208 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Clipiiig ttie Winis of Queens. 



Query 910.— 1. Do you clip your queens' 

 •wings? 2. What are the advantages or disad- 

 vantages of the practice '-'—Illinois. 



1. No ! — Dad ANT & Sox. 



I do not clip them. — J. P. H. Brown. 



1. No. 2. Too long to answer here. 

 — J. H. Larrabee. 



1. No. 2. I leave this for others to 

 answer. — J. M. Hambaugh. 



1. I do. 2. It saves time and loss, 

 and I know of no disadvantages. — A. J. 

 Cook. 



1. I do not. 2. Ask some one who 

 has practiced clipping. — Mrs. L. Har- 

 rison. 



1. I do. 2. The principal advantage 

 is that they cannot go to the woods. — M. 

 Mahin. 



1. No. 2. But I would do it, or use 

 drone and queen traps if I lived near 

 timber. I should prefer to use the traps. 

 — G. L. Tinker. 



1. Yes. 2. It prevents her leaving 

 with a swarm ; and after practicing 

 clipping for many years, I find no dis- 

 advantages. — A. B. Mason. 



1. No, I do not. 2. I do not think 

 there is any advantage in so doing, and 

 the disadvantage of losing a clipped 

 queen is great. — J. E. Pond. 



1. No. 2. I prefer to use a drone- 

 trap, so I know nothing about the ad- 

 vantages or disadvantages of clipped 

 queens.— Emerson T. Abbott. 



1. No. 2. Read any good bee-publi- 

 cation, and you will see the many ad- 

 vantages and disadvantages published 

 from time to time. — H. D. Cutting. 



1. Yes. 2. It prevents the loss of 

 swarms that come out unexpectedly. 

 They also usually return to the hive 

 from which they came. — P. H. Elwood. 



1. I do not clip my queens' wings. 2. 

 There is no advantage to me, and it is 

 not worth the trouble, and, in fact, I do 

 not want them clipped. — Mrs. Jennie 

 Atchley. 



1. No, 1 don't practice such barbarity 

 as tliat. I use queen and drone traps 

 and self-hivers, and it would be entirely 

 useless to also clip queens' wings. — C. 

 H. Dibbern. 



1. I have done so at times. 2. Ad- 

 vantages — 1st, Age of the queen more 

 certainly known ; 2nd, swarm more 

 easily hived. The disadvantages — 1st, 

 trouble to hunt and clip. — EugeneSecor. 



1. Yes, when working for comb honey. 

 2. The swarms are hived with more 

 ease. There is no danger of their going 

 off, and the queen is more readily found, 

 are among the advantages. — G. M. Doo- 

 little. 



1. No, not of late years. 2. Aside 

 from the trouble and danger of killing 

 them, they are liable to be superseded 

 by the bees, and at swarming-time are 

 very likely to be lost. — Mrs.' J. N. 

 Heater. 



1. Yes. 2. The advantages are that 

 swarms are managed with much less 

 care and labor, and by no chance can 

 any swarms elope with a clipped queen. 

 There are no disadvantages except the 

 slight labor of clipping them. — R. L. 

 Taylor. 



1. Yes. 2. I like to have my queens 

 marked so they can't be changed with- 

 out my knowing it. A clipped queen 

 can't fly off with a swarm, and that may 

 save the swarm from going off. The 

 others will tell you the disadvantages. — 

 C. C. Miller. 



1, Yes, we clip our queens' wings. 2. 

 The advantage is, if they swarm when 

 we are not there, we don't lose the 

 swarm, as the bees will go back. We 

 may lose the queen, but save the bees. 

 The bees at that time are worth more 

 than the queen. — F. France. 



1. Yes. 2. The greatest advantage, 

 and it is a big one, is that it saves lots 

 of absconding swarms, especially in out- 

 apiaries where they are not closely 

 watched. It also is a great help in keep- 

 ing swarms separated where several is- 

 sue at the same time. — S. I. Freeborn. 



1. Yes, most certainly. 2. It would 

 require a long article to set forth all the 

 advantages and disadvantages of clip- 

 ping queens. It ought to be sufficient 

 for this department to say that most 

 practical bee-keepers have decided that 

 it pays to keep their queens' wings 

 clipped. — Jajies A. Green. 



1. I have never practiced it, but think 

 it a good plan. 2. No swarms are lost 

 under this practice. (And yet, some- 

 times, a good queen is.) The queen can 



