DECEMBER 15, 1914 



993 



have failed, and tlieie appears to be nothing 

 else to do. Thus, accidentally, was intro- 

 duced a queen to a stubborn colony by a 

 method not heretofore tried by the writer. 



A strong- colony was made up of hatching 

 brood, and a capped queen-cell given which 

 the colony destroyed. A second queen-cell 

 met with a like fate. An attempt to intro- 

 duce a laying queen by the wire-cloth-cage 

 plan resulted in failure. (This method, in 

 In'ief, is the caging of the queen with young 

 worker attendants from the colony to which 

 the queen is being introduced, in a wire- 

 cloth cage, on the side of a brood comb, 

 preferably over hatching brood and over 

 some honey, and kept so confined with the 

 colony for from 24 to 48 hours before re- 

 leasing.) After the colony had rejected the 

 laying queen the presence of fertile workers 

 was discovered, and the colony was treated 

 by shaking the bees from the combs at the 

 distance of about 100 feet from the hive, 

 and giving them two more combs of brood. 



A second attempt was made to introduce 

 a laying queen by the wire-cloth-cage plan, 

 which failed. I had a dark but otherwise 

 desirable queen that had been caged and 

 kept for a possible emergency for about 

 three weeks; and when I exi^erienced the 

 second failure at introducing a laying queen 

 I determined to try this one. Upon exam- 

 ination, however, I found her attendants all 

 dead from starvation, and the queen so far 

 gone she could hardly move. I thought it 

 not worth while to try to introduce her, as 



she a])peared almost dead. However, I 

 oi)ened the hive, dumped her on the center 

 of the clustei", gave a puff of smoke on the 

 top and at the entrance, and left her to her 

 fate. She was accepted, and now heads a 

 good colony. Is this the starvation method 

 of introducing queens? 



THK EXPERIENCE OE HOPE IN WHICH MOST 

 BEEKEEPERS HAVE OCCASION TO SHARE. 



The past season has come about as near 

 to being a failure with many of us, so far 

 as the honey crop is concerned, as has come 

 within the memory of the present genera- 

 tion of beekeepers; but he lacks in wisdom 

 who does not earnestly endeavor to rescue 

 something of success out of failure. If the 

 aj^iary has been kept up to full strength in 

 anticipation of a forthcoming season of 

 l^rosperity in honey production, a golden 

 opportunity has been embraced. If any 

 beekeeper's bees are still short of wintei 

 stores a golden opportunity is still his; for 

 feeding is practicable, even in winter, and 

 in the cellar or out of doors. The late sum- 

 mer rains came in time to save the clover 

 and give it a vigorous growth, for many of 

 us. We also believe the rains came in time 

 to cause the basswood and fruit-tree buds to 

 set for next season's blooming. With these 

 fair prospects, and with the bees well cared 

 for against the winter period, we cannot but 

 indulge the hope of a good honey crop next 

 season. 



Kenmore, N. Y. 



PREVENTION OF NATURAL SWARMING RESULTS IN A MUCH GREAT-- 



ER YIELD 



nso of Extracted Honay froam 74 Colonies, Sprimg Coomt, and In- 

 creased to 155 



FROM THE LIVE OAK APIARY 



Considering this a little above the average 

 for this year in California I thought it 

 might be of interest to some to know how 

 the bees are managed. I have met quite a 

 number of beekeepers since coming here, 

 and I think every one jwefers to let his bees 

 swarm naturally; and the more swarms the 

 better. I met one old gentleman who has 

 been in the business here for over forty 

 years, and practices cutting comb founda- 

 tion in thick pieces, leaving a space in each 

 lower corner of the frame so the bees can 

 build drone comb. He gave for his reason 

 that, the more drones a colony has, the more 

 honey he would get. After quite a discus- 

 sion he admitted he was doing the wrong 

 thing; but the next spring I found him put- 

 ting in foundation the same old way. Lots 



of people are so satisfied with the way they 

 have been doing things that they want noth- 

 ing better. Every beekeeper certainly needs 

 to know how to work his bees on the very 

 best i^lan possible for the best results. 



It has been proven time and again by 

 such men as Dr. Miller, G. M. Doolittle, and 

 others that, in order to secuie a big crop 

 of honey, one must control swarming. The 

 big colonies make the honey. 



But they argue that the swarm and par- 

 ent colony will make more honey than if 

 kept in one. Let's see. Before a natural 

 swarm comes off, the queen stops laying 

 for from four to five days, and four to five 

 more before she is at her best — twenty 

 days before her bees liatch. and sixteen 

 more before they become field bees — over 



