50 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



April 



loss, one is, keep the ground in front 

 of the hive free from weeds and grass, 

 better still have the whole apiary 

 clean and free from weeds, etc. The 

 next is, do not space your nives too 

 close, space them at least seven feet 

 apart, and better more than less. The 

 above is very necessarv in any well 

 regulated apiary, but particularly in 

 an apiary where queens are clipped. 

 The hives should of course be low, 

 not over two or three inches from the 

 ground. A few insist that it injures 

 a queen to be clipped, but from quite 

 a little experience I could never see 

 the injury. I have had queens that 

 were clipped as soon as they com- 

 menced laying that lived to a good 

 old age and did good business It 

 will hardly seem necessary to say 

 that a queen should never be clipped 

 until she has commenced laying. An- 

 other objection is that it spoils the 

 looks of a queen. And not in a few 

 cases have I found that a clipped 

 queen will soon be withont any wings 

 at all. The bees seem to dislike a 

 queen with one wing, therefore gnaw 

 off the other, but this I think is more 

 general with common and hybrid 

 bees, the Italian are not so much 

 disposed to such business. With a 

 few remarks on how to clip queens I 

 will come to a close for this time: 

 Never clip a wing too close or you may 

 injure the queen, sure enough if one- 

 half of the wing is cut off it will be 

 sufficient. A laying queen is usually 

 very heavy and needs all of two 

 wings to do much flying, therefore if 

 you clip the half of one it will be 

 all that is necessary. Never handle 

 the queen in clipping or at any time 

 when not necessary, some writers ad- 

 vise placing the queen to be clipped 



in a closed window, I prefer to clip 

 them right at the hive on the frame. 

 With a little practice you can clip a 

 queen in a few minutes, and that 

 without cutting off any of her legs 

 which you should surely avoid. To 

 do the work you should have a small 

 pair of shears with a very keen edge, 

 and when you find the frame that 

 contains the queen do not be in a 

 hurry but follow her up with your 

 shears until you can make a sure clip 

 of it, and if the first time you miss 

 her wing, you will find it more trouble 

 to get at her again, therefore you 

 should be particular and not too fast, 

 as you may make a sure thing of it at 

 once. If any of the. readers want 

 things in more detail, they will please 

 let me know through the colums of 

 The American Bee-Keeper. 

 111. 



Robinson's "Concise His- 

 tory" — Reviewed and 

 Discredited. 



BY M. M. BALBRIDGE. 



My attention is called to an article 

 in the Dec. No. of the A. B. K., that 

 claims to give "A conci.-e history of 

 the first importation of Italian bees" 

 into the U. S. The writer is C. J. 

 Robinson. The " history " covers the 

 period from 1859 to 1861 inclusive — 

 more thon 30 years ago. Mr. Robin- 

 son was a bee-keeper at that period, 

 and a well-known writer on bee-topics. 

 I remember well some of his writings 

 at that time. I also remember some 

 of his writings on bee-topics since, and 

 that he has made several attempts to 

 give certain facts in regard to the 

 early introduction of the Italian bees 

 into this croutry. But, somehow or 

 other, Mr. R. has always managed, so 

 it seems to me, to mix up more or less 

 error with the facts, but why he has 

 done this I will not now attempt to 

 explain. 



