86 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



This often occurs. It is nothing vin- 

 iisual for two or three swarms to issue 

 from tlie same iiive some seasons. 



Where the Swarmer is used, it will 

 be necessary to remove the first swarm 

 that comes out to a new stand and set 

 the Swarmer again for asecond swarm. 

 Ten days after the first swarm issues, 

 the Swarmer should be removed from 

 the hive to give the young queen a 

 chance to take the mating flight. 



I should have said that if a second 

 swarm issues, it is usually on the 

 eightii day after the first swarm comes 

 off. The second and third swarms will 

 follow riglit along and none will issue 

 twelve days after the first one came 

 off.— Ed.]. 



The Swarmer— Feeding bees in the Bay 

 State hives. 



Easst Maine. N. Y. 

 Mr. Alt-ey :— I would like to ask you a couple 

 of questions : 



1. In resiird to tlie way tlie Swaimer works. 

 Would not half a dozen swarms, all coniin;; out 

 the same time, be as apt to cluster with one queen 

 as they would to go back to their respective 

 hives ? 



2. Do you not have to do a Kood deal of feeding 

 with a hive as small as the Bay State ? 



T. K. Twining. 



1. No, the bees would not at all 

 cluster on one Swarmer or all go to 

 one hive. I have seen no less than 

 three swarms in the air at one time. 

 One of the traps which had a queen 

 in it was placed in a tree and the 

 bees all clustered there. In a short 

 time the trap was removed and after 

 the bees found they had no queen 

 each swarm returned to its own re- 

 spective hive. 



2. We do not feed colonies in the 

 Bay State hive when there is plenty of 

 forage for the bees to collect. The 

 Bay State hive is larger than many 

 beekeepers use. — Ed.]. 



Questions by an unknown party. 



INiR. Alley:—!. Is your Swarmer a portion of 

 your drone-trap ? Do" you not connect two traps 

 to make the Swarmer?" 



2. Are Italians pure when some of the bees 

 show two bands and others three ? I would like 

 to have the opinion of some experienced person. 



KKADKK of API. 



The Swarmer is constructed on the 

 same principle as the drone-and-queen 



trap. When used as the latter the 

 trap to catch the drones and queens 

 is above the entrance to the hive ; 

 when used as a self hiver tiie chamber 

 to catch the queen is at the end. 



We have applied for a pateat on the 

 Swarmer. Now, while I felt well pro- 

 tected in my rights with the patent I 

 have on the trap, I had an idea that 

 my claims might not quite cover all 

 the features of the Swarmer. There 

 are several parties who claim the in- 

 vention of the Swarmer ; yet they have 

 only made sligiit changes in tiie con- 

 struction of the drone-trap and not in 

 the least changed the principle. 



2. If you have bees that show two 

 and three yellow bands they are pure 

 Italians ; certainly good enough so far 

 as purity is concerned. We never 

 have claimed that pure Italian bees 

 do, or should, show three yellow 

 bands. Two broad bands, not count- 

 ing the narrow one that is on the bend 

 of the body is all 1 will ask to sat- 

 isfy me that bees are pare Italians. 

 The-best type of purity in Italians are 

 found in uniformity in the width of 

 the two yellow bands. People have 

 visited our apiaiy and have declared 

 that our bees have three and four 

 bands. This we have never claimed 

 and do not think any one can see more 

 than two distinct bands. 



Prevention of robbing among bees. 

 Newport, Giles Co., Va. 

 Mr. Henry Alley: 



Do you know of any trap or contrivance to i)re- 

 vent bees from roljl)uig ? Has an\ thinK of this 

 kind been invented? Is there a patent on any- 

 thing of tliis kind that is a success? 



I have invented a trap or contriv.ince tliat will 

 prevent bees robbing. In my opinion it is a suc- 

 cess. I will try it one more season. If it woiks 

 as well as it has I shall apply for a jiatent. It id 

 simple and cheap; will cost twenty-five to thirty- 

 five cents each to manulacture them; made of 

 wood, tin and glass. 



M. W. Mcpherson. 



We cannot say that the above ar- 

 rangement is not entirely new. We 

 are of the opinion, however, that K. 

 P. Kidder of Burlington, Vt., in- 

 vented some device to prevent rob- 

 bing in the apiary. It is unlike the 

 above, as I believe there was no tin, 

 w^ood or glass about it. — Ed.]. 



