270 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



Jacob Alpaugh, one of Canada's 

 brig-ht sons, is still in the bee-keeping 

 ranks, to some extent. I met him this 

 fall when I was over at Toronto award- 

 ing the preminms in the bee depart- 

 ment of their fair. For the last year 

 or two he has kept about 150 colonies 

 in a new region up near Owen Sound. 

 I asked him if he was still in the bee 

 business. He said, yes, as a sort of 

 side-issue. "What is your main busi- 

 ness, then, I asked ?" "Hunting and 

 fishing," was the reply. He takes his 

 dogs, guns, boat and fishing tackle 

 with him, and the summer's work with 

 the bees is pretty thoroughly mixed up 

 with sport. By the way, he told me 

 that his apiary was located in an old, 

 neglected orchard, where the limbs had 

 grown to such an extent that the ends 

 had met and inter-lapped. One tree 

 had died some time ago, leaving an 

 opening of perhaps ten or twelve feet, 

 and all of the bees from the 150 colonies 

 passed out and in that opening. Some- 

 times, when a storm was coming up, or 

 a black, thick cloud passed over, driv- 

 ing in the bees, this opening would be 

 so filled with bees as to complete!}' 

 obscure the sky. 



• •^Mtf-aP^F^* 



Grading Rules seem to be destined to 

 come in for a new discussion. I well- 

 remember what a time we had getting 

 the present ones adopted. It was 

 found to be useless to discuss them in 

 open convention, as the discussion 

 would never end. Finally it was re- 

 ferred to a committee, and the com- 

 mitte wrestled with it for hours, and 

 the final form was a compromise, as it 

 was impossible to even get two mem- 

 bers to agree on all points. After the 

 rules were finally approved by the con- 

 vention, thej' came in for a lot of criti- 

 cism from bee-keepers in different 

 parts of the country. Some bee-keep- 

 ers have even gone so far as to condemn 

 all rules of grading; saj'ing that they 

 were not only unnecessary, but their 

 use really robbed the bee-keeper. Be- 



fore the coming convention of the Na- 

 tional, it might be well to discuss this 

 matter of grading. Do we need rules, 

 and, if so, what changes ought to be 

 made in the ones adopted a dozen years 

 ago by the National ? See these rules 

 at the head of the column of honey 

 quotations, on the inside of the back 

 cover. 



«n^«, •^■»»*,ri» 



Taking off a Hive Cover, if it is a flat 

 cover and no quilt is used, is sometimes 

 not the easiest thing if the weather is a 

 little cool and the cover stuck down 

 solid with propolis. Of course, it cat/ 

 be pulled oflf easily enough, kicked oft" 

 or jerked off, but the snap with which 

 it comes off irritates the bees. To get 

 rid of this snap with which the cover 

 usually comes loose, place the left 

 hand upon the center of the cover and 

 bear down lightlj'. Place the fingers 

 of the right hand under one corner of 

 the cover and lift up with a long steady 

 pull. The result will be the cover will 

 gradually give up its grip upon the 

 hive and come off quietly — the counter- 

 pressure of the left hand upon the center 

 of the cover preventing that annoying 

 snap. Mr. Elias E. Cov'e3'ou, of 

 Petoskey, Mich., told me this wrinkle. 



u'-uf »^*»-»F^» 



Why Re-Queening Prevents Swarming. 



It is quite generall}' admitted that 

 re-queening with young queens has a 

 tendencj' to prevent swarming. I have 

 never been able to see any reason why, 

 but Adrian Getaz, in the Western Bee 

 Journal (now discontinued) says it is 

 not so much because of the age of the 

 queen, as that re-queening, when the 

 colony rears its own queen, leaves the 

 colony several days without any sealed 

 brood. During this time the 3'oung 

 bees, that would otherwise be engaged 

 in feeding larvae, take to field-work, 

 and when the young queen begins to 

 lay, the excess of nurse-bees has ceased 

 to exist; and this excess is not likely 

 to occur again until the swarming 

 season is over. He saj's the same re- 



