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AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



November 



indications are tliat through the 

 whole district the set of fruit is 

 stronger, and the drop less, than it 

 has been in previous seasons. In fact, 

 it looks as if we could get a real crop 

 this year. We think enough of the 

 results that wc are planning to make 

 a similar arrangement next year." — 

 Big Y Bulletin, Yakima. 



apiary finds that some of his fellow 

 beekeepers have been very neigh- 

 borly anci moved in "next door," and 

 then comes the test to see which is 

 the best beekeeper, 

 California. 



MIGRATORY BEEKEEPING 



By R. E. Lusher 



As soon as the orange flow begins 

 to slacken, we start moving to the 

 sage and buckwheat locations, some 

 of which are 112 miles, part of the 

 way over a range of mountains. 



Each sage or buckwheat location 

 accommodates from 75 to 100 colonies, 

 as it doesn't pay to overstock the lo- 

 cation. 



We use all loose bottom-boards and 

 half-inch entrances, and when mov- 

 ing from one location to another we 

 use two laths on each side, running 

 them from the bottom-board up to 

 the screen, and put three 1-penny 

 nails in the bottom-board, two in the 

 brood-chamber, one in each super and 

 two in the screen. This holds every- 

 thing solid, and with a special screen 

 over the entrance, not a bee gets out. 



We use all 3-inch screens, and in 

 moving as many as 15 apiaries, twice 

 and sometimes three times a year, 

 we lose no bees, since using this 

 method. We also own and manage 

 11 apiaries 265 miles from here, and 

 camp there during the honey season. 



This apiary is located in one of the 

 best sage locations in this part of the 

 county, and as it is situated high up 

 in the mountains and is reached by a 

 very difficult road, there is no danger 

 from overstocking the range, as few 

 beekeepers care to go to the trouble 

 of moving up there for the sage and 

 then moving out, which has to be 

 done in the fall, as the roads are not 

 passable for trucks in winter. 



In some of the locations of easier 

 access to trucks a fellow sometimes 

 rents a location for bees and moves in 

 and then at his next visit to the 



HOME-MADE EQUIPMENT 



By Cyrus Darling 



Perhaps your readers would be in- 

 terested to see a picture of parts and 

 accessories to beekeeping that I 

 have made entirely during the cold 

 winter. 



Under the bench can be seen the 

 hive with section holders and hive 

 cover, and to the right a decoy hive 

 of three frames. On top of the 

 bench, to the extreme left, is a sec- 

 tion foundation fastener, then a 

 frame wiring device of my own de- 

 sign ; the toggle handles spring the 

 frame one-eighth of an inch on both 

 sides and the wire thus drawn com- 

 fortably tight (for you all know how 

 it cuts one's hands), will spring out 

 with a fine ring. 



In the center of the picture, at the 

 back, are baskets in course of mak- 

 ing, for the extractor, the can for 

 which may be seen at the right. Mo- 

 mentum gear and center pinion run 

 appro.ximately five to one, lying on 

 bench near can. 



The extractor will be reversible, 

 with free gear on top. The release 

 from mesh is taken care of by means 

 of a spring and release rod, which 

 show clearly in the photograph. 



Massachusetts. 



HOW I SECURED BEES 



By C. W. Moore 

 This spring I tried to buy some 

 bees, so as to get practical knowl- 

 edge by handling them. But they 

 were very scarce, and those who did 

 have bees did not have any to sell. 

 So I decided to try setting out traps, 

 to catch a few swarms. Going to the 

 grocery stores, I got empty apple 

 bo.xes, or any other boxes about the 

 right length and depth for a frame. 

 I then proceeded to make covers for 



my boxes, and an entrance for the 

 bees. After washing out the boxes 

 with real salty water, I would put 

 seven or eight frames with full foun- 

 dation in them and set them out in 

 trees, or around the groves of people 

 I knew. I set out fifteen such traps 

 and caught twelve fine swarms of 

 bees. Two of these swarms have 

 made over 100 pounds of surplus 

 honey each, and they will all make 

 enough to winter. As soon as I knew 

 I had a swarm in one of the old boxes 

 I would take out a new 10-frame 

 Langstroth hive and transfer them 

 into it, putting on a drone and queen 

 excluder and a set of extracting 

 frames above it, thus giving them 

 plenty of room to work. Two swarms 

 have already filled two sets of ex- 

 tracting frames. So far, the bee busi- 

 ness has been a pleasure and a sur- 

 prise to me. 

 Iowa. 



Cyrus Darlhig'h 



flJlHIMUL-lll. 



EGG-LAYING OF THE QUEEN 

 PREVENTED THROUGH ME- 

 CHANICAL OBSTRUCTION 



By Geo-. B. Schafer 



Two cases of normally mated 

 queens, unable to lay eggs, may be 

 of interest to beekeepers. 



During the summer of 1919, on 

 looking into a nucleus 12 days after 

 a ripe queen-cell had been given, a 

 fine Italian queen was found. She 

 walked quietly on the comb among 

 the bees, and they seemed quite at- 

 tentive to her. Her abdomen was 

 enlarged to the size usually noticed 

 in young queens just beginning to 

 lay. A careful examination of the 

 comb, however, showed that no eggs 

 were present. Not much thought 

 was given the matter at the time, 

 since it wjas presumed that she 

 would be laying within a day or so. 

 Three days later, however, the nu- 

 cleus was opened, and still the pol- 

 ished cells of the comb contained no 

 eggs nor young larvae. After that 

 the nucleus was opened daily for a 

 week, and no eggs were seen in the 

 comb. There was a moderate flow 

 of nectar at the time, and queens 

 were beginning to lay in other nu- 

 clei in from 10 to 14 days from the 

 date on which they emerged from 

 the queen-cell. This particular queen, 

 therefore, excited curiosity, since for 

 10 days she had given the appearance 

 of a fertile queen on the comb with- 

 out depositing a single egg. She was 

 caught for close inspection, and a 

 good hand magnifier revealed clearly 

 the "bulb" of a drone organ torn off 

 within the entrance of the vagina. 

 Tlie "bulb" was tan or brown in color 

 (instead of white) and slightly shriy- 

 eled from drying, so that it could not 

 be readily seen with the unaided eye. 

 It was quite firiuly fixed in place, 

 hut was finally dislodged, without ap- 

 parent injury to the queen, by the 

 careful use of a pair of fine forceps. 

 The queen was then returned to the 

 nucleus, and on the second day 

 thereafter many eggs were found in 

 the comb. Her eggs hatched in due 

 time and the queen became a normal 

 productive mother. It was evident 

 that she had not laid during the "10 



