.July 26, 1906 



637 



American Ttee Journal 



John Fixter, of Ottawa — "No prospect for any white 



honey — clover all winter-killed. Basswood loaded with 



bloom, but no honey. We are sowing a few acres of buck- 

 wheat with the hope of a fall flow." 



\Y. II. Kirby, of Ontario County, June io — "We had a 

 very favorable fruit-bloom, and got some half-depth supers of 

 apple honey. When apple ami dandelion played out. the 

 queens stopped laying, and colonies were none too strong 

 when raspberry bloomed (which is our principal crop), and 

 some white clover. Bees have been working on white clover 

 the last lew days. Will have a half crop or more. Can't 

 tell just yet." 



Who said raspberry-bloom in Michigan? We have it 

 right here in Ontario. The fact that Mr. Kirby's queens 

 stopped laying after fruit-bloom points rather forcibly to the 

 necessity of stimulative feeding, even when there is honey in 

 the hives. 



J. L. Byer, of York County — "Conditions just the same 

 as with you. Rain nearly every day for 5 weeks. -No honey 

 in clover, even when we have a little sunshine." 



Not just the same, Mr. Byer. We have not had enough 

 rain — but very little honey, just the same. 



Slipshod Bee-Keeping 1 — Who is to Blame ? 



It was the writer's privilege to make a small purchase 

 the other day in a bright, attractive grocery store in one of 

 our Canadian towns. Floors, counters and shelves were 

 clean and shining. The office fixtures at the back were of 

 the most approved style. The goods, almost all in colored 

 packages, were arranged in a way that showed good taste 

 in display. 



But, alsas, there was a blot. One object marred the 

 whole picture. There was one dozen sections of honey, well- 

 filled, but terribly travel-stained and not scraped, in a bass- 

 wood case whose soiled appearance bore testimony of years 

 of service. Who is to blame for this reproach on modern 

 honey-production? Is it the grocer who does not keep such 

 an unsightly object hidden under the counter, or the bee- 

 keeper who allows his goods to go on the market in such 

 slipshod fashion? 



Do not let the reader think there is any personal refer- 

 ence in the above. Such honey can be seen in almost every 

 town in Ontario. More's the pity. How can we expect a 

 growing demand for such stuff? Less wholesome goods, 

 put up in more attractive dress, are sure to win out against 

 Nature's purest sweet. 



Our 



ee -Keeping 



Conducted by Emma M. Wilson, Marengo, 111. 



Piping of the Queen— Finding Queens 



Dear Miss WiLsofr : — I have not asked a question for a 

 long time. I may ask you several. 



On June 13, I had a large swarm issue from my only 

 Italian colony. The swarm would fill a water-pail and they 

 clustered very conveniently low on a young cherry-tree on 

 the lawn. After hiving the swarm on the old stand and 

 moving the parent colony I at once examined the condi- „ 

 tion of the latter and found a lot of queen-cells. On 1 frame 

 ■were 5 fine cells, and as I had thought of giving a new 

 queen to a couple of weaker colonies, I decided to rep 1 

 the frame with the 5 cells till I could read up a little and * 

 think it out by myself when I was not rushed. All other 

 queen-cells I cut. 



The next day I went to that hive with the intention of 

 ■cutting out all but 1 fine cell, and was a little surprised to 

 see I cell empty, and on opening the hive I imagined — yes, 

 I was sure — I heard the young queen piping. I have read a 



good deal of the piping of a young queen, and was not a 

 little anxious to know the experience. On opening the hive 

 I very clearly heard a sound similar to this: "we — we — we — ," 

 in a high pitch. Was I right 2 Was it the young queen? 

 1 was so sure, that I at once cut out all the rest of the queen- 

 cells. 



The weather since has been very cold and it has rained 

 nearly every day. I opeiie.l the hive this morning and still 

 no eggs or young brood? Should I be alarmed? Did I 

 make the colony queenless, do you suppose, in my ignorance, 

 or has the queen not been mated on account of bad weather, 

 or possibly lost ? 



This same colony last year was not satisfactory. In the 

 first place in transferring it I killed the queen, and did not 

 discover it for 21 days, when I took away the old combs. 

 Then I sent away and got a pure Italian queen. All sum- 

 mer they sulked, and while the colony became good and 

 strong for winter and gathered a lot of stores for its own 

 use, it only stored about one pound for me. But you never 

 saw such a job of propolizing. All the sections looked as 

 if they had been pasted full of old-fashioned spruce-gum. 

 The sides of the hive and top of the frames were worse than 

 the sections. But the bees wintered well. I do not think 

 I care for any more Italians. 



My hardest problem now is to be able to find a queen 

 quickly. I have asked you this question before, and did 

 just as you told me, but it seems almost impossible for me 

 to find a queen. Perhaps my eyes are not sharp enough. 

 At any rate it bothers a good deal. At times when I want to 

 give a k eolony brood and bees from a strong colony 

 it is of course very necessary to be sure not to takp away 

 the queen. On account of not being able to find her readily 

 I am always afraid to do this. 



(Miss) Elsie A. Cutter. 



Grand Rapids, Mich., June 22. 



Yes, you were all right in thinking that the "we— we — 

 we — sound in a high pitch" was the young queen piping, 

 although generally the note of a piping queen is represented 

 by "peep — peep — peep," or "zeep — zeep — zeep." Had you 

 caught sight of her, you would have seen a peculiar motion 

 of her body as she made the sound. 



The swarm issued June 13, and 9 days later (June 22), 

 you seemed disappointed not to find the young queen laying. 

 Don't you think you were a little exacting in expecting 

 a queen to lay so young? Usually the young queen in the 

 mother colony does not begin laying until she is about_ 10 

 days old, or about 17 days after the issuing of the prime 

 swarm. But in your case things were hurried up, for the 

 queen was piping the next day after swarming. Very likely 

 that was because the bad weather had hindered the issuing 

 of the swarm. In any case she was probably not more than 

 8 days old the 22d, and the bad weather might make it several 

 days after that before she would lay. 



Don't condemn all Italians because that one colony was 

 so active in the "spruce-gum" business. Italians are not 

 especially bad at propolizing. 



When you want to take away a frame of brood and 

 bees, it is not absolutely necessary to find the queen. Just 

 select the frame or frames of brood you want, shake or 

 brush off all the bees, put the brood in an empty hive-body, 

 and put this over the colony, with an excluder between the 

 stories. Two or three hours later the brood will be cov- 

 ered with bees, when it can be taken away without fear of 

 taking the queen. One advantage of this way is, you will 

 have nothing but younger bees, with less danger of fighting 

 when put in a strange colony. 



It you want to use several frames you can make a 

 wholesale job of it. Take as many frames as you want 

 and put them into an empty hive-body. Now set this over 

 an excluder on a strong colon;, that has been drawn from. 

 By the way. this is an excellent plan to form a new colony. 

 Jiist take this upper story, after it has had time to be well 

 stocked with bees, set it on a new stand, give a queen-cell, 

 or a queen, in a provisioned cage, and there you are. The 

 bees act much as queenless bee-, and very few of them will 

 return to the old colony. 



Snakes and Bees—" Hybrid " or " Cross " 



Dear Miss Wilson — I find no report of snakes troubling 

 bees, but at least mine were annoyed, for they killed a half 





