354 



T'EiE' rn'mmmi^mM wmm j&Tsmmmi^. 



will be interested in anjthing that is 

 new, or even in an old device, pro- 

 vided it is made to do othe* work be- 

 sides that for which it was originally 

 designed. 



Below I give a description of a new 

 use for the drone-and-queen trap — au 

 article thousands of the readers of the 

 American Bee Journal must have in 

 use. Those who have them in use, 

 and have seen them catch a queen at 

 swarming time, have noticed that when 

 the bees returned after missing their 

 queen, as many of them as could would 

 crowd into the trap with the queen. 

 The idea struck me that the trap might 

 be made large enough to hold all the 

 bees and the largest swarm when they 

 issued. 



Figure 1 shows the trap attaclied to 

 a Bay State hive. You will see that it 



Fig. 1. — Trap Attached to a Hive. 



projects considerably hej^ond the front 

 of the hive. The bees, to gain access 

 to their hive, must pass under the trap 

 and enter througii the metal (A). 



Figure 2 shows the interior of the 

 Catcher. It is the same as the drone- 

 trap. In fact, it is nothing but the 

 drone-and-queen trap on a larger scale. 

 Instead of being made just large 

 enough to hold a pint of bees, the trap 

 will hold the largest swarm likely to 

 issue from any hive. 



The trap has a portable cover (C), 

 so that wlien a swarm has been hived, 

 the bees can be quickly removed to a 

 new hive. This device ma}' be at- 

 tached to the hive in a <lozen different 

 waj's. to suit the fancy of the apiarist. 

 It will be seen that there is a stake (D) 

 driven in the ground under the front 

 end of the trap, for the bo.x to rest on. 



B, as shown in Fig. 2. is a box, open 

 on one side so that the bees can enter, 

 while the opposite side is covered with 

 perforated metal. This represents the 

 bottom chamber of the drone-and- 

 queen trap. Two cone-tubes are used 



for the bees to pass into the trajj from 

 the hive. 



We stake our reputation as a bee- 

 keeper on the statement that this trap 

 will catch 99 out of every 100 swarms 

 that issue. The queen will enter the 

 trap, and when the bees return in 

 search of her, they will readily find 

 her ladyship in the box and ready to 

 receive them. 



You will notice in the trap (Fig. 2), 

 and just ahead of the tubes, a strip of 

 perforated metal. This is so arranged 

 that it is exactly over the metal (A). 



When the bees return after having 

 missed their queen, they will pass into 

 the ti'ap through the metal and join 

 their queen. Here the bees will be 

 found on the return home of the api- 

 arist, when they can be disposed of to 

 suit his pleasure. If no hive is ready. 



Fig. 2.~0ur New Self-Hiver. 



the box can be placed on the stand the 

 bees are to occup}", and hived when 

 most convenient. If the bees are to 

 be returned to the hive they issued 

 from, this can be done after the combs 

 have been examined and the ijueen- 

 cells removed. 

 Wenham, Mass. 



MANIPULATION. 



maiiasciiient of Bees — Honey. 

 PlaiilN, etc. 



Written /or the American BeeJonmal 

 BY C. RUSSELL. 



I commenced the season of 1889 

 with 42 full colonies, to be worked for 

 comb and extracted honey, and 5 weak 

 colonies to be divided later in the sea- 

 son, for the fertilization of queens. 

 Thirty colonies had been wintered on 

 the summer stands, and as the winter 

 had not been severe, when spring 

 arrived they were in the pink of con- 



dition. The rest were wintered in the 

 cellar, and were taken out in good 

 condition at the first appearance of 

 natural pollen. 



Mj- spring management commences 

 now, and is something like this : I 

 examine each colony to ascertain its 

 immediate wants — first, to see if they 

 have plenty of honey to last them for 

 2 or 3 weeks, and, if not, a comb of 

 honey is given them ; second, to see 

 that no dead bees are lodged between 

 the combs, and that they have a good, 

 fertile queen. 



In place of the Hill's device and the 

 cotton cloth over the frames, I spread 

 the enameled cloth over this 15 or 20 

 sheets of paper (in book form), then 

 over all a 4-inch rim with a cloth bot- 

 tom nearly filled with chaflf. My ob- 

 ject in doing this at this season of the 

 year, is to prevent, as much as possi- 

 ble, the escape of heat and moisture, 

 as both are essential in order to carry 

 on brood-rearing successfully. 



At the next examination, which 

 should be done in 10 dajs or 2 weeks, 

 I often find it necessary to remove 

 such combs as the bees cannot well 

 cover. It often happens that the hives 

 do not contain more than 5 or tJ 

 frames, with a close-fitting division- 

 board at the side ; in a short time these 

 will be well filled with brood, and I 

 then place in the center (if the weather 

 is warm, and plenty of young bees are 

 in the hive) a comb containing some 

 hone}- ; this I uncap, and continue to 

 till in, in this way, as they need room, 

 until the 9 frames are well filled with 

 brood. Some do not advise spreading 

 the brood, but witli a chafl'-hive en- 

 trance well contracted, and covered 

 warm on top, I have been successful. 



With the above management, by 

 June 1, the 42 colonies were overflow- 

 ing with bees, and the combs nearly 

 solid witli brood. 



A glance now at the brood-nest 

 would show the apiarist that the 

 swarming season was at hand. A few 

 days later it commenced in earnest. 

 Previous to last year I had been suc- 

 cessful, after giving plenty of surplus 

 room, by simply cutting out the 

 queen-cells and returning the swarms. 

 A few trials convinced me that this 

 v,\^s a failure. Then I tried the fol- 

 lowing : 



I hived swarms in hives that had 

 cast swarms 4 or 5 days before ; this 

 did no better than the first. Next, I 

 killed a few of the poorest queens at 

 the time they swarmed, and at the 

 same time I cut out all the queen-cells 

 that were capped. Eight or nine d.ays 

 later (or after all the brood was cap- 

 ped), I again cut out all the queen- 

 cells. Then I hived swarms in these 

 hives, gave plenty of room, but all 

 swarmed within 3 days. 



