570 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Jui,Y 15. 



hives, especially if the hives stand close to- 

 gether ; but with hives standing ten feet apart 

 each way, on the hexagonal plan, as do mine, 

 it is quite a rare thing to have the bees of any 

 swarm try to go into wrong hives." 



" Only the other day I had a swarm scatter 

 all about, or spread out all over the whole api- 

 ary, instead of clustering, then in a few min- 

 utes they commenced to go into half a dozen 

 hives all at once, and nearly all of them were 

 killed. This made me feel very bad, and I al- 

 most resolved never to clip another queen. I 

 thought they might better have gone to the 

 woods than to have been killed in this way." 



"This was bad, and something which I nev- 

 er had happen in all of my 30 years' experi- 

 ence with clipped queens ; but, even bad as it 

 was, you had the queen left, which you would 

 not have had where a swarm absconds. I pre- 

 sume I should have gone more into the minu- 

 tige of affairs in my article in Gi,Eanings for 

 May 15th, but it had been .so many years since 

 I used to have trouble from swarms entering 

 wrong hives that I had nearly forgotten this 

 part." 



" Then you did have trouble from swarms 

 entering wrong hives when you were begin- 

 ning to work with swarms which had queens 

 having clipped wings ? " 



" Yes, somewhat, for two or three years; 

 and it is strange that trouble often comes along 

 many lines to a beginner which do not come 

 to us when we are more advanced in apicul- 

 ture, even though that which we try in our ad- 

 vanced period may be entirely new to us. In 

 our novice stage we lack that calmness and 

 steadiness that we have after years of expe- 

 rience, and so we go at a thing with a nervous- 

 ness and fear which is sure to work evil re- 

 sults if such results are possible. Then we 

 are so anxious for success that we greatly mag- 

 nify a slight reverse, thinking and talking of 

 it as ^'perfectly awful.^'' The same thing hap- 

 pening in our riper years would scarcely cause 

 a ripple to come over our feelings. At least 

 this is the way it has been with me." 



"But is there no way of preventing bees 

 entering wrong hives when returning, after 

 missing their queen ? " 



"Yes. And one of the first things I learn- 

 ed when caring for swarms having clipped 

 wings was that I should have near at hand 

 from two to four old sheets or blankets to 

 throw over any hive or hives a returning swarm 

 might start to enter. And I used to go to the 

 precaution of throwing a sheet over the two 

 hives standing on either side nearest the one 

 which had cast the swarm. But you will see 

 how easy it was for me to forget this when I 

 tell you that I have not used a sheet for this 

 purpose in ten years." 



" I am glad for this explanation, for it makes 

 me feel better in knowing that you used to 

 have trouble along the same line I have had ; 

 and as you have succeeded, I believe I can 

 if I can only " hold out faithful." But should 

 you not wish to use the swarm-catcher or the 

 Heddon plan, as given in the May 15th Glean- 

 ings, have you no other plans to use? " 



" Yes, I often use two other plans, one of 

 which is as follows : Proceed to find the queen, 



as given in May loth Gleanings ; and when 

 she is found and caged, turn the old hive half 

 way around, and off the ground (to the rear) 

 where it stood. Now place the new hive on 

 the old stand, or where the old one stood, 

 placing the caged queen at the entrance. As 

 soon as the bees come back, and half or more 

 of them have entered the new hive, let the 

 queen run in with them. Now wait till the 

 most of the bees have entered the new hive, 

 and become comparatively quiet, then take 

 the hive, swarm and all, and carry it to a new 

 stand where you wish it to stay, after which 

 the old hive is brought back to its old posi- 

 tion." 



"I think I understand how to do this. 

 What is the other plan ? " 



" Proceed to hunt up the queen as before ; 

 and as soon as she is found and caged, lay the 

 cage in some convenient place ; only so you 

 do not step on the cage and kill her, as I knew 

 a certain person to do once. Next move the 

 hive, from which the swarm issued, to a new 

 stand, where you wish it to remain, and place 

 a new hive where the parent colony stood, get- 

 ting the caged queen, and placing her at the 

 entrance. In from 3 to 40 minutes the bees 

 will miss the queen (in from 3 to 8 if they do 

 not cluster, and in from 8 to 40 if they clus- 

 ter), and come back in search for her, when 

 she is to be allowed to go in as before spoken 

 of." 



"Well, I must bid you good day now. I 

 am glad I came over, for I feel more encourag- 

 ed to go on now." 



" I am glad you came, if I have been of any 

 help to you. I know that, to one who has 

 been used to hiving swarms whose queens go 

 with them, the clipped-queen management 

 seems to have its drawbacks. But when we 

 get a little used to it, there is a certain inde- 

 pendence and assurance about it, as well as no 

 climbing of trees, no cutting of limbs, nor 

 any thing of the kind, which our fathers 

 thought it necessary to do, that makes us feel 

 that we are masters of the situation, and are 

 much in advance of the old ways." 



K. L. R., Wis. — The spider and Simpson 

 honey-plants have not realized early expecta- 

 tions. They are scarcely mentioned in bee- 

 literature. Sweet clover, on the other hand, 

 is a great honey-plant, and in the future will 

 make itself more valuable than it now does. 



W. T. S., III. — Honey, to be boiled and dis- 

 infected, should have a little water added to 

 it, so that when it has been boiled an hour 

 or so it will still have the same consistency it 

 did before it was boiled. Ordinary thick hon- 

 ey placed on the stove would be apt to boil all 

 over, and it should be thinned down very ma- 

 terially before any attempt at heating has been 

 made. No, there would be no danger, I think, 

 of bees getting foul brood at an ordinary 

 drinking-trough. So far as I know, the dis- 

 ease is conveyed only through the honey or 

 the old combs that have been in diseased hives. 

 It may be carried on the clothing of bee-keep- 

 ers, but nine times out of ten it is carried by 

 robbers from infected honey. 



