THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST SUPPLEMENT. 



for the purpose. Wood separators 

 go between eacli pair of frames. 

 The top-bar ami hottoni-bar of the 

 wide fruines protect the toi)s and 

 bottoms of the sections and tliey 

 come out unsoiled. This I regard 

 the onl}' wa}' to i)roducc clean and 

 attractive sections of honey. Tiie 

 super when chimped seems lilie a 

 box with slits in top and bottom, 

 and a neat honey-board covers its 

 top. 



8. This hive needs no division- 

 board, though one can be inserted 

 between any of the frames. By 

 taking out some of the frames, 

 and clamping the rest together, 

 you have what is better than a 

 large brood-box parted off, — you 

 have a little, tiny hive as tight 

 and warm as a vest pocket. In 

 fact, every frame in the hive is a 

 division-board ; for any space be- 

 tween two combs is a little brood- 

 chamber in itself, where early bees 

 can hatch for the early flowers. 

 These are some of the reasons 

 why I like the " Bay State " hive 

 and realizing the importance of 

 starting aright, I can advise any 

 new beginner that he will go wise- 

 ly adopting this hive. The parts 

 of the hives in the flat are sawed 

 out of the best lumber and cut 

 very neatly. 



Georgeloiun, Mass. 



CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 



We have no doubt that clipping 

 the wings of the queens which Mr. 

 Lindenmth speaks about on page 

 thirty-six, had much to do with 

 the supersedure of the missing 

 queen. Some twenty- five years 

 ago we clipped the wings of a 

 queen and that is the oidy one we 

 ever treated in that way. We do 

 not believe in it, nor do we think 

 any man can care for a large apiary 

 as easily when the queens are 



clipped as it can be done where the 

 wings of queens are not nieddled 

 with. It strikes us that in an apiary 

 of a hundred, or even fifty colonies 

 of bees it would be considerable 

 troul)le to hunt up at svvarM)ing 

 time the queens of from three to 

 ten swarms tliat are very lial)le to 

 issue at the same time. We never 

 did like so nnich trouble. 



If it is not "tooting" our own 

 horn too much we will sa}^ that a 

 good drone-and-queen trap is far 

 better than the clipping of queens' 

 wings. When we have traps on 

 the hives, we do not care if every 

 colony in the yard swarms at the 

 same time. When we get ready and 

 it is convenient, we look after the 

 swarms, feeling satisfied that not 

 one (even though a thousand 

 swarms issued at the same time) 

 can abscond, and we also are cer- 

 tain that the queen of each swarm 

 is in the trap. She can be released 

 at the will of the apiarist. Now, 

 in cases where the queens'wings are 

 clipped, the swarms must be at- 

 tended to immediately or some of 

 the queens will be lost in the grass, 

 or in some other way. We know 

 that it is hard to convince some 

 beekeepers that the queen-trap is 

 not a humbug, or is useless. Never- 

 theless, thousands of beekeepers 

 have them in use, and thousands 

 of the traps are being sold every 

 year. There are reasons we might 

 give why some prominent beekeep- 

 ers have not adopted and used this 

 mechanical device for controlling^ 

 swarms when they issue. Petty 

 jealousy seems to be a predominat- 

 ing characteristic of some people. 

 Some smart beekeepers would not 

 use the movable-comb hive for 

 a long time after it was invented 

 by Mr. Langstroth ; other people 

 did not believe in comb-foundaLion ; 

 others said the Italian bee was a 

 humbug, etc., etc. Nevertheless, 

 all the above-mentioned articles 

 have become staples in the apiary, 



