198 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



March 27, 1902. 



a pair of embroidery scissors clip off both the wings on 

 one side. Don't pinch her so tight as to hurt her, and be 

 careful that you do not cut off a leg while you are clipping 

 the wing. 



I remember how my heart beat, the first queen I clipped. 

 I felt sure I was killing her, and I assure you it was a big 

 relief to see her scamper over the comb when I let her go. 

 I have clipped a good many queens since, and have never 

 hurt one yet that I know of. So you see it is not such 

 a dreadful thing to do, after all. 



You want your bees to swarm — of course you do. Let 

 me tell you. you will see the time when you will wish most 

 heartily that they never would swarm; but just now you 

 are anxious for more bees, and every swarm means another 

 colony. But be careful that they do not swarm too much. 

 For that will result in weak colonies, and what you need 

 is strong colonies. A good, strong colony in a good season 

 will give you one good swarm. It might give you 

 two. but the chances are that the second swarm would not be 

 good, and it would probably weaken the old colony too much. 



When the, swarm issues, move the old colony a few 

 feet away and put in its place a hive filled with frames 

 containing comb foundation. Put the caged queen at the 

 entrance and when thfe bees return as soon as they get 

 to running in nicely liberate the queen and let her run in 

 with the other bees. Then place the old colony close to 

 the swarm. In about a week take it away, and place it on 

 a new stand. The flying force of the old colony will then 

 return to the swarm, making it a good, strong colon,y. The 

 old colony will be reduced enough to prevent any desire 

 for swarming. It will rear a young queen, and the hatching 

 brood will make it a good, strong colony for winter. 



It is advisable to have hives, combs, etc. all ready for the 

 swarms when they issue, so they can be placed right where 

 they are wanted without the delay of getting them ready 

 after the swarm is out. The first swarm is quite an event 

 to a beginner, and you are likely to be somewhat flustrated. 

 It helps much to steady your nerves to know that everything 

 is ready waiting for use. MuHeniy Co., 111. 



Bees in Spring — Extracting-Combs— Foul Brood. 



BY C. P. DADANT. 



1. Would you remove the covers from the outer casings and 

 super, so as to allow the packing to dry, the sun shining warm, but 

 not warm enough for the bees to tly out ? Or would you not disturb 

 the bees, but wait till it is warm enough tor them to fly * 



2. How do you have your extracting-combs built ? In the surplus 

 case, or In the brood-chainber ? — C. D., Michigan. 



1. We never remove the covers from the hives in chilly 

 weather on account of moisture. If the w'eather is so cold 

 that the moisture in the super is frozen, it can do but little 

 harm, and if the bees are powerful enough to keep it 

 thawed, they run no risk from its dampness unless the 

 dampness is so great that water may run down into the 

 body of the brood-chamber. Such can never be the case 

 unless the hive top or roof leaks badly, and a good bee- 

 keeper should not allow this. But it is an error to disturb 

 the bees in cold weather. Every bee that leaves the cluster 

 is a lost bee, unless the colony is strong enough to keep every 

 part of the hive warm, and we must not expect this, espe- 

 cially at the end of a cold winter. It is best to leave the bees 

 alone till a warm day comes. 



The present winter has not been a hard one on the bees, but 

 nevertheless we have heard of quite a number of losses 

 owing to the bad quality of the food. This was the first 

 time in our experience that bees were seen to gather honey- 

 dew in September, and this honey-dew — the worst bee-food 

 after fruit-juice — is now showing the results of its consump- 

 tion, by the amount of diarrhea that it has caused wherever 

 the bees have been confined a month or so without inter- 

 ruption. 



2. We have our extracting-combs built in the super where 

 they are to remain. We use a frame that is only 6 inches 

 deep in the super, and we could not have the combs of this 

 frame built in the brood-chamber because they would not 

 fill the full space of a brood-frame. Resides, we can see no 

 advantage whatever in having the extracting-combs built 

 in the brood-chamber. We usually use sheets of foundation 

 of the same grade as those that are used for brood-combs. 

