34 



THE AMERICAN BEE KEEPER. 



Feburary 



with their home and surroundings and 

 take a uotiou to swarm, better let 

 them swarm. " 1 remember years ago 

 of having a good strong colony from 

 which of ocurse I expected to get lots 

 of houey. Well this colony took a 

 notion to swarm and I took a notion 

 they should not. Of course the queen 

 was clipped or They would have left 

 me anyway. Well this colony would 

 swarm out every day, and 1 hived 

 them back as often. Took out most 

 of their full frames, replacing them 

 with frames of empty comb, or frames 

 with foundation, but all to no effect. 

 Eventually I had hardly as many bees 

 left from this strong colony as would 

 make a good nucleus. Had I allowed 

 them to swarm no doubt I might have 

 had two good strong colonies. Again 

 when I practiced clipping my queens, 

 I found that usually when a colony 

 made two or more attempts to swarm, 

 and were prevented or did not succeed, 

 the next thing would be the queen 

 was balled or killed. Sometimes, of 

 course, the bees are at the bottom of 

 this swarming fever, and again it is 

 the queen. I have often seen the bees 

 trying to drive the queen out. Of 

 course in this case the bees were at the 

 bottom of it all. And again I have 

 noticed that where a colony attempted 

 to swarm and did not succeed, or was 

 prevented, the queen ceased laying 

 entirely. In such a case I always con- 

 cluded that the queen was the fault 

 of the desire to sv/arm. For some 

 years past I have tried to make things 

 pleasant about and in the hive. Gave 

 them room enough, kept them shaded 

 from the hot sun, and all else that I 

 thought would help to keep them sat- 

 isfied, and then if they wanted to 

 swarm and desired a new home I tried 



to give them what they wanted, and I 

 am satisfied 1 have had better success. 

 Then if I had more colonies than I 

 wanted I doubled up in the fall. At 

 this time they will not be liable to 

 swarm, and then they will also winter 

 better, and be on hand with a full 

 force in the spring. 

 Steeleville, HI 



Straws from the Apiary. 



BY FRED. C. THORINGTON. 



A correspondent wanted to know 

 lately if it was advisable to move bees 

 to a new location for the sole purpose 

 of getting rid of mothes. I told him 

 no; the moth miller has wings and can 

 fly anywhere the bees are located, and 

 if she does not enter the hive she can 

 deposit her eggs near the entrance and 

 the bees in passing gather them on. 

 their feet and carry them into the 

 hive. They soon hatch out and if in 

 sufficient numbers will soon ruin a 

 weak or queenless colony. Vigor and 

 strength is the only protection. If 

 the colony has a good young queen, 

 and is strong in numbers, they will 

 carry out the eggs and mothes as fast 

 as they are found. Sometimes they 

 will sting them to death or seal them 

 to the bottom or some other part of 

 the hive. They will get rid of them 

 in some shape. 



Italianize your apiary and keep 

 nothing but prolific queens and you 

 will have but little trouble. The fear 

 of trouble from mothes seems to exist 

 mostly in the imagination of the be- 

 ginner and passes away as he or she 

 gains a more thorough knowledge and 

 experience of the bee. 



In years past the writer on several 

 occasions has put a comb or two con- 

 taining many mothes into a hive very 



