1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



821 



arators attached to the holders, and T supers have loose 

 wooden separators." Now, have I been following an un- 

 orthodox practice in the use of separators, or is Dr. Miller 

 away behind the times ? I have been using section-holders 

 and loose wooden separators, such as they send out from 

 Medina to be used together, and supposed I was doing the 

 proper thing. Whether it is the proper thing or not, I shall 

 keep on using them. Nobody can run fast enough to give me 

 tin separators, or T tins, either. 



With regard to separators, I will say that I use some that 

 are scalloped on both edges, and some that are scalloped on 

 only one edge, These separators are just as wide as the sec- 

 tion is deep. Most of the sections I have used have had open- 

 ings, when two scalloped edges were placed together, of % of 

 an inch. Some of the sections I used last summer had open- 

 ings when two scalloped edges were placed together, of only 

 ,'4 inch. When I used separators with these last-mentioned, 

 having but one scalloped edge, I found that the bees had great 

 difficulty in getting on to the top of the section, and I believe 

 the separators interfered much with the filling and capping of 

 the upper portion of the sections. When I used separators 

 with both edges scalloped, the bees seemed to have no diffi- 

 culty with any kind of section. 



I have used a few narrow wooden separators with two 

 straight edges, but long ago discarded them. They are some- 

 what difficult to adjust, and if a rather wide space is left at 

 the top, the bees are very lilfely to bulge the honey above the 

 separators. 



While on the subject of sections, I will further say that I 

 have used some with openings on all four sides, but I am not 

 very favorably disposed towards them. My bees made a des- 

 perate attempt last summer to fill the opening in the sides 

 with propolis, and came very nearly succeeding. 



Decatur Co., Iowa. 



[Mr. Bevins, we fear you will never know just what was 

 said at Lincoln, on the question you have copied from the 

 Report. The shorthand reporters were somewhat inexperi- 

 enced, were unfamiliar with bee-terms, and so did not get a 

 very clear report of what was said, in several instances. And 

 you have struck one of the hazy places. Take it all in all, 

 however, we think the Report is fairly creditable. — Editor.] 



Clipping Queens' Wings — Increase by Dividing. 



By DR. E. GALLUP. 



I am asked by several if I clip my queens' wings, and 

 whether I practice artificial or natural swarming. My reason 

 for not clipping queens is that I have lost more swarms by 

 clipping, by all odds, than I ever did by not clipping, for I 

 consider that the loss of a good queeu at such time is equiva- 

 lent to the loss of a full swarm, and then I have to raise the 

 hives from the ground on four stakes to prevent the small ants 

 from entering the hive and annoying, for, if not kept out, they 

 ruin the colony entirely. Bees can do nothing with the little 

 rascals. I tried smearing the stakes with kerosene, crude 

 petroleum, tar, etc., but now I use a liquid preparation called 

 ■" Lee's lice and mite killer for fowls." 



My hive bottom-boards project well in front of the hive, 

 but if a bee or queen should drop among the ants, they are 

 gone up, for the ants pile onto them like a flash. Unculti- 

 vated or hard ground seems to be literally alive with them 

 here. But I do not like clipping queens, anyhow, though that 

 need not prevent others from doing as they like. 



One should be on hand to watch for clipped queens, just 

 as much as you do to watch for swarms. In all my experience 

 of years with natural swarming, I never had but two swarms 

 leave without clustering first, and in both of those cases they 

 were kept in the hive long after they would have swarmed, 

 on account of bad weather. 



I practice artificial swarming, or dividing, and like it. I 



rear my queens in advance, then take the old queen out of a 

 strong, populous colony, together with two frames of sealed 

 and hatching brood, and place them in an empty hive, 

 adjust a division-board, and set the hive on a new stand. 

 Now the old bees will go back, but we have young bees and 

 hatching brood that will stop with the old queen ; all bees less 

 than six or eight days old stay where they are placed, and 

 under such forced conditious young bees will commence gath- 

 ering honey, pollen and water at six or eight days old. The 

 queen is kept busy filling the cells where the young hatch, 

 and in two, three, or four days, depending upon the weather 

 and honey-yield, I move those two combs apart and place in a 

 frame of comb foundation between the two full combs. As 

 soon (or a little before) as this is well drawn out and filled with 

 eggs, I place in two more frames of foundation, always alter- 

 nating between two full combs, and in that method of proced- 

 ure, if the weather is right, it takes but a short time to build 

 up a strong colony. 



I have supposed that there is sealed honey in the upper 

 part of each comb that I started with ; if not, and I have not 

 a spare comb of honey to place in with the two frames of 

 brood, then I must feed, especially if the weather turns bad. 



Now in the old colony I place two frames of foundation in 

 the place of the two combs taken out, and never both together, 

 always one full comb between the two or more foundation 

 combs. My reasons for this is, the bees cannot cluster on the 

 foundation heavy enough to make it stretch, sag, or draw any 

 of the cells out of shape, and I never have to use wired foun- 

 dation. 



Now introduce a laying queen to the old colony, and they 

 are all right. I have not weakened that perceptibly, but what 

 it can go right on with storing honey, and with a young queen 

 and right management swarming is at an end for that colony 

 for the season. 



Our young queens must be reared on right and natural 

 principles. I have been corresponding with some Southern 

 queen-breeders to see how early they can furnish queens. 

 Providing I can get them early enough from a reliable breeder 

 — one that makes a business of queen-breeding — I should pre- 

 fer to purchase instead of rearing them myself. One reason 

 is on account of not having the time to properly attend to it, 

 and another is on account of being surrounded with wild bees. 

 And right here I will answer another question : I do not pro- 

 pose to rear queens for sale, for both the above reasons. 



The plan recommended by some to make artificial increase 

 is to make an equal division of the combs, set the half con- 

 taining the old queen on a new stand, and allow those on the 

 old stand to rear a queen, fill out both hives with foundation 

 at once, etc. Any one that practices that plan, if he is a close 

 observer, will find he is all wrong. He is almost sure to get 

 unprolific and short-lived queens on account of the bees being 

 in a hurry to replace their queen. They start from a larvse 

 too far advanced as a worker. Then, again, filling up with 

 foundation outside of the main cluster of bees is wrong. I 

 would on no condition fill a hive with foundation to hive a 

 natural swarm on. Insert a frame of brood consisting of un- 

 sealed larviu and eggs, and one frame of foundation on each 

 side or not. Let them partly fill the hive with comb, and then 

 alternate with foundation. The queen does not go outside of 

 the cluster to deposit her eggs. See? 



Orange Co., Calif. 



Improving Bees by Selection in Breeding. 



BY W. .1. DAVIS. 



Those who keep bees (with possibly a few exceptions) 

 keep them for the profit they may yield, and it is safe to say, 

 when they cease to yield a profit for their owner for several 



