American ^ae Journal 



Mar. 28, 1907 



clipped, the record is "6 — 15 s. hived, 

 cHpped." The first two numbers of 

 course are the month and day; the first 

 entry for the colony for that season 

 should be preceded by the year date. 



I have given you the main reasons 

 why I clip; now I will tell you when. 

 I do this in the spring whenever I can 

 get sight of the queen. In April or 

 Maj' (or whenever in your locality you 

 can safely handle the bees previous to 

 the honey-flow, and before they get very 

 strong) go through every colony and 

 trim ofi bur-combs and otherwise slick 

 up things so that the combs will handle- 

 very freely without catching and scrap- 

 ing. Every bur-comb and brace-comb 

 should be removed, and this done in 

 the early season before there are many 

 bees to be in the way. Now when do- 

 ing this work, watch for the queen, and, 

 when found, if her wing is already 

 clipped enter the fact on the record as 

 "o. q." If the colony record shows two 

 consecutive seasons "o. q." she is ready 

 to be put out of commission after that 

 season's crop of bees for the harvest has 



been produced, unless she shows un- 

 usual vitality, when she may wait for 

 the third "o. q.." but lots of them will 

 not be found for the third one, or, if 

 so, will disgust the owner by failing 

 just when he can least afford to have 

 the failure. But do not hunt too long; 

 if not found with reasonable effort or 

 disturbance wait until the next over- 

 hauling, when the bur-combs being out 

 of the way, and combs handle so slick 

 and easy, you can locate her without 

 trouble. 



For clipping I carry a little pair of 

 scissors in my vest-pocket; they are 

 about as long as my finger, and, when I 

 locate the queen, out comes those scis- 

 sors, and they follow her until I get 

 a blade under a wing, when off it goes. 

 I don't cut one leg in many hundreds 

 of queens; I thinklhave never clipped 

 but one leg. I never attempt to catch 

 the queen to clip, except in rare cases, 

 as in swarms, or when she is frightened 

 so I cannot follow her with scissors. 

 Many never are aware when clipped. 



Loveland. Colo. 



Foul Brood Inspection 



Conducted by Louis U. Sohull, New Braunsfels, Tex. 



Something- in Favor of Black 

 Bees 



On page 106, it says that "the blacks 

 are inferior." I agree that they are 

 inferior to Italians in most respects, 

 but not in all. 



The German, or black, bees have 

 been our honey-gatherers for over a 

 century, and it is time that we were 

 finding out their merits, if they have 

 any, and they surely have. I say that 

 they have a place in apiculture that the 

 Italians can never fill with the same 

 amount of labor or capital. In the 

 production of a nice article of comb 

 honey they can not be excelled. Also, 

 they can easily be brought up to a non- 

 swarming point and a large comb- 

 honey business operated with but little 

 labor or expense. 



It also says, " If, then, an American 

 editor be asked by a beginner as to 

 which is the better bee, he answers, 

 'The Italian.'" This is true, but it 

 may not be the best bee for the begin- 

 ner. If he lives in a location where 

 there are no blacks the Italians are 

 the best for him, perhaps; but if his 

 Italian queens are exposed to black 

 drones, they are the worst for him, for 

 their crosses with blacks are furious 

 stingers, and nothing but a veteran 

 bee-keeper, or one toughened to stings, 

 can stand them. It is widely circulated 

 that the Italians are by far the gentlest 

 bees, but we have found this true : 



There is many a bee-keeper who makes 

 a start in bee-keeping, and, not con- 

 tent with the strain he or his neighbors 

 have, buys some bees of another strain, 

 introduces or sets them down with his 

 others, believing it is the best thing 

 for him from what he has read or 

 heard. Soon his apiary is " fired up," 

 and he is, too, and soon is gone " where 

 the woodbine twineth," so far as bee- 

 keeping is concerned. This has been 

 the case hundreds of times here in the 

 South, and, to some extent, is the cause 

 of the bee and honey industry being as 

 it is here. 



