478 



AMERICAN BEE lOlfRNAL, 



July 24, 1902. 



bees would be driven down upon the tops of 

 hiifes, and upon the grass, and would have to 

 remain there until the cloud passed over and 

 they got warmed up so they could return to 

 the hive. In most cases I was able to capture 

 the t|ueen on the alighting-board and adjust a 

 new hive on the old stand before the bees 

 were able to return : in several eases they took 

 refuge in other hives, and in one case the cold 

 was so intense that day and for several days 

 following, that they remained there, that is, 

 the major part of the swarm. 



This season is my first real experience with 

 clipped queens; I have about -'4 of them 

 clipped, leaving one row of about 20 un- 

 dipped, as I failed to get such practical help 

 as I needed, when the weather was suitable. 

 Of the clipped ones I think fully 10 percent 

 have been superseded, while not one of the 

 undipped, so far as I know, have been dis- 

 posed of. This would seem to be some evi- 

 dence that clipping causes supersedure. I 

 tind, however, that I can manage swarms 

 much more easily with clipped than undipped 

 Queens, and notwithstanding the tendency it 

 seems to have with me to supersedure I may 

 become an advocate of clipping. 



Swarming having been delayed, the swarms 

 are coming off very large, and if the weather 

 should clear up and become warm we may y3t 

 get some honey, but the prospects are for a 

 very short crop. A. Boomek. 



Ontario, Canada, July -. 



Loss in Winteping— Swarming. 



Last winter was the worst on record for the 

 tjees for many years; losses from 5M to 100 

 percent, and the average loss at least 60 per- 

 cent. Backward spring — in fact, the same 

 old story you read in the bee-papers almost 

 every weeli. My loss touched W percent ; the 

 bees died and left from 58 to To pounds of 

 honey in the hives (10-frame). I cleaned the 

 hives out and stored them away and put early 

 swarms right in on the honey, and as a result 

 I have some 400 fancy sections from my 

 swarms that otherwise I would not have had. 



While I have had such bad luck in winter 

 losses, never saving over tW percent, still I 

 have never lost a swarm ; I never clipped a 

 queen's wing, and have never had to hive a 

 swarm a second time. 



I have had 20 swarms, the first on May 17; 

 there is lots of complaint of swarms leaving, 

 and they frequently pass over. Will some of 

 the "liruddering'' tell me how to stop a 

 swarm that is passing over < I have tried to 

 stop them, but always fail. I have a boy to 

 watch the bees, and just as soon as they get 

 clustered I go after them. If the queen has 

 failed to come out, and is not with the swarm, 

 they will not go into the new hive, but return 

 to the parent colony on the attempt to put 

 them in. , „ , , . 



There seems to be a good flow of white 

 clover and basswood, but the weather is so 

 windy cool and wet that bees can not do 

 much, -'■ M. West. 



Pike Co., Ohio, July M. 



Plenty of Bloom, but Little Honey. 



Bees are humming, but nectar is slow in 

 showing up, as there is plenty of bloom. Cold 

 nights and afternoon winds are killingoff the 

 field- forces at a terrific rale. I am afraid that 

 the yield from first crop of alfalfa will be 

 light, as the mowing machines will be out 

 shortly, and that means quit in short order, in 



this valley. . , . . , 



Bee-keepers that are running for extracted 

 honey say that all colonies that are strong 

 enough are storing pretty lively ; none ex- 

 tracted yet. ,„„ , . 



I had only .T swarms from 100 colonies and 

 all had queen-cells. How is that? They did 

 not lose much time, cither, while the fever 

 was on. Ninety-eight colonies working in 

 the" supers and almost ready to be reinforced, 

 or supers doubled. Two are rearing queens. 



A bee-keeper told me yesterday that he ex- 

 pected to average :! cases of comb honey per 

 colony, from \'M colonies, and his bees are not 

 yet up in the supers, and not more than M on 

 as yet. I hope he succeeds, for I will do quite 

 as well, I think, for I have the start of him. 



I think if C. Davenport will try using one 

 or two brood-frames ^or frames of brood) 



IT.A.LjIA.lSr 



BEES AND QUEENS ! 



We have a strain of 

 bees bred specially for 

 honey - gathering and 

 longevity. We feel con- 

 fident of giving' satis- 

 faction. 



