Juno 28, 1906 



563 



American Ttee Journal 



formly marked and then go into the Joseph's coat business after- 

 ward. 



3. No, it is not likely that the colony is at present more than half 

 made up of bees from brood given last August or sooner. 



There is a bare possibility that some time this spring a stray 

 colony may have swarmed out, either in your own apiary or elsewhere, 

 entering and uniting with this colony, thus accounting for the oil- 

 color bees. A more likely solution of the problem, however, is that 

 the queen was superseded last fall, and the present queen is her 

 daughter. You say that without examining her closely this spring 



you clipped her the way you generally clip. So you are not sure that 

 9he did not have whole wings when you clipped her: and the prob- 

 ability is that your clipped queen was gone and this was a new queen 

 still having wings entire. 



4. If she produces bees of exceptional character as honey-gath- 

 erers, it might be well for you to breed from her in spite of the color 

 of her bee6. But it is hardly fully settled as yet just what is the char- 

 acter of her bees, for you can only pronounce full judgment after the 

 colony is made up entirely of them, and throughout the spring and up 

 to lately a good many of the old bees were in the hive. 



Reports am 

 experiences 



Prospects Good for Honey. 



Bees wintered poorly, but they are building 

 up nicely now. Fruit-bloom has just gone 

 and dandelions are in full blast. Raspberry 

 and blackberry bloom will soon be here, with 

 a splendid crop of white clover, but it will 

 not bloom much for 2 or 3 weeks. 



Barnard, Mo., May 13. S. A. Matson. 



No Swarming Yet — Hope Varies. 



The spring began well, and the strong colo- 

 nies required a second super about the middle 

 of May, having filled a 10-frame Langstroth 

 hive. Hope ran high, but rain set in, and it 

 has rained until to-day, when it cleared off a 

 little; but hope is now rising again. I have 

 not had one swarm this spring, although the 

 colonies were pretty strong in bees and brood 

 the first part of April. 



Grays River, Wash., May 23. O. K. Rice. 



Bees Working Vigorously. 



My bees came through the winter all right, 

 but as a rule bees came out of winter quar- 

 ters a little weak. Fruit-bloom and dandelions 

 are on now, and the bees seem to work with 

 great vigor. 



I still have the bee-fever, and can't do with- 

 out the American Bee Journal. 



Darlington, Wis., May 28. John Cline. 



Frost and Drouth — No Honey. 



There will be no honey in this locality this 

 year. Frost and drouth have done their work, 

 and done it thoroughly. Grass is dying, and 

 the hay crop is a failure. The scattering 

 heads of white clover are as honeyless as red- 

 top. Two frosts this week. This side of the 

 earth must be a good many millions of tons 

 lighter than it was a year ago, when we were 

 drenched with rain almost every day. I am 

 glad we have a big countrv. 



'\V. J. Davis, 1st. 



Youngsville, Pa., June n. 



Cutting Section Foundation. 



1 will give a fast plan of cutting founda- 

 tion for sections — possibly a new way; any- 

 how. I have never seen the plan in print. 



Make a miter-box as long as a sheet of 

 foundat i"n and a trifle wider, and 1 inch 

 deep. Make as many saw-kerfs in it as you 

 want to make pieces out of a sheet. (I make 

 5 pieces of a sheet foundation.) Pack one- 

 half dozen sheets or more in the box, and 

 see that they are packed in straight, get a 

 long-blade knife, (preferably a thin blade), 

 heat it over a lamp chimney, then proceed 



t" cut the foundation. The knife must be 

 pressed straigli [own through the foundation 

 and raised straight back again as quickly as 

 P"*-s-bIetoprpveiu the meltiairof too niu' h wax, 

 which will stick the foundation together. A 

 little practice will enable anyone to cut with- 

 on! getting the <_nds of the foundation stuck 

 together with melted wax. 



T«i make fast work with this plan, the lamp 

 should be arranged so that you can have the 

 knit.- blade lyiny over the top of the chim- 

 in \. getting 1 <\ while you are packing away 

 the foundation you have cut, and refilling 

 the box again. 1 have used this plan 2 years, 

 and I can cur foundation at a very rapid 

 rate. 1 don't think "locality" will interfere 

 with this plan ' 



Auburndale, Wis. Frank Stoflet. 



Timothy Chaff for Packing Bees. 



My bees anil the white clover are both in 

 excellent condition, so I am expecting a honey 

 harvest. I lost 2 colonies (both were queen- 

 less) in wintering 140 packed with timothy 

 chaff on the summer stands. I think it is the 

 best packing that can be used. 



Bethlehem, Iowa, May 16. J. C. Davis. 



Capping-Box — Transferring Larvae. 



On page 462, readers are invited to send 

 'm descriptions of anything in common use 

 with them that i-^ likely to be of general bene- 

 fit. I haven't much to offer, but here it is 

 for what it may be worth. 