 Some of our friends who produce honey in extracting-frames, 

 with the intention of consuming a portion of this honey in the 

 comb use a light grade of surplus foundation so that the honey 

 may be consumed without the objection of the fish-bone. 



which is caused by a heavy grade of foundation. But it would 

 be a mistake to produce honey in this shape for sale. The 

 large combs — say 6 inches deep and of the full length of the 

 brood-chamber — are very advantageous to produce surplus 

 honey if it is for home consumption, because the bees much 

 prefer putting their honey in such places rather than dividing 

 it up into small sections, and for this reason I am sure there 

 is a greater production in large frames; but the sale of 

 this honey would be very slow, for the customer wants small 

 packages, and it is quite probable that not more than two- 

 thirds of the actual market value of comb honey could be 

 realized when sold in these large frames ; but the bee-keeper 

 who produces honey only for his family does not con- 

 sider that, and can certainly make a better season by using 

 the larger frame. Such combs when fully built and sealed, 

 are very fine. I remember that, years ago, before the in- 

 vention of the section honey-box, we took the first premium 

 at the Iowa State Fair on a pyramid of full-sized combs 

 of white honey, and I do not see at the present day any 

 display of honey that can please the eye as much as these 

 large white sheets aid. 



ROSEMARY FOR FOUL BROOD. 



The question of foul brood seems to be interesting a 

 great many people now, and from the reports that I have 

 seen, it would seem that there is a great deal more of this 

 disease in the country than was thought. I have ntever 

 seen a case of foul brood anywhere, and I wonder whether 

 in many instances they do not mistake accidentally dead 

 brood for foul brood. The easily cured cases are very 

 probably of this category, like the case quoted to me by 

 the manager of the Luxembourg Garden Apiary at Paris, 

 which he said had cured itself without any doctoring. 



I si^e a new suggestion in the January number of the 

 International Review of Apiculture concerning foul-brood. 

 If this is not a case of false foul-brood, the suggestion may 

 be of some value. I quote: 



"Having noticed, last winter, in Tunis, where I was taking 

 care of a large apiary of over 500 colonies, that during 

 the blooming of rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) which is 

 very abundant and melliferous, the condition of several foul- 

 broody colonies had been improved, I concluded to treat the 

 hives with essence of rosemary, which has well-known and 

 strong antiseptic qualities. The results obtained by this new 

 process have been excellent, and in order to make sure of 

 its efficacy, upon my return in Valias, I applied it to 3 

 diseased colonies. After three weeks, although the disease 

 was deeply rooted, I could no longer find a single dis- 

 eased larva in those hives." 



'•The low price of essence of ro'^emaiy. whi 'li i< tohefonrd 

 in every drug-store, and the ease with which this remedy can 

 be used, some 15 or 20 drops being poured into the hive from 

 time to time, give each apiarist a very good chance to try 

 its efficacy. It would be advisable for bee-keepers all over 

 the land to try this method and report to the publishers, if 

 successful." 



This may be worth trying. Hancock Co., 111. 



The "Old Reliable" seen through New and Unreliable Qlaseea. 

 By E. E. HASTY, Sta. B Rural, Toledo, O. 



NATURE AND HONEY-STORING QUALITIES. 



.\s to the discouraging thought that Nature has already 

 bred honey-storing qualities to the extreme limit, there are 

 important arguments on page 118. How about milk-secre- 

 ting nualities? Nature has bred at them — after a fashion — 

 and her fashion is to have just enough milk to rear a 

 calf, and no more. When man takes a hand he doubles 

 and triples the milk — does it -with comparative ease, and 

 in a limited time. Nature does not want three times as 

 much honey stored as is needed to winter a colony ; but 

 man does want it. My present feeling is that this argument 

 is a little too strong. Calves rarely die for lack of milk; 

 but colonies often die for lack of honey. But I guess there 

 is SPtiic validity in the argument ; at least I hope so. 



