Dec. 1, 1911 



rapidly. We should like to know how to 

 keep them from doing so, or, rather, what 

 to do with them as fast as we can increase, 

 at a j)rofit. If we want a hundred or so to 

 increase, we take from the strongest colo- 

 nies of hatching brood one or two frames, or 

 whatever we can without debilitating the 

 old colony in the least. We place one frame 

 in a new hive between two of foundation; 

 add foundation as fast as needed, and usual- 

 ly in six weeks we have a strong colony. 

 Of course we do this way only when we have 

 nothing else to do, and can sell the increase 

 without weakening our working colonies. 



CLOTHING IN THE TROPICS. 



We use but little smoke, and try to raise 

 quiet bees. If we have a bad colony we kill 

 the queen and try another. (3f course, all 

 our bees ivill sting; but we mean by this an 

 exceptionally cross family. Queens of our 

 own rearing are cheap, and are good for only 

 about two years here, any w^ay. We have 

 been using the Swarthmore system for two 

 years, and prefer it for queen-rearing. In 

 working here we dress for comfort regardless 

 of bees, and our outfit consists of short- 

 sleeved undershirt, duck or linen trousers, 

 low shoes, and a panama. Veils, gloves, etc., 

 are in the way for fast work, and too warm. 

 When, through our negligence, oversight, 

 or overwork we have a swarm, it is brought 

 back on our arm or in our hat. Don't un- 

 derstand that we are immune to bee-stings, 

 but they are few, and of no consequence ex- 

 cept for the instant; and a few stings occa- 

 sionally are very good for one's health. 

 We don't have rheumatism. 



We do not shade our hives except in lo- 

 cating an apiary. We select a place where 

 there are a few young palms, and perhaps 

 some other small trees. Hives are placed 

 on two bricks, flat, one at each end. Every 

 thing is removed from the apiary, and Ber- 

 muda grass planted. It grows fast, is short, 

 can not be killed, and ants dislike it. 



CBEOLINE TO STOP ROBBERS. 



For robbers we use pure creoline, applied 

 with a feather at the ends and on sides of 

 the hive. For brood-rearing, with our Ital- 

 ians we note no difference day in and day 

 out except that they usually let up for about 

 30 days from the middle of .January to the 

 middle of February. 



About what is the average yield of ex- 

 tracted honey per colony per year in the 

 cold countries? We figure 30 gallons here — 

 the lowest I know about being 15 and the 

 best 4.5. Unless all signs fail, this will be a 

 good year for us. Cuban honey has had a 

 black eye in the past; but it is not all alike, 

 for we can market as good as there is. 

 There are few modern bee-keepers, with 

 modern machinery, here, the larger per cent 

 of bees being still kept in logs. Conse- 

 quently, in the past a lot of honey has been 

 shipped in very bad shape; but present 

 pure food laws should tend to remedy this. 



Los Pasos, Oriente, Cuba. 



[See Stray Straws, p. 678, Nov. 15.— Ed.] 



J. L. BYER'S PLAN OF REQUEENING. 



BY GEO. W. MOORE. 



Mr. J. L. Byer's method of requeening as 

 outlined on page 619, Oct. 15, is a good sys- 

 tem. For several years I have used this 

 plan with all kinds of bees. I place an ex- 

 cluder between two empty hive-bodies; and 

 as fast as I can look them over I put frames 

 of comb and bees in the upper hive-body. 

 If I fail to find the queen on the combs I 

 look on the bottom-board; and if she is not 

 there I shake the bees from the combs to 

 the excluder, and by this time I can usual- 

 ly locate the queen. As a rule, about half 

 of the black queens are to be found on the 

 bottom of the hive. 



1 received my Italian queens the latter 

 part of August, this year, about a week be- 

 fore the blue-curl began to yield. After re- 

 moving the old queen I i^iaced the queen- 

 cage between the frames of brood, having 

 taken out the cardboard in cases where the 

 candy was not more than a third gone. I 

 then closed the hive and left it alone for at 

 least three days. 



I received another lot of queens one week 

 later, and went with them to the out-apiary, 

 where I had put the queens the week before. 

 When I looked into the hives that had the 

 new queens I discovered queen-cells capped, 

 which were being torn down, for the new 

 queen was beginning to lay. The bees, too, 

 were storing honey. 



One hive had a fine lot of cells, and no 

 sign of a queen, so I destroyed the cells and 

 gave them one of the queens I had brought 

 with me. Three days later I visited this 

 colony. The queen was in the cage with 

 all the candy gone, and a dead bee wedged 

 in the opening was holding the queen in 

 the cage. A fine Italian queen was lying 

 on the combs next to the cage. 



About a week passed before the first lot 

 of queens began to lay, as there was little 

 or no honey coming in. The second lot, on 

 the other hand, was laying within three 

 days, as there was then a good honey-flow. 



1 had always thought that capped queen- 

 cells in a hive were proof that the queen 

 had not been accepted; but I now know 

 better. 



There can be no mistake about these 

 queens, for the bees were all blacks, and 

 now there are but a few blacks left in any 

 hive, but plenty of fine Italians. 



Paicines, Cal. 



NOTES ON QUEEN INTRODUCTION. 



BY ARTHUR C. MILLER. 



The following notes add to the evidence 

 we already have that the reception a queen 

 receives is dependent very largely on her be- 

 havior. 



Four queens were received by mail, one 

 I)erfect, and three crippled by loss of one or 

 more legs or feet, and apparently ailing — 

 that is to say, they were sluggish in their 



