458 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



JuxE, 1917 



Queen poking her head into cell to see if it is pol- 

 ished ready for a new egg. 



Queen laying. 



Note the circle of bees around her 

 in mute adoration. 



center of the part of the hive containing the 

 most brood, looking over both sides of it 

 carefully. If the queen is not there tliis 

 comb should be stood on end by one corner 

 of the hive, and the other combs should be 

 looked over just as carefully. 



Wlien she is found she should be clipped 

 as shown in the illustration. In picking 

 her up, the thumb and forefinger of the 

 right hand should grasp the wings, when the 

 queen can be transferred to the left hand. 



The best way to hold the queen while clipping. 



When she is placed" on the ball of the left 

 forefinger and the thumb lightly held 

 against the back of her head and thorax she 

 will grasp the finger with her legs and the 

 wings will stick straight out so that it is 

 easy to clip off two-thirds the length of the 

 wings on one side. Some clip the left wings 

 odd years and the right wings even years. 



This furnishes quite a check on her age. A 

 timid beginner should practice on drones 

 first, for the drones cannot sting. The 

 queen, while she has a sting, never uses it 

 except against a rival queen. 



As soon as possible the combs should 

 be looked over to make sure that there is 

 enough sealed honey. A beginner may find 

 it a little difficult to know just how much 

 sealed honey constitutes enough. No colony 

 at any time should be allowed to have less 

 than three to five pounds of sealed honey; 

 for when brood-rearing is at its height 

 honey is being used very rapidly indeed : 

 and if the bees are running a little short 

 they will retrench, thus curtailing brood- 

 rearing at a time when it is exceedingly im- 

 portant that everything be done to build up 

 and not reduce the strength of the colonies. 



A good beekeeper sees to it the fall previ- 

 ous that his colonies are supplied with more 

 than enough stores to last thru until the 

 main honey - flow begins the following 

 spring; but a beginner who is just starting 

 in the siDring does not have this advantage, 

 and must feed, therefore, if tlie bees are 

 running short. Unnecessary spring feeding 

 should not be practiced by beginners. For 

 emergencies there are a number of good 

 feeders on the market, any one of which is 

 suitable for the purpose. A small feeder 

 that will hold a quai-t of thin syrup, made 

 by mixing two parts of water and one of 

 sugar, is large enough. 



Many beginners in their first enthusiasm 

 try to invent something, especially a feeder. / 

 More worthless feeders have been invented 

 than all other contraptions relating to bee- 



