AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



219 



Queries aiid Replies. 



Queens witli CliieJ Winis. 



Query 805. — 1. Are queens with 

 clipped wings more liable to be super- 

 seded by the bees, than those not so 

 clipped? 2. If so, what per cent, more 

 are likely to be lost ? — L. 



Yes.— J. P. H. Browx. 



1. I think not. — C. C. Miller. 



1. My experience says " no." — Gr. M. 



DOOLITTLE. 



After 20 years' experience I answer 

 " no." — M. Mahin. 



1. I believe not, and if I knew they 

 were, I would have their wings clipped. 

 — A. B. Mason. 



I do not clip the wings of my queens, 

 so I cannot say. — H. D. Cutting. 



1. No, unless through careless hand- 

 ling the queens are frightened and killed 

 at once. — Eugene Secor. 



I have never practiced clipping queens' 

 wings, hence I am no authority upon 

 that subject. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



1. No. I am sure of this. An experi- 

 ence of 20 years with queens with 

 clipped wings makes me feel certain. — 

 A. J. Cook. 



1 . Yes. 2. Perhaps 5 per cent. ; 

 though the loss is less than would result 

 from absconding swarms, etc. — Mrs. J. 

 N. Heater. 



If the clipping is well done I believe 

 there is no perceptible difiference. One 

 wing three-fourths off is enough. 2. 

 Certainly less than one per cent. — P. H. 

 Elwood. 



Yes, when first introduced, or when 

 first clipped. After the bees become 

 used to them, they are safe. — Dadant 

 & Son. 



Yes. With my experience they are 

 much more apt to be superseded. As to 

 percentage excepted — 5 to 10 times 

 more apt. — James Heddon. 



No. I used to think so, but after 

 much experience with queens having 

 clipped wings, I have decided that clip- 

 ping makes no difference. — J. A. Green. 



I prefer to use queen-traps to clipping 

 queens' wings. It is too much trouble 



to bother with queens having clipped 

 wings. — G. L. Tinker. 



1. It is my judgment that they are. 

 Clipping is crippling, and I believe that 

 all animals and insects, like the human 

 family, like to see a perfect individual. 

 2. I cannot say. — Mrs. L. Harrison. 



No, not If the clipping is properly 

 done. Out of many hundreds I never 

 had but one that I had any reason to 

 suppose was superseded for that reason, 

 and she had all four wings cut off short. 

 — R. L. Taylor. 



1. Yes, that is my experience. 2. I 

 do not know. I have long since aban- 

 doned this practice, as by the use of 

 drone-traps and self-hivers, there is no 

 longer any use for it.— C. H. Dibbern. 



1. I guess not. I shall risk it at any 

 rate. I have had queens with both 

 wings cut short that were tolerated for 

 a long time, but it is not necessary in 

 clipping to remove more than.half of the 

 wing, or wings, on one side, which does 

 not disfigure them much. — S. I. Free- 

 born. 



If a colony swarms in the absence of 

 the apiarist, with a clipped queen, she 

 would stand about one chance in three 

 of being lost. I do not think she would 

 be superseded for any other reason. We 

 clip all of our queens. Better lose the 

 queen than the swarm and the queen. — 

 E. France. 



1. According to my experience and 

 observation, they are. But this does 

 not settle the question of practicability. 

 When you include the losses of undipped 

 queens (and bees, too), in the swarming 

 season, the chances are in favor of the 

 clipped queeus. Such is my experience 

 after trying both ways for many years. 

 — G. W. Demaree. 



1. For myself, I think they are, and 

 especially where natural swarming is 

 allowed. I find that where swarms 

 issue two or three times, and return be- 

 cause the queen does not go with them, 

 that they are very apt to supersede her. 

 2. I do not know how the percentage 

 can be figured ; and any attempt to 

 figure it would be mere guess-work. — J. 

 E. Pond. 



1. I think not. 2. There is no larger 

 per cent, of queens with clipped wings 

 lost by supersedure, than of queens not 

 clipped. But I think there are more 

 clipped queens lost in handling the 

 frames, for if a queen's wings are 

 clipped very short, she cannot handle 

 herself quite so well on a comb after it 



