MAY 1, 1914 



Heads of Graini fF€)iniii Differeett Fields 



Painting Entrances with Creaso Dip to Stop Rob- 

 bing 



About two years ago I was called by Mr. R. C. 

 King, of Wharton, Texas, to see what was the matter 

 with his bees, for they were dying by the thousands 

 We opened only two or three hives, when it was 

 plain that they were starving. Some colonies were 

 so nearly gone that the bees had eaten all the iin 

 sealed brood. I told him what was the matter, and 

 we got busy with sugar and water. It was about 

 April 15 or 20, with warm days and cool nights. 

 When the bees began on the feed they commenced to 

 try to get into the hives we had opened. I a.?ked 

 Mr. K. if he liad any carbolic acid. He said no, but 

 that he had some stuff that smelled a good deal like 

 it, so when he got it, it was creaso dip. We mixed 

 it with water, about half and half, and rubbed it on 

 the hive where the bees were trying to get in. They 

 stopped just as if one had caught them and carried 

 them off. In five minutes they were as quiet as 

 could be. 



This fall we had a very good honey-flow that came 

 in October; and when we wore taking it off the 

 weather was cool and cloudy, and, of course, we had 

 hardly started before the robbers wanted to help. I 

 had a little bottle of creaso dip; and when I had 

 finished taking the honey out and had put the top 

 on the hive I put a little of the dip around the hive 

 under the edge of the top, and worked right along 

 with as good results as if it had been fine warm 

 iveather with a good honey-flow on. 



With the smoke plan of introducing queens, and 

 %-inch blocks to prevent swarming, and creaso dip 

 10 stop robbing, what else do wc need except a good 

 honey-flow for ten months in the year to make a 

 success of the bee business? 



Lane City, Tex., Nov. 10. W. H. Mosks 



Swarming without Increase 



Last season, in hiving swarms we did not wish 

 increase, so we put them into a hive as iisual. That 

 same afternoon we removed the parent hive a few 

 feet away, and put the swarm on the old stand 

 Next morning we took brood, bees, and all from the 

 parent colony, and gave them to the swarm, watch- 

 ing the frame* to see that we did not get the queen 

 in : and then we shook the bees remaining in the 

 hive on the ground in front of the new colony. We 

 could not take the time to find the old queen in the 

 .swarm. This plan worked finely last season. Colo 

 nies so treated worked with more vim and energj-. 

 and made more honey, than other colonies, and we 

 could not see that they started queen-cells any sooner 

 than if not given brood and bees from the old colony. 

 Since the old queen is left in the colony, what trou 

 hie, if any, shall we get into by keeping up this 

 liractice ? We can not follow directions given in 

 the ABC and X Y Z of Bee Culture, because we 

 use the Langstroth improved Simplicity hive. On 

 account of the rim we can not use one over the 

 other. 



We wish to use some shallow extracting-supers, 

 keeping them on long enough to induce the bees to 

 «'ork above them, and put on section supers. Can 

 we use them without queen-excluders? 



Whiting, Kan., March 23. JosiE Geay 



[There is an old saying that "nothing succeeds 

 like success;" and if the method of swarm control 

 which you are using works well with you, then, most 

 undoubtedly, that is the method to use. However, it 

 is not new, but has been tried out by many beekeep 

 ers, and abandoned because it too often fails to give 

 the desired results. In many cases the bees, after 

 having been hived back on the old combs, would 

 swarm out the very next day, or would loaf until 



another batch of queen-cells was well under way, 

 and then swarm again. In beekeeping it often hap- 

 pen.s that a plan which will work well one season 

 will be a failure the next, and we would advise you 

 not to count too much on this method until you have 

 tried it out at least another season. If you follow 

 up this practice it would be well to see that your old 

 queens are replaced with young ones at least every 

 two or three years, or you will finally have a lot of 

 weak colonies on your hands. This will be due, of 

 course, to the natural failing of the old queens. 



\''our plan of using shallow extracting-supers to 

 induce the bees to work above before putting on the 

 section supers is a good one. However, unless you 

 use a queen-excluder you run the risk of your queen 

 laying eggs in them. In that case the brood can be 

 used to strengthen weak colonies. — Ed. ] 



Death of Aaron Snyder, a Noted Beekeeper of New 

 York State 



Mr. Aaron Snyder, of Kingston, died March 3. 

 1914, in his 71st year. He was born in Albany 

 County, N. Y., in 1843, and was a beekeeper from 

 the time he was 16 years old. In 1889 he moved tc 

 Kingston. Here he ran from four to five apiaries, 

 one being at his home bee-farm ,iust in the edge of 

 the city, and the others within driving distance, 

 from two to six miles away. 



Mr. Snyder leaves a wife and four children, all of 

 Avhom are married, and live close to the old home 

 They have helped him in his business to such an 

 extent that he has his letter-heads, and all of his 

 hrney-labels headed with his own photo, followed 

 with the words. " The Snyder Bee and Honey Co.'' 



Mr. Snyder was a practical apiarist. He had an 

 inventive mind and made many changes, and used 

 many kinds of hives. He produced mostly comb 

 honey until the last few years, when he produced 

 extracted honey. 



His choice of hive was a nine or ten frame, 18 

 inches long and 12 inches deep, with extracting 

 supers half the depth of the hive, holding Hoffman 

 frames. He believed in selling his own honey, and 

 could not produce all of the honey that he could 

 sell, as he kept agents on the road as salesmen. He 

 bought honey by the barrel, in addition to what he 

 produced himself to supply his customers. He put 

 up his honey in one-pound bottles, and some in five 

 pound pails, being careful to use good honey. 



His agents would take back any honey that can- 

 died, and exchange it for liquid honey. This candied 

 honey was then heated in his shop, and new label? 

 put on the packages for the market. 



In politics Mr. Snyder was a Prohibitionist. He 

 was a hearty good fellow to meet at his home or 

 elsewhere. He will be missed at our bee conven- 

 tions, and by all who knew him. He had a jovia! 

 way. When in good health he used to stretch him 

 self up by my side, then give me a couple of slaps 

 with his hand, and say, " We are about the same 

 height, and weigh in the same notch (212 lbs.), twin 

 lirothers." I should like to say more about his kind 

 and happy family, but space forbids. 



A Friend 



Increasing by the Nucleus Plan 



After reading the editorial on page 83, Feb. 1, I 

 thought I would give my experience in making in- 

 crease without materially weakening the old colony. 



In the spring of 1912 I had 60 colonies of bees, 

 and I wanted to increase to 100 ; but I did not want 

 to let them swarm, nor divide them, as I wanted to 

 secure a large crop of honey. So I decided to in 

 crease by the nucleus plan. I set to work to rear my 

 own queens, so I could give the nuclei laying queens 

 as soon as I started them. I started almost all of 



