1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



601 



is near, some may be led to make such 

 swarms to their cost. I once thought that 

 was the right waj'; but I know better now, 

 and I paid for my knowledge. I went to an 

 out-apiarj' some five years ago, and made 

 about 20 brushed swarms, as I supposed, 

 about a week before the honey harvest; but, 

 alas I it turned out to be about one year be- 

 fore the honey harvest, for neither clover nor 

 basswood gave any surplus, and you can im- 

 agine what a job of feeding I had; whereas, 

 if I had waited until the honey-flow was on 

 in good earnest I should never have made 

 them, and so would have saved myself a lot 

 of trouble and expense. My advice to all 

 is, be sure of 3'our honey harvest before j'ou 

 make any artificial swarms. The bees 

 themselves know a great deal more about 

 these matters than some bee-keepers, and 

 they never swarm until there is plenty of 

 honey coming in. It is well to follow na- 

 ture's plan along the line of swarming as 

 well as queen-rearing. 

 Birmingham, Ohio, Maj' 5. 



[The hint here given from the much re- 

 spected Charles Dadant is a valuable one, 

 for the simple reason that, in a large num- 

 ber of apiaries, there is a diversity of hives 

 and supers. This often makes it impractic- 

 able — yes, impossible — to carry out the 

 usual mode of procedure, to hive on empty 

 combs or frames of foundation on another 

 hive put on the old location, putting on it 

 the super that was on the parent hive. I 

 should be glad to get reports from those who 

 have either tested or can test the Dadant 

 method of preventing after-swarms. 



Regarding the method of making shook 

 swarms a week or ten days before the honey 

 harvest, we have had other reports showing 

 that the bees must not be shaken much be- 

 fore actual swarming preparations have 

 been made, or else the whole artificial plan 

 will result in failure. The bees must be- 

 gin to feel a condition of prosperiiy that 

 will bring on a desire for natural swarm- 

 ing, before it is practicable to carry out 

 forced swarming. — Ed.] 



FLANGED CUPS. 



Is it Necessary to Use Royal Jelly ? shall Protect- 

 ors be Used ? 



BY SWARTHMORE. 



Dlr. Root:—\ trust you will allow me to 

 defend my position in the criticism of Mr. 

 Phillips' article on "Modern Uueen- rear- 

 ing, " in your May 15th issue. In your ed- 

 itorial footnote you seem to be laboring un- 

 der the impression that Swarthmore flange 

 cups w/^^/" be drawn " one at a time." If 

 you will read again my notes you will see 

 that I make special mention of the fact that 

 one cell or the barful can be removed from 

 the top of the hive without lifting the frame; 

 and, I may add, without even opening the 

 hive, or in any way disturbing the bees. 



without smoking or prying. Simply raise 

 the cover, and there they are. Take one or 

 all as you like. When cells are attached to 

 the under side of a bar, in the middle of a 

 brood-frame, as you recommend, it is al- 

 ways necessary to lift that frame before 

 you can get at your cells. This operation 

 tears the bi es apart and otherwise disturbs 

 them, and they do not recover from the 

 shock for several hours. During this time 

 the cells are, to a certain extent, neglected, 

 and honey-gathering is seriously retarded. 



When J'OU draw a flange cup, or lift a 

 Swarthmore cell bar, no ruptures are made, 

 thus no mending of brace-combs has to be 

 done by the bees. The cluster about the 

 cells need not be even broken; in fact, the 

 bees continue to feed the cells while it is in 

 hand. 



I do not wish to force my methods upon 

 any bee-keeper; but I should like to be un- 

 derstood by any who, perhaps, would like 

 to use methods to reduce labor and increase 

 product, both in quantity and quality. The 

 flange cup will win out, for the reason that 

 it saves much labor, increases product, 

 adds to quality, and reduces expense— four 

 mo&t excellent points, j'ou must admit. 



Now as to swabbing new cups. You say 

 it is just as easy to transfer jelly. I say it 

 is not, and there is just where we differ. 

 Does it not stand to reason that a person 

 can simply thrust a stick into cups more 

 rapidly than he can transfer a drop of jelly 

 into each? It need not be jelly taken from 

 a queen- cell. It can be any chyle food 

 found in any cell. All the cups may be 

 primed at once, and done with for ever, as 

 long as that cup lasts, and we have had 

 some in use four years. 



By the jelly plan you must do it while 

 the food is warm or you will chill the larva;; 

 furthermore, you must have it fresh — ^ all 

 careful, painstaking work; and if it is real- 

 ly unnecessary, why insist that bee-keep- 

 ers fuss in that manner, if a better way has 

 been found? 



I thank you for your kind mention in the 

 rest of your footnote, and feel encouraged 

 to make further study into labor-saving 

 methods for bee-keepers. 



Swarthmore, Pa., May 27. 



[To this our Mr. Geo. W. Phillips, who 

 has reared queens in Jamaica, his old 

 home, and who has subsequently been our 

 foreman at the Medina queen- rearing yards, 

 replies:] 



Mr. Pratt's article on " Modern Oueen- 

 reaj ing " (see May 15th Gleanings) was 

 published when I was hard pressed with 

 work at school, and, consequently, I could 

 not give it the attention it demanded. Since 

 he has written again, however, I take the 

 opportunity to make a few remarks with 

 reference to the points on which he difi^ers 

 with me, and declares to be " wasteful, ex- 

 travagant, or unnecessary." 



Is the use of royal jelly in grafting 

 " wasteful " in time, patience, and quality 

 of queens? Has Mr. Pratt found by actual 



