1894 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



723 



young queen, as good as the first one. But if 

 every thing has gone as at first expected, I find 

 the original young queen laying. I now clip 

 her wing, and enter in a separate record-book, 

 the "Apiary Register," for instance, the time 

 when she was raised and clipped, the number 

 of colony in which her mother is found, or some 

 special mark indicating the strain to which she 

 belongs, besides her size and color. Later I will 

 add how her workers turn out in regard to 

 purity, etc. As there is nothing more to do 

 with No. 73, the space for future examination 

 (in sixth column) is crossed out, and that colo- 

 ny is dropped from further attention, at least 

 for the present. 



This system may, on first reading, seem com- 

 plicated, as it takes so many words to explain 

 it; but it is, in reality, very simple when one 

 gets used to it. In fact. I do not see how I could 

 manage an apiary of over 200 colonies, and at- 

 tend to requeening and other matters at the 

 proper time, without it. Nothing is forgotten 

 or omitted which ought to be done, and every 

 thing is done at the right time. If it is not 

 possible or convenient to attend to a colony 

 marked for a certain date, it is transferred to 

 the next day and attended to in preference to 

 any thing else. 



On separate leaves in my note-book I keep a 

 record of colonies that need requeening, so that, 

 when I have a surplus of queen-cells, I know 

 exactly where they may be disposed of to ad- 

 vantage. On other leaves I mark colonies 

 needing brood or having brood to spare; need- 

 ing honey, or having honey to spare, etc. 



Those who have had occasion to kill queens 

 for supersedure, and have used their fingers for 

 this purpose, know that the fingers acquire a 

 strong scent of the queen, and that bees will be 

 constantly running over the finger-tips, at- 

 tracted by this scent, and that one is in constant 

 danger of pinching bees and getting stung 

 while the fingers retain the scent. I now use a 

 common three-pronged table-fork to catch and 

 kill queens with, thereby doing away with the 

 necessity of handling them at all. 



AN AID IN FINDING QUEENS. 



In hunting up queens for removal or clipping, 

 I use a small board, a little thicker than the 

 height, and a little longer than the width of 

 the entrance. The width of the board is imma- 

 terial—two or three inches will do. This board 

 is beveled oft" on the ends and on the shortest 

 edge, so that it can be easily pushed into the 

 entrance before removing the hive-cover. It 

 prevents the bees from boiling out at the en- 

 trance when the hive is opened, and does away 

 with a great deal of the excitement frequently 

 occuring at this operation, and particularly 

 when the front comb, next to the entrance, is 

 removed. As a rule, that comb, when the 

 frames run parallel to the front of the hive, 

 should be left to the very last, as its removal 

 causes great excitement among the bees; but 



this is almost entirely done away with by the 

 use of the entrance-stopper. The bees may 

 boil up over the frames, but will quiet down by 

 the use of a little smoke. The queen will fre- 

 quently be found on this front comb, to which 

 she gradually retires as the other combs are 

 lifted out; but if she is not seen on any of the 

 combs she will be pretty sure to be in one of the 

 front corners, next to the entrance. 



In conclusion, I will only give this warning 

 (with a big W): Do not forget to remove the 

 stopper when you close up the hive, or you may 

 smother a good colony. 



N. B. — I haven't smothered any yet, but I 

 have several times forgotten the stopper for a 

 few minutes, or until I needed it the next time. 



Independence, Cal., Aug. 1.5. 



FEEDING SIMPLIFIED. 



A BIG IMPROVEMENT— ONE THAT PROMISES TO 

 SAVE IJEE-KEEPERS MUCH; A VALUA- 

 BLE ARTICLE. 



Bji Dr. C. C. Miller. 



I've been having lots of fun trying difterent 

 ways of feeding. It seemed that, to do all the 

 feeding I should want to do this year, the per- 

 colator I had would make too slow work. Yet 

 after trying it, and finding how little work it 

 was, I was loath to go back to the old plan of 

 boiling syrup. I might make additional perco- 

 lators, or a larger percolator; but while I was 

 about it I thought I might as well try to have a 

 plan by which the percolating would be done 

 on the hives. If I could just carry the dry 

 sugar to a hive, also the water, it would save a 

 good deal of work, as well as annoyance from 

 robbers. Especially would this be desirable 

 with the out-apiaries, for only the sugar would 

 have to be taken there, the water being readily 

 at hand. 



Another point of advantage would be, that, 

 to each colony, I could more easily give just 

 the amount I thought desirable; fof with syr- 

 up it isn't so easy. You may have a measure 

 that is exact; but with the dripping stuff there 

 is likely to be some variation, and there may 

 be some variation in the strength of the syrup. 

 But the dry sugar is uniform in strength, and 

 easily measured to a quarter of a pound. Be- 

 fore trying the thing on any large scale, I tried 

 small quantities; and in this I think I struck 

 on what might be very satisfactory for those 

 who want to practice 



Sl'LMULATlVE FEEDING. 



First, I tried letting the bees directly on the 

 sugar. In England a damp quality of sugar is 

 used, and what is called dry feeding is much 

 practiced. I thought I would vary that by tak- 

 ing granulated sugar and wetting it. I nailed 

 a bottom on a T super, and made an inch hole 

 in the bottom for the bees to come up through. 

 Remember, this was hot weather in August, 



