AUGUST 15, 1916 



739 



for comb hone^v is the prevention of swarm- 

 ing. All queens are clipped at the begin- 

 ning of the season. When the flow from 

 clover begins, we go thru all colonies every 

 ten days, destrojdng queen-cells wherever 

 they are started. A record is kept on the 

 hive-cover, and when cells are started the 

 second time in any hive they are destroyed 

 and the queen removed also. Ten days later 

 th.e queen-cells are destroyed again and a 

 young queen is given in a candied cage. 



I have never succeeded in entirely pre- 

 venting swarms; but by careful work they 

 may be reduced to about two per cent. As 

 I do not always do my work carefully, about 

 five per cent swarm and get away. A part 

 of the loss is caused by taking chances, 

 when the few swarms saved would not pay 

 for the labor of going thru every hive. A 

 part of it also comes from the natural con- 

 trariness of some bees. Some colonies will 

 supersede their queen and swarm earlier 

 than T expected, tho I aim to prevent this 

 by having young queens in all the hives at 

 the outyards. Some colonies may swarm at 

 tlie end of the flow, but the loss is then 

 small, and is, perhaps, balanced by the 

 young queen, which is reared free of charge. 



Twice I have had a colony swarm without 

 a sign of queen, queen-cell, or brood in the 

 hive, as far as the closest search could dis- 

 cover. They had been held back, when they 

 were determined to swarm, by removing the 

 queen, killing all queen-cells nine days later, 

 and again killing cells on the fourteenth 

 day. They swarmed promptly when clipped 

 queens were given them, sulked for a week 

 after the queens were taken away, then 



swai-med without queens. My guess is that 

 Ihey had laying workers, tho no brood of 

 any kind was found in the hive. Both 

 swarms hung in cluster until they died from 

 exposure, without either leaving or return- 

 ing to the hive. Such eases are very rare. 



Ninety-five per cent of the colonies may 

 be kept from swarming by the method out- 

 lined above. The queens given should al- 

 ways be clipped before caging. Rarely a 

 colony will sulk under this treatment, clus- 

 ter out, and refuse to Avork. In such eases 

 I usually shake them on combs or full 

 sheets, giving a queen at the same time. 



In the matter of swarming, there is a 

 difference in seasons that is not accounted 

 for by the difference in the honey-flow. In 

 1913 I got a heavy crop with little labor. 

 Not one colony in ten even started cells. 

 Last year, with a smaller yield, the bees 

 swarmed from dandelion until frost, even 

 coming out in the rain. Taking seasons as 

 they come, 150 colonies will keep one man 

 hnsj if all are run for comb honey on the 

 non-swarming plan. 



In running outyards after this method, 

 several palliatives may be used that will 

 save much labor. Large entrances should 

 be given, and plenty of super room. Ten- 

 frame hives swarm a' little less than eight- 

 frame, but are not so handy for moving. 

 Young queens reared the previous fall Avill 

 prevent much of the swarming. Dr. Miller 

 tells us that queens of the present season's 

 rearing will not SAvarm for him. They 

 sometimes SAvarm here on a fall flow, but 

 not usually. 



Newman, 111. 



POSSIBILITIES ALONG THE ST. JOHN'S RIVER, FLORIDA 



BY F. M. BALDWIN 



Drawn by that tie that so strongly binds 

 the members of our fraternity, I went yes- 

 terday, in response to Mr. C. H. Clute's 

 i-epeated invitations, to Sanford, Fla. I 

 found tho flora and conditions so attractive 

 that I cannot resist the desire to tell of what 

 I saAV. 



Early bloom fills the hives Avith bees and 

 brood. The first week in March finds them 

 ready for orange, Avild cherry, oak, and 

 elder. Before the citrus bloom can close, 

 gallberry, to judge by the indications, will 

 be yielding nectar, and then Avill come saw 

 palmetto overla]"»ping that flow. There are 

 many acres of all the above within reach of 

 the yard we examined. 



Mexican clover, ditney, bay, cabbage 



palmetto, and linn are also on every side. 

 Some of these should give a summer floAv, 

 even tho the most of them fail. Any two 

 or even one of them Avould be profitable. 

 From the river dock we could see large 

 stretches of Ioav lands that Avill be later 

 filled with smartAveed and Avild sunfloAver. 

 The variety of goldenrod that is abundant 

 in the Manatee country is much in evidence. 

 In the SAvamps that are near at hand is a 

 different variety, a much better yielder of 

 nectar. From it the Rev. Mr. Blaisdale 

 used to get a very heaA'y crop of fall honey 

 ill the Apopka SAvamp. The latitude and 

 j)hysical conditions are the same at Sanford. 

 One can see no reason Avhy there should be 

 a difference in output. 