PRICES; 



for the remainder of this 

 season; 



1 Untested Queen $ .60 



1 Tested Queen 80 



1 Select Tested Queen . . . 1.00 



1 Breeding Queen 1.50 



l-Comb NucleuF, no queen 1.00 



J. L. STRONG, 



204 East Logan St., Clarind.\, Iowa. 

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when driving l:)elow an excluder, he will have 

 no further trouble with the bees swarming 

 out. It is almost impossible with us here to 

 keep them at home when transferring the 

 second time for foul bi-ood (McEvoy method), 

 without using entrance-guards or brood. 



I think the convention must either elect all 

 officers at the regular meetings, or make nom- 

 inations so the members will have some idea 

 who to vote for. I am lost when it comes to 

 voting, as the matter now stands. Our con- 

 ventions should come a little later in the sea- 

 son to benefit us Nevada bee-iceepers, as all 

 our heaviest work ct)mes about the first of 

 September, and all who try to do the most of 

 their own worl<, like myself, cannot get away 

 at that time. I would like ever so nuich to 

 attend the Denver convention, but I'm afraid 

 it's no go for me. I e.xpeet, too, that it will 

 be some time before we will have another 

 chance at it so far west. 



John W. Lyell. 



Washoe Co.. Nev.. June 28. 



Poplar Honey— Shopt Crop. 



All my life I have heard that a " good be- 

 ginning makes a tjad ending." Although we 

 had a bad, discouraging beginning, we have 

 not had a very good ending. The Ijad weather 

 lasted until April 14; the 1.5th opened up 

 bright and warm, and continued very warm 

 and dry all of poplar-bloom time, which gave 

 us oue of the finest Hows we ever had, and it 

 was the finest honey I ever saw. It was so 

 thick iMfore it was sealed that it would hardly 

 run through a strainer-cloth, but on account 

 of the cold, late spring bees were very weak 

 and in a saci shape to take care of the crop. 

 The best colonies stored from 5 to 8 gallons; 

 the rest from '-' to il gallons. 



On account of the dry. hot month (and it 

 wasawful hot), our June How from sourwood 

 has been almost a complete failure. Bees 

 usually store some honey from cotton and 

 bitterweed, but our surplus crop is over now. 

 I think that I can safely say that the crop is 

 from 1., to ■-',; less than it should be. Out of 

 70 colonies oiily two colonies in Ijox-hives and 

 two, and maybe three or four, in frame hives, 

 swarmed. l" did not do anything to prevent 

 swarming, only gave them plenty of room. I 

 have found out that the road to success lies 

 through a rich hive in the winter and a good 

 queen. Some writers say that it is best to re- 

 queen every year; I do not think that would 

 work every time. I Ijought an untested Ital- 

 ian queen in 1900, and that colony has stored 

 more honey than any cither one here. 



I see that C. C. Parsons wrote Dr. Miller 

 that bees store honey from dogwood in some 

 jiaris of Alabama. 1 do not think I ever saw 

 a Ijee on a dogwood bloom here. 



Hale Co., Ala., June HO. J. S. Patton. 



Fastening Brood Foundation. 



Bees in this locality ai-e not doing vei-y welf 

 this season ; there have lieen only 6 swarms in 

 the whole country, to my knowledge. We- 

 have had only two weeks of good honey-fiow, 

 and that is tlie last two weeks. This section 

 of the country has lieen visited with heavy 

 rains, and constant winds (that we could not 

 say wei'e only Ijreezes), and some very cool 

 nights. But we live in hopes of better weather, 

 wliiie clover and liasswood are in bloom. 



I saw in the American Bee Journal some 

 time ago something al)out fastening comlj- 

 foundalion in brood-frames. I have tried all 

 the ways that have heea told of in text-books, 

 and I come with something new — at least I 

 have never seen it in any text-books. I want 

 to say right here that the first text-lwok 

 should be the " hive of bees " you get, and if 

 you get it " hivetl " successfully, try some 

 bees, and see how much pleasanter it will be. 



Now for the fasteuer : Take a board 2 feet 

 long and oue fool wide, planed on one side; 

 nail a small cleat on top of the board on the 

 side you want next to you. This is to keep 

 the fi-ame from slipping away from the foun- 

 dation ; tack a light strip under the Ijottom 

 of the frame on the board to hold the frame 

 level, then take a piece or strip that will go 

 in the frame easily ; this piece should Ije just 

 one-half as thick as the top-lar. Push the 

 frame up tight against the cleat, and lay this 

 one on the inside of the frame. Bring it up. 



