AUGUST 1. 1912 



483 



One of E. P. Atwater's yards, Meridian, Idaho, that was practically destroyed by fire started by a spark 



from a passing train. 



heat. The colonies in hives that were old 

 and gaping were but little injured. 



Another ex])erience which is little less 

 than a calamity is when an entire yard 

 maist be shaken for foid brood. This has 

 happened twice in our 16 years of beekeep- 

 ing. 



In June, 1909, a spark from a passing 

 train ignited the grass in our Taylor yard. 

 The tenants on the ranch fought the fire as 

 best the}^ could, so that we lost but few 

 colonies outright, though a large part of 

 the field force was burned as they came in 

 from the fields and tried to enter their 

 hives. Where there were open ventilators 

 the flames sucked in at the entrances and 

 up like a chimney. Part of the debris is 

 shown in the picture. The three children 

 standing at the left are the son and two 

 daughters of the good German tenants who 

 took an active part in fighting the flames. 

 Notice the utilitarian costume of the two 

 girls. 



In March, 1910, we were hurriedly called 

 to the phone and informed that our Ben- 

 net yard was fast being flooded. It was 

 almost night, but we secured help and drove 

 to within a mile of the yard, where the 

 road became a torrent of icy water, with 

 an ice- jam just below. Here we left our 

 team and took to the track of the electric 

 railway, and finally arrived at the yard 

 where the water raged, from a few inches 

 to two feet deep. 



The wintering sheds were demolished, 

 tar paper torn away, and, leaving one colo- 

 ny in the water, two or three were piled on 

 top over the entire yard. As we lifted each 

 hive, gallons of icy water poured out of the 



entrance and down my clothes as I handled 

 the front ends of the hives. After we piled 

 up the entire yard in this manner we went 

 back to our team where we partially dried 

 our clothes over a fire and drove home. 



The results were surprising. The flood 

 abated soon after we left the yard, and 

 only one colony was lost outright; and as 

 there was but little brood at that time, the 

 yard built up and yielded a normal crop. 

 We found that the water simply drove the 

 bees to the top of the hives (part were two- 

 story), and if any little opening was found 

 in quilt or cover, a part of the bees would 

 be quietly clustered on the outside of the 

 hives. 



Meridian, Idaho. 



CLIPPED iOUEENS AND ARTIFICIAL SWARM- 

 ING 



A Clipped Queen that Lived to be Eight Years Old 



BY J, W. NICHOLS. 



Having been interested in the articles on 

 clipped queens by H. E. Harrington, p. 

 143, March 1, and by Harry Lathrop, p. 

 285, May 1, I wish to add a word in line 

 with what Mr. Lathrop has said. While I 

 am a beekeeper in only a small way I have 

 clipped queens for fifteen years, and have 

 always been successful. Unlike Mr. La- 

 throp, however, I clip both wings on both 

 sides short, so that, when a swarm issues, 

 the queen will not leave the entrance-board, 

 but will be found in front of the hive where 

 she can be easily caged, and the hive ex- 

 changed for a new one, ready for the re- 



