SEPTEMBER 15, 1913 



sired. I lost many dollars' worth of queens, 

 and worker-bees by thousands. 



Accidentally I discovered the cause. I 

 was working in the apiary when my atten- 

 tion was called to a flock of English spar- 

 rows perched in single file on the ridge 

 board of the barn and cornhouse, and in line 

 with the flight of the bees. Some of the 

 sparrows were in the air all of the time, 

 and were busy snatching uji the bees; and 

 when the bees would come in loaded and 

 drop down on the roof of the buildings the 

 sjiarrows would hop down and gather them 

 in. I did not count the birds, but should 

 judge that there were from fifty to seventy- 

 five in the flock. I earnestly urge every 

 beekeeper to make war on these pests. They 

 certainly nearly ruined my apiary, and are, 

 without doubt, the worst enemy of the 

 bees and beekeeper. There is no mistake 

 about the matter. 



I know of but very little that can be said 

 in favor, and very much to be said against 

 the bird. I might possibly overlook the 

 fact that it is a destroyer of cherries, 

 giapes, pears, peaches, and other fruits, 

 aid buds of trees, vines, garden seeds, the 

 tender shoots of young peas and lettuce, 

 together with wheat and other grains (a 

 flock of fifty sparrows requires the equiva- 

 lent of a quart of wheat daily, making the 

 annual loss caused by these birds through- 

 out the country very great), and the fur- 

 ther fact that the English sparrow drives 

 out our native birds, killing their young 

 and destroying their nests, also defiling 

 buildings, ornamental trees, shrubs, etc., 

 with their excrement and bulky nests. I 

 say I might possibly overlook the forego- 

 ing; but when these little tyrants attack 

 queens and worker bees, and endanger the 

 safety of an entire ajjiary, I think it time 

 to call a halt. 



. To show the nature of this bird I will 

 relate the following incident, of which I 

 was an eye witness. Three years ago the 

 barn swallows built about thirty mud nests 

 under the eaves of the barn above referred 

 to. They were not molested by the spar- 

 rows until the swallows had young nearly 

 large enough to fly, when the sparrows at- 

 tacked them in a body, pulling the helpless 

 j'oung from the nests and dropping them 

 on the ground and roof of the chicken house 

 below to die of cold and hunger. The spar- 

 lows took possession of the nests and kept 

 out the swallows. The same tragedy was 

 e-acted the following season, and the swal- 

 lows deserted the location. The same thing 

 occurred with a nest of bluebirds in an old 

 tree. 



I recommend that beekeepers send for 

 Government Bulletin entitled " English 



639 



Sparrows a Pest '' (No. 493), which will be 

 sent free on application to your Congress- 

 man or to the Department of Agriculture, 

 Wasliington, D. C, telling how to destroy 

 these pests; but please be careful not to 

 destroy the little chipping sparrow, which 

 somewhat resembles the English sparrow, 

 but is smaller, and differs considei'ably in 

 its markings, for it is a friend to the gar- 

 dener and beekeeper. A pair of the " eliip- 

 pies " kept a patch of twenty-five cabbages 

 in my garden entirely free from cabbage- 

 worms during an entire season, and de- 

 stroyed many moths in my apiary. Unlike 

 the English sparrows, the little' chipping 

 sparrows never do anv damage. 

 Bradford. N. Y. 



A DENTISTS METHOD OF PRODUCING HONEY 

 Beekeeping Compared with Poultry Raising 



BY P. E. WAUGH, D. D. S.' 



I am a professional man keeping a few 

 hives of bees for pleasure and profit ; and. 

 like many others, the amount of pleasure 1 

 derive is, in a large measure, in proportion 

 to how well my bees do, season conditions 

 considered. To be honest, my fondness for 

 honey was the real incentive for beginning; 

 and when a neighbor told me he got 20 lbs. 

 per colony from box hives I decided to get 

 one. However, at about this time I bor- 

 rowed a copy of the A B C of Bee Culture, 

 and found out more about beekeeping in an 

 hour than my neighbor knew all together. 

 One hundred sections per colony is com- 

 mon, and sixty my lowest average. 



With a little experience I found I should 

 need one or two colonies to experiment with 

 — one to supply honey for my own family, 

 and a few to furnish that tidy little sum of 

 money each year that adds just that zest to 

 the business that holds the interest year 

 after year. 



I have my own scheme for swarm pre- 

 vention that works in most cases, and I cer- 

 tainly get the honey. Having two shallow 

 bodies to each colony I reverse them as soon 

 as the top one is full of brood and honey, 

 and put the supers on top. The queen now 

 occupies the upper body ; and as soon as it 

 is pretty full I reverse again. The super 

 work is now started, for I use baits in the 

 super; and if in looking over the hives T 

 find queen-cells I take away the super (bees 

 and all) and give to the nearest very strong 

 colony not showing queen-cells, putting an 

 empty super in its place containing baits 

 and empty sections. Then I reverse and 

 take away a super again if necessary, I give 

 as many as three of these supers to some 

 strong hives ; and how the bees do work ! I 



