20 6 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



over for the day, letting tlie ilrones 

 come out themselves. Or, if there 

 is no (lunger of swarming, or if he 

 does not care to catch the queen 

 in ease they do swarm, the tin slide 

 could be left out altogether and 

 then you have perfection in the way 

 of destro3'ing drones, i)roviding 

 there are no other hives without 

 traps where the drones may he al- 

 lowed to enter. 



I was most anxious to try the 

 traps as queen -traps, but although 

 1 had them on six of my strongest 

 colonies, never a swarm issued, 

 owing to the extreme drought. I 

 had al)out four inches of the south 

 end of the trap covered with thin 

 boai'il, according to Mr. Alley's in- 

 struction, so that if a queen was 

 caught she would be in the shade. 

 It is a pretty clear case that if a 

 swarm issued, the queen would be 

 caught, the same as the drones, in 

 the trap. For those who cannot 

 be with their bees in the middle of 

 the day this ought to work like a 

 charm, and perhaps it would work 

 just as well if the bees were unseen 

 for several days. If, however, the 

 trap should be left on till a young 

 queen hatches there migiit be trou- 

 ble in the camp. I do not like to 

 have so little ventilation as the 

 trap allows. That might be reme- 

 died by having ventilating space at 

 the entrance or elsewhere covered 

 with perforated zinc. 



I do not fully understand the ob- 

 ject of the hole that, when un- 

 closed, allows passage from the 

 upper to the lower part of the trap. 

 I have kept mine closed not know- 

 ing of what use it could be open. 

 W'ill Mr. Alley tell us about this? 



Marengo^ III. 



[Diroctions lor using tlit; trajjs are 

 sent Willi cucli one, but in Doctor Mil- 

 lar's case we tliink none were sent. 

 Conrerninir tlu; object of the hole 

 whicli Doctor IMiller does not uiider- 

 stanil, we quote the following Irom tlie 

 directions : 



"If yoii examine the trap, you will notice a 

 ■^niall hole at one end ol' the division-board. 

 'J'liis is provided, so the (jiieen can return to 

 the hive in case a colony swarms dining the 

 al)8en(;e ol' the hec master. It swarming is 

 desired, a nail should be pushi'd in llirough 

 the side of the trap, thus clnsing tlic aperture 

 and preventing the queen iVoui going ciut. A 

 nail is sent with each tr.t)) lor this piiii)o.se." 



Tlie (iireclioiis also say : 



'■11' the trap iloes not quite cover tlie entrance, 

 close tlie open i)art by n;iiling a idece of 

 wood <u- ))erJorated zinc over it. The en- 

 trance to the hive should lie as long as the 

 opening in tlic tra|) and not less than half an 

 inch high." 



When the directions are followed the hive 

 will be amply ventilated and there will be no 

 trouble about the traj) working .satisfactorily 

 in ninety-nine ca.^es out of one hundred." 



Here let me say to those who use the traps 

 that the opening in the small end of the cone 

 tube through which llie bees p;iss into the 

 traj) sJKiuld be about three-eighths of an iiK'h 

 in diameter. It is easily and quickly en- 

 largeil by anything tli:itis siilliciently small at 

 one eiiil to enter the tube. 1 use the butt end 

 of;i bit of any size, which is tin; handiest thing 

 I know of. 



When large numl)eisol' drones are trapped 

 they should be cleaned out. Karly in the 

 morning is the best time for that work. 



About live liundrcd new ciisidniers liave 

 tlie trap in u>e tliis ye;ir. We invite reports 

 from all as to liow it works. 1 



THE NATIONAL BEEKEEP- 

 ERS' UNION. 



The following is an extract tiom 

 the re()ort of General Mainiger, 

 Thos. G. Newman, Etlitor of the 

 "•Am. Bee Journal." 



CALIFOUNIA FKUIT-BKES TKOUBLli. 



The Bolin case, mentioned in my 

 last rei)ort, was ap[)ealed to the 

 Superior Court. The decision there 

 given was on technicalities, and 

 practically ended the ditliculties. 

 The expenses of the suit and ap- 

 peal amounted to $384.50 ; of this 

 the Union has paid one-half, and 

 Mr. Bohu the other half. 



In this case the resistance of the 

 Beekeei)ers' Union was too much 

 for the fruit-growers — and that 

 trouble, which was proclaimed by a 

 Nebraska a[)iarist to be "too much 

 for the Union to c()mi)ete with," is 

 now all conquered ! the raisin-grovv- 

 ers admitting that they were in 

 error ! 



