May, 1919 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



327 



colonies swarm, twotliiids or throo-foiirths 

 of the bees, together witli the queen, leave 

 for a new home. To prevent swarming, 

 therefore, certain measures should be taken, 

 among which is the clipping of the queen's 

 wings. (Other preventive measures will be 

 mentioned later.) Having the queen's wings 

 clijiped does not prevent the colony from 

 swarming, but it does prevent their leaving 

 for new quarters, because, at the time the 

 swarm issues, the queen, finding herself un- 

 able to fly, finally crawls back into the hive, 

 and the swarm, unwilling to leave without 

 her, is compelled to return. 



Finding the Queen. 



During the warmest hours of a day when 

 the bees are gathering nectar the queen may 

 be found on one of the frames of brood — 

 probably on one containing eggs. A very 

 good queen may be found quite readily be- 

 cause of her unusual size, stately bearing, 

 and her little retinue of attendant bees that 

 form a circle facing toward her caressing 

 her with their antennae whenever she stands 

 still for a moment. 



Small and inferior black queens are usu- 

 ally quite excitable and much harder to find. 

 To locate such a queen, sit with the back to- 

 ward the sun and beginning at the furthest 

 side of the brood-nest, and using very little 

 smoke, carefully remove one comb after an- 

 other until the frames of brood are reached. 

 She will doubtless be on one of these. There- 

 fore examine each of these very carefully. 

 If she happens to be on the comb pulled out, 

 she will often run to the furthest side of the 

 comb, or she may run to the unexposed side 

 of the adjacent comb, which is the side that 

 first comes in view on removing the next 

 frame. Therefore, glance at the exposed 

 surface of the next comb before examining 

 the one removed. After looking the frames 

 all over twice if the queen is not found, the 

 hive should be closed and the bees allowed 

 to become quiet before another attempt is 

 made. And if he still fails to find the queen, 

 the beginner may be obliged to resort to the 

 method given under the ' ' Field of Experi- 

 ence ' ' in this issue. 



How to Clip. 



When found, the queen should be careful- 

 ly picked up by the wings or thorax, but 

 on no account should she be held by the ab- 

 domen, as she is very easily injured by such 

 handling. "With the thumb and fore finger 

 of the left hand hold the queen securely by 

 the thorax, bringing the second finger under 

 her so she may grasp it with her feet, thus 

 keeping her feet out of the way when clip- 

 ping; for unless care is taken a leg might be 

 accidentally cut and the queen rendered use- 

 less. Holding a pair of sharp scissors as 

 shown in the cut, and remembering that 

 clipping a wing is probably no more painful 

 than clipping hair, cut off about one-half or 

 two-thirds of both wings on one or both sides. 

 Cutting the wings of one side is sufficient to 

 prevent her flying, but some prefer cutting 

 on both sides, since it is a little easier to 



find such a queen because of her changed 

 appearance. 



Other Work Preceding the Flow. 



In case some colony becomes too crowded 

 and starts queen-cells, they should be torn 

 down and more room given. The better plan, 

 however, is to give the super early enough 

 so queen-cells will not be started. Those 

 colonies that become crowded for room early 

 in the season, while the nights are yet quite 

 cool, should have a super of empty combs 

 placed under the brood-chamber. This will 

 enable the queen gradually to extend her 

 brood-nest lower, and will leave the brood 

 all in the warmest part of the hive where 

 there will be no danger of chilling. 



Two or three weeks before the opening of 

 the main honey flow, when the nights are 

 warmer, those colonies that become crowded 

 for room may be given a super of combs or 

 foundation immediately above the brood- 

 chamber, and two frames of eggs and larvae 

 from the lower story placed in the upper 

 one, replacing with empty combs or founda- 

 tion. Or, if preferred, the order of these 

 two stories may be reversed. It is to be 

 hoped that combs may be used; for if foun- 

 dation is used when no honey is coming in, 

 it is necessary to feed syrup in order to get 

 the foundation drawn out; and one always 

 objects to feeding syrup too near a honey 

 flow for fear of getting syrup stored with 

 the honey. When some brood is thus kept 

 in the second story the bees become so ac- 

 customed to occupying the second story that 

 they store above readily when the flow ac- 

 tually starts. A week or so after the open- 

 ing of the honey flow, the queen should be 

 placed below and a queen-excluder inserted 

 between the two colonies. 



If directions are followed, swarming can 

 probably be prevented this month; and as 

 a general thing those colonies that do not 

 swarm are the ones that store the most sur- 

 plus. On the other hand, if one desires to 

 increase he may insert a queen-excluder be- 

 tween the two stories, leaving the queen be- 

 low and tear down all capped cells. Eight 

 days later move the upper story (this time 

 leaving the capped queen-cells in order that 

 a new queen may be raised), and leave with 

 contracted entrance so the brood will not 

 chill. This subject will be discussed at 

 greater length in our next issue. 



Beginners' References. 



See pages 291, 293, 296, 322, and last para- 

 graphs of 312 and 306. "Daddy Lowe," is 

 particularly helpful, and yet, if he had not 

 been more interested in Anne than in the 

 bees, he would have added certain other re- 

 marks. At the foot of page 291, he would 

 have added, * ' Also having young larvae be- 

 low will cause part of the bees to stay be- 

 low to care for it, and thus there will be no 

 danger of the bees entirely deserting the 

 lower story, and leaving the queen alone." 

 Also later on he would have added, ' ' Better 

 have all the weight on the side next you, 

 then tip the super toward you when lifting." 



