538 



/J^JERICAN BEE JOUET^Al- 



Aug. 21, 1902. 



bees ? Birds are mv friends and I would not harm them 

 willingly. My test-book says but little of them. 



Illinois. 



Answers. — 1. They may and they may not. If they do 

 .not molest her at first, they will not do so after being shut in 

 for a time. 



2. Yes. 



5. That depends. If there is no danger of smothering 

 or starvation they might be shut in for two or three weeks, 

 but not without loss. 



4. Hardly. 



5. Hard to tell : perhaps it would be as safe to unite 

 them now ; but if you can keep them from being robbed 

 out, thej' might be left separate, providing each has a 

 queen. 



7. Some think kingbirds do little or no harm, while 

 others think they weaken a colony rapidly. Perhaps both 

 are right, for they may not be the same at all times and in 

 all places. By watching closely you can give a pretty good 

 guess whether thej' are doing serious harm. 



It looks probable that you operated at a time when little 

 or no honey was coming in, and possibly were a little care- 

 less as to starting robbing. Look out for that in the future. 



Swarming Questions— Scraping Sections. 



1. I find a colony of black bees preparing to swarm. I 

 cage the queen, and cut out all the queen-cells at two differ- 

 ent times, the last cutting being about 10 days after caging 

 the queen. The queen is then released. A month or so 

 later, upon opening the hive, I find one large queen-cell from 

 which a queen has emerged (being open at the end, with flap 

 still attached), also eggs all through the hive, and a num- 

 ber of swarming-cells with eggs laid in them. Now if the 

 old queen is good enough to swarm with, why did they rear 

 a joung one ? 



2. Upon examining a colony of bees and finding, we 

 will say, 3 or 4 queen-cells in process of construction, how 

 am I to tell whether it is a case of swarming, or superse- 

 dure ? 



3. I have had a swarm this year from a colony in which 

 the queen was reared this season. Tpon examination I 

 find a number of colonies with this year's queens reared in 

 hives now occupied preparing to swarm. Isn't it an un- 

 usual occurrence ? I believe in one of your answers you 

 stated that such did not happen. 



4. What is the easiest and best way to clean or scrape 

 sections after being taken from the bees, so as to prepare 

 them for market. New York. 



Answers. — 1. I don't know. The case is a very excep- 

 tional one. Years ago I treated a great many swarms in 

 the way you mention (cutting out cells twice and releas- 

 ing the queen after 10 days caging), only I caged the queen 

 after the colony had swarmed, and never did a colony swarm 

 the same season after such treatment. I felt greatly in- 

 debted to G. M. Doolittle for the plan. You are not likely 

 to have a repetition of your experience in the next forty 

 years. 



2. You can't tell at all by the looks of a cell whether it • 

 is meant for swarming or supersedure. But you can some- 

 times make a pretty good guess by noting conditions. A 

 small number of cells is likely to mean superseding rather 

 than swarming. If cells are present in a weak colony, or if 

 the colony has not a large amount of brood, you may guess 

 supersedure. But often conditions are such that it's an 

 even thing which way you'd better guess. 



3. It may happen if the queen was reared very early in 

 the season. Such a queen is much the same as a last year's 

 queen. I wish you would tell us if you have had any queen 

 swarm that was reared in her own hive this season as late 

 as June. 



4. Ouite a number of machines were talked about not so 

 very long ago, and it looked hopeful that we would have a 

 machine that would greatly shorten the work, but nothing 

 has been said about them of late, and I know of nothing 

 better than a sharp case-knife, and a lap-board, having on 

 it a block about an inch thick and four inches square. 



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Bees a Pleasure. 



My apiary is always a great pleasure 

 to me, and this season the honey crop 

 has been unusually good. The white 

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 bees gathered much fine honey from it. 

 All of my colonies are in good condi- 

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I have always read the American Bee 

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 Mrs. E. G. Bradford. 



Newcastle Co., Dela., July 31. 



A Wet Season. 



So much rain fell during basswood 

 bloom that the bees worked lots of days 

 in the rain ; when it got too heavy for 

 them they had to quit business, but 

 part of the time they worked rain or 

 shine. I had some idea why they did 

 it, so I looked, and they did not have 

 anything to live on, and that was why 

 they had to push out in the rain. But 

 at this date they are gathering some 

 nectar. White clover is in second 

 bloom, or took a second growth ; for 

 a while it looked as if it would not 

 amount to much, but no%v it is looking 



T<j make cows i>ay, use Sliarples Cream Separators. 

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SWEET CLOVER 



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Stts lOffi 25Ib SOffi 



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Sweet Clover (yellow) 90 1.70 4.00 7.50 



Alsike Clover 1.00 1.80 4.2S 8.00 



White Clover 1.20 2 30 5.S0 10.10 



A-lfalf a Clover 80 1.40 3.25 6.00 



Prices subject to market chang-es. 



Single pound 5 cents more than the 5-pound 

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ulored 

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34A3t Mille Lacs Apiaries. MILACA, MINN. 



Please mentloa Bee Journal 

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