To make a cheap capping-box for a small 

 apiary get 2 hive bodies that have been in use 

 2 or more years; a sheet of excluder zinc, 

 a sheet of tin. and strips to go around the 

 hive-bottoms. Hevel the upper edge of 1 box 

 on the inside, turn it over and nail the tin on 

 the bottom, using the strips. Put a 25-cent 

 faucet in one end, if you want to. Nail the 

 perforated zinc f>n the bottom of the other 

 box with the strips, lay a rest-board on the 

 rabbets, and it is done, though it may be 

 necessary to way the corners of the lower 

 box. The strips should be sawed about K> inch 

 thick, the nails should be 4 d's, and a very 

 little white lead should be under the tin. 



To transfer larvae, use No. 30 wire a lit tic- 

 more than .m inch long and fastened to a lit- 

 tle handle to which it stands at an angle ot 

 45 degrees. About 1-16 of the end is bent to 

 nearly a ri.^lii angle. Since my eyes are losing 

 their youth, I find it easier to transfer eggs 

 than larva-. It put into polished cups, they 

 are all right. 



'Miii mII.. Mm. E. W. DiefEndorf. 



Perhaps a Superseded Queen. 



I have had some new experience, and would 

 like to have some of the wise bee-men pass 

 their opinion on it. 



In the spring of 1905 I sent for a breed- 

 ing queer n July, and the 23d or 24th 

 I received, to all appearance, a very inn 

 queen, clipped as I had asked, but it did not 

 show, so 1 thought^ he had clipped onh 



wing, .mil did not examine thai very 

 closely. I introduced her to a 2-frame nucleus 



i:M oi in \ and later gave her 2 more 



frami - of sealed brood. She began to lay, and 



r Wisconsin Basswood Sections 

 And Prompt Shipments 

 Is what we are making for our customers. 

 — DOVETAILED HIVES AND SHIPPING-CASES- 

 We carry a full line of SUPPLIES. Ask for Catalog. 

 THE riARSHFIELD HANUFACTURINQ CO., Harshfield, Wis. 



beeS 1 ■ 1 ight along to get 

 her a strong winter. The winter was 



mild, and th the wing every week 



all winter, and began gathering pollen Feb- 

 14. 



' ' 1906, I cleaned out all the 



hives and clipped all thi if last sum- 



mer - rearing, and also the one referred to 

 abuvc. s, I am positive she could not fly 

 after that time. Tbe bees of her brood that 

 hatched out in the fall wen- very fine, but 

 1 notice they are becoming more and more 

 hybrids, rhe colony is strong, and have filled 

 a io-frame super (so pounds), but thev are 

 all colors trom 4 and 5-handed to pure black, 

 and now the question is: Is it possible that 

 'his queen may have been able to take wing 

 and male a second time? It is the same queen 

 all nghl 



Grays River, Wash., May 17. O. K. Rice. 



False Indigo. 



I enclose a sample of a honey-plant that 



blooms between fruit and clover. We call it 

 ''beaver brush." It grows along the creek- 

 bottom in hunches, like the willows. It is 

 hard wood, aird just fills the interval be- 

 tween the fruit-bloom and white clover. It 

 is a splendid honey and pollen plant. 



Arden. Neb., June 3. \V. H. Mills. 



[The enclosed sample is the False Indigo — 

 Amorpha fruticosa — and belongs to the Pulse 

 family. This is a very '■sweet" family, con- 

 taining the clovers, vetches, lrcusts, lupines, 

 and others of equal merit among bee-men. — 

 C. I.. Walton-.] 



Too Cold and Dry for Bees. 



Wi are having a cold June here so far. and 

 it is so dry that the bees are barelv making 

 a living. I have not heard of a single new 

 here yet. White clover — our main 

 honey-plant — is nearly killed out by the 

 drouth. Unless we have rain soon, bees will 

 have to be fed. 



Mt Pli asant, Iowa. Tune 12. J. W. Stine. 



Most Extraordinary Season 



L*p to the latter part of March the pros- 

 pects were indeed for a phenomenal honey 

 season here. Everybody thought that fo'r- 

 would be made this year, and conse- 

 greater supplies of materials were 

 laid in fnan in any previous season. From 

 March 20th to 27th we had an exceedingly 

 heavy rain— from 10 to 14 inches— which 

 did much damage to the roads. Then be- 

 gan a spell "f cold, cloudy and fog?v weather, 

 which lasted for just weeks, in which time 

 the sun was out for only a few minutes, it 

 at all. The bees behaved themselves peculiarly, 

 in some apiaries they swarmed - before the 



of March. J had 7 swan 

 fere March 20, and 22 swarms from March 

 -'»". to April 21, and then none until May 

 22. In other apiaries they did nol 

 at all, or began only the past few days. 

 Black sate began to bloom early, vet only 

 on each button, and "no nec- 

 tar to amount to anything. The nights have 

 cold; m fact, it is the most extraordinary 

 season that we have ever seen here. I am 

 of the opinion that we will not have an 

 averagi honey-crop. During the past 3 davs 

 i sunshine, but the nights are still 

 cold. Dr. Phil. Max Boeltb. 



\ -'Ho I a titer, Cal., June 7. 



Colonies Strong, and No Swarming 



Bees are quite strong, and do swarming:. A 

 constant run of eccentric weather seems to 

 extinguish the impulse— else starves it out. 

 Conducive to great (in your mind) success to 

 the new anti-swarm methods, may be. 



Toledo, Ohio, June IS. E. E. Hasty. 