There are many bee-keepers who re- 

 gret that they ever mixed their bees ; 

 and, beginners, if your neighbors keep 

 Italians, you start with them ; or if 

 your neighbors keep blacks, you start 

 with them until you have mastered 

 enough about bees to keep your stock 

 pure. If your neighbors have hybrids 

 or a mixed race of bees, better start up 

 bee-keeping in some other location, or 

 stand the stings. 



I advocate pure stock for the begin- 

 ner, whatever it may be, or wherever 

 it may be found. 



I operate Italians, blacks, and Cau- 

 casians for honey, and give credit 

 where it is due. J. J. Wilder. 



Crisp Co., Ga., March 9. 



E^~ I would not do without the American 

 Bee .Journal for ten times its cost. —F. L. Day, 

 of Minnesota. 



At the San Antonio Inspector's meet- 

 ing, J. M. Rankin said : 



" Bee-inspectors are born, not made. It is 

 an easy matter to learn to detect the disease 

 and to effect a cure. Any man of ordinary 

 intelligence can do this, but it is only a small 

 part of bee-inspection. The difficult part lies 

 in handling the bee-keeper, and, without an- 

 tagonizing him, get him to comply with the 

 law because he sees the advantage it brings 

 him in doing so." 



This is true, indeed, and those who 

 have had experience in inspection 

 work well know the difficult parts that 

 had to be " worked " at some time or 

 another. It is, indeed, a difficult task 

 to approach a man who refuses to have 

 his bees inspected, and tact and pa- 

 tience are necessary in handling cases 

 of this kind. 



There are bee-keepers, and other bee- 

 keepers, and while some of them are 

 ever ready to assist in the inspection 

 of their apiaries, others can be so stub- 

 born as to make it quite disagreeable 

 for the inspector. It is amusing to me 

 sometimes to think of some of the 

 " scrapes " experienced while inspect- 

 ing apiaries, and, although in some in- 

 stances the situations seemed of a very 

 serious nature at the time, yet it may 

 not have been so bad in reality. How- 

 ever, to receive "notes of warning" 

 like those here given, while inspecting 

 in certain districts, would in all likeli- 

 hood be heeded somewhat by any in- 

 spector. Here is one : 



Mr. Foul Brood Inspector: — I heard 

 you were inspecting the bees of our neighbor- 

 hood, and am sending you tbis note of warn- 

 ing to inform you that I will not have my bees 

 inspected, and any trespassers will be prop- 

 erly dealt with if a shot-gun has to be resorted 

 to. Respectfully, 



On another occasion the leading 

 newspaper of the town had the follow- 

 ing in one of its columns the next day 

 after arriving on a trip of inspection : 



A Note of Warning. 



We, the undersigned bee-keepers, having 

 learned that the bees of this section are to be 

 inspected, will make it hot for any foul brood 

 or other inspectors, or would-be and assistant 

 inspectors, trespassing on our premises or 

 bee-yards. (Several Names.) 



Such things might have seemed 

 ridiculous to inspectors of some of the 

 other States, but when it is remem- 

 bered that this happened in " the wild 

 and woolly west " of Texas, it may not 

 seem that way. Of course, ignorance 

 on the part of these men, who were 

 honest in their opinions otherwise, 

 caused them to take such steps. This 

 was made manifest in each case after 

 "the inspector" called around and 

 approached them with a broad smile 

 and a hearty " How do you do," just as 

 if meeting an old friend ; and as if 

 without any knowledge whatever about 

 the " notes of warning " received. 



What an inspector should strive to 

 do in the majority of the " hard cases," 

 is to "bluff right," and overtake the 

 victim by surprise. Have no recollec- 

 tion of the " notes of warning," and 

 he will think you failed to get them 

 before you came. Then talk weather, 

 crops, market prices, and the latest 

 news, and show an interest in "every- 



