empty comb which 

 intervenes will be kept warm enough so 

 that the queen will lay eggs therein." 

 * " * " This is attractive in theory, 

 Init in practice is attended with dan- 

 ger, " * * * " The beginner should 

 by all means leave the amount of brood to 

 be determined by the bees." * * * 

 ' ' Stimulative feeding and spreading of 

 brood should not be practiced early in the 

 spring, but should be confined to a period 

 of six or eight weeks just previous to the 

 particular honey flow for which the bee- 

 keei^er is building up his colonies. ' ' 



M. Quinby. — ' ' It is often best to place 

 these" (empty combs) "in the cen- 

 ter of the strong swarms, in such a position 

 in the brood-nest that the queen will im- 

 mediately occupy them." 



Pollen Substitutes. 

 L. L. Langstroth - Dadant. — ' ' Dzierzon," 

 early in the spring, observed his bees bring- 

 ing rye meal to their hives from a neigh- 

 boring mill, before they could procure any 



ALKXANDER. 



