THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



125 



stock. As the swanning season is now 

 over, we shall drop the self-hiver busi- 

 ness till next winter, then our readers 

 shall have more light about this won- 

 derful invention for catching swarms 

 of bees when they issue. 



Yes, it is just right for the vu'gin 

 queen, or rather what was a virgin 

 queen, not to lay till after swarming 

 is over. When the last swarm issues, 

 whether it is the second, third or 

 fourth swarm that comes off, the 

 queen is usually but a few hours old. 

 It will be from seven to ten days be- 

 fore she will be fertilized and com- 

 mence to lay. If the queen is fertilized 

 when five days old (and I never knew 

 one to mate when younger than five 

 days old) she would not commence to 

 lay till she was seven days old. But 

 there are but few queens fertilized 

 when just five days old. The majority 

 are ten days old when they commence 

 to lay. 



If Kit Clover will use the drone- 

 and-queen trap there will be no need 

 of shinning trees for those high-flying- 

 second swarms. The trap will catch 

 all queens, young or old, or whether 

 fertilized or not, and hold them, too, 

 until the bees return. We never pay 

 the least attention to bees if we are 

 busy when a swarm issues; don't even 

 look to see where they cluster, as they 

 sometimes do and hang on the limb 

 of a tree for half an hour without a 

 queen, and then return. We go di- 

 rectly to the trap, and finding the 

 queen caged, make preparations for 

 the return of the bees. If we return 

 the swarm, the cells are first removed; 

 then when the bees are about all in 

 the hive, the queen is liberated and 

 allowed to join her colony. 



By all means keep the trap on the 

 hive for twelve days after the first 

 swarm issues, then remove it to give 

 the young queen a chance to become 

 fertile. No swarms are likely to issue 

 after the twelfth day. 



Increase can be kept down by re- 

 turning the first swarm that comes 

 out. While the bees are in the an-, 



open the hive and destroy all the 

 queen cells. I never knew a swarm to 

 issue where this had been repeated 

 twice. Usually the bees will not 

 swarm a second time, if all the cells 

 are destroyed. 



No, there is no plan to prevent af- 

 ter-swarming except by removing all 

 the queen cells or all but one of them. 

 If all the cells are destroyed a queen 

 should be introduced. If this is not 

 done, other cells would be built, and 

 when matured, a swarm would issue. 

 In this case the old colony would be 

 about ruined, as a queen reared by so 

 few bees and on such a forced plan, 

 would be very inferior. 



Kit Clover did wrong in cutting 

 out all the queen cells, but it was the 

 right thing to do in removing all but 

 one after the swarm came off. Your 

 bees commenced to build other cells as 

 soon as they discovered the fact that 

 all the capped cells had been removed. 

 That is why the swarm issued twelve 

 days later. The best plan is to re- 

 move the cells and introduce a fertile 

 queen the thu"d day after the first 

 swarm issues. 



Kit Clover inquu-es of Mr. Pratt as 

 to the Carniolans being more apt to 

 swarm than other races of bees. Bro. 

 Pratt is quite able to answer this, but 

 this time we will do so. Yes, the 

 Carniolan bees are given naore to 

 swarming than other races. When 

 our American queen breeders have 

 had these bees a few years this little 

 fault with the Carniolan will be erad- 

 icated. Kit Clover's report of her suc- 

 cess with bees is first-rate. Y'^ou have 

 done well. Women seem to make suc- 

 cessful beekeepers. 



Use the drone-and-queeu trap and 

 your trouble and annoyance, so far 

 as swarming is concerned, will be at 

 an end. 



Wiring brood-frames. 



Brother Newman is just right in 



sayhig it is folly to wire frames 10 X 



14. It is folly as well as loss of time 



and money to wire any frames. We 



