134 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



August 



ed cells), nor whether the queen to be 

 introduced came by mail or was taken 

 from a neighboring colony. Nor does 

 it make much difference whether or 

 not the honey flow is good or bad. 

 The new queen is caged alone in any 

 conveinent receptacle .and kept warm 

 for twenty or thirty minutes- Then a 

 few puffs of smoke blown well into the 

 entrance of the hive, and a few more 

 puffs over the frames when the cover 

 is removed, and the queen is allowed 

 to run down on the combs and it is 

 done. I often pick out a comb and let 

 the queen out onto it, watching her 

 ask first one bee and then another for 

 food vmtil one is found who will give 

 the desired luncheon. I never hesitate 

 . to look into such a colony at any time 

 thereafter, and i have yet to lose a 

 queen so introduced. Several times re- 

 cently, when hurried, I have kept the 

 queens "in solitary" but ten minutes, 

 and yet was successful. I put in virgins 

 in the same way and with equal suc- 

 cess. For smoke I generally use pine 

 planer-shavings, sometimes tobacco. I 

 can see no difference in results, and 

 under some circumstances I am equal- 

 ly successful where no smoke at all is 

 used. 



I clip all queens. To do this I grasp 

 at the thorax with the thumb and fore- 

 finger of the right hand. That avoids 

 pinching the abdomen and gives me 

 firm hold of the wings; I next pass 

 the queen to the left hand grasping her 

 by the sides of the thorax, which pre- 

 vents her getting hold with her feet 

 and pulling and twisting. Then with a 

 pair of fine scissors I clip such wing 

 as I choose and release the queen on 

 the comb. The only time the picking 

 up process is not all that could be 

 wished, is when the fingers are daubed 

 with soft propolis, as they sometimes 

 are in very hot weather. It takes but 

 a little practice to be able to handle 

 queens quickly and safely. 



Providence, R. I., June 30, 1902. 



Is Red Clover a Honey Producer? 



(G. M. Doolittle.) 



44^^ OOD MORNING. Mr. Doo- 



^J little. I see by the American 



Bee-Keeper that you answer 



questions for readers of that paper 



sometimes, so I have come by letter 

 all the way from Michigan to ask you 

 about honey from red clover. 



"I was reading in one of my papers 

 a day or two ago, when I came across 

 the statem'ent that red clover is a hon- 

 ey producer, and today I told a bee- 

 keeping neighbor what I read and he 

 claims that it is not. Will you please 

 tell us which is right? I am a begin- 

 ner in apiculture." 



The above is a part of a letter lately 

 received, and in reply would say that 

 perhaps both the writer in the paper 

 and the bee-keeping neighbor are right, 

 as they view the matter from different 

 standpoints, I calculate. Red clover is 

 certainly a honey producer, as any one 

 can tell by pulling the blossoms from 

 the head and squeezing them between 

 the thumb and fingers. In fact, I believe 

 that red clover gives more nectar than 

 any plant or tree with which I am ac- 

 quainted, not excepting that famous 

 honey- producer, the basswood, or 

 linden. I never pulled the blossoms 

 from a head of clover yet but what 

 there was honey or nectar in them, no 

 matter at what time of the year it was; 

 and in this locality the result is always 

 some nectar, the same year after year, 

 whenever the clover has blossomed; so 

 I think the question should be a settled 

 one by this time, and the fact become 

 prominent, that red clover always se- 

 cretes nectar, or produces honey, if you 

 please to so put it. Now this fact dcres 

 not clash in the least with the state- 

 ment of your neighbor who told you 

 that the honey bee did not bring in 

 honey from red clover, as that is what 

 is undoubtedly meant by red clover 

 giving no honey. 



A plant may secrete honey profusely 

 and yet the blossoms be so shaped that 

 the honey bee cannot reach this nectar 

 without the aid of some other insect 

 or bird to break open the corolla, or 

 blossom near the base, as is the case 

 with the flowers of the plant known in 

 this locality as "comfrey," and with the 

 l)lossoms of the common whitewood. In 

 both of these, wasps, other insects and 

 birds, bite or peck through at the base 

 of the flower to get at the sweets, .af- 

 ter which the honey bee comes in for 

 its share, swarming about these bitten 

 flowers, and collecting what the others 

 do not consume. In certain seasons and 



