.liNi;, lifil (i h K \ N I N (i S r N 



GO it, Bill 

 M e 1 1 V i r, 

 you are on 

 the right track. 

 An exti';i jtcck 

 of bees to the 

 hive in June is 

 a n acquisition 

 worthy of youi- 

 efforts; but 



tlon 't let that cow (May Gleanings, page 

 292) get those bundles of bills, for money 

 is going to be \-erv useful during the next 

 two years. 



Grace Allen gives us, on pages 286 and 

 287, a charming picture of the life of a 

 colony of bees for a year, well worth the 

 ciireful consideration of young beekeepers. 



» » » 



"Beware a Shortage of Stores," is the 

 first editorial in Gleanings in Bee Culture 

 for May, and stands out like a danger sig- 

 nal beside the road, or a great red buoy 

 over a submerged rock. 



One of the vexations of swarm control is 

 looking up queens when the hive is full and 

 running over with bees. By F. G. Eauch- 

 fuss ' method this can be largely avoided. 

 Thank you, Mr. Eauchfuss and Gleanings. 

 This will save many a hard-worked bee- 

 keeper a backache in looking up queens, 

 and be worth many times the cost of a bee 

 journal for a year. 



One thousand dollars for the honey from 

 2.'! colonies! Well, that looks prettv good. 

 We hardly need to be told that O. O. Bar- 

 ton of South Dakota is a model beekeeper. 

 Just look at that picture, page 291. Notice 

 how erect every hive is. No covers askew, 

 no weeds growing in front of them. "Straws 

 tell whi(di wav the wind blows.'' 



On page 281, T. V. Damon recommends 

 hospital yards for bees under treatment for 

 European foul brood. This is certainly de- 

 sirable wherever circumstances favor; but 

 where no convenient place can be secured, 

 the queen should be caged or removed at 

 once. This will stop brood-rearing imme- 

 diately in every hive affected and, of 

 course will keep the disease from spreading 

 in that hive or to adjoining hives. 

 «■ * * 



Much space is given in the May number 

 of Gleanings to the best method of the pre- 

 vention of swarming, or perhaps I should 

 say for controlling it. This gives us time 

 to go over the whole subject again before 

 we are too busy to study it carefully. For 

 securing surplus, I notice also increased em- 

 phasis is laid by standard writers on the 

 value (if double brood -chambers ami of a 

 large sui)i>ly o<^' honey early in the season. 



(' r l.'r V It K 353 



Mr. At water, 

 l>age 279, uses 

 cleats to 

 strengthen the 

 top of his brood- 

 chambers, and 

 instead of hand- 

 holes for the 

 lifting of hives. 

 We have used 

 them for more than 50 years and can testify 

 as to their value. He '^also recommends ex- 

 tra combs of honey for spring in building up 

 strong colonies for the main honey flow. 



A. I. Eoot, on page :!02, introduces us to 

 a new variety of annual sweet clover. Let 

 them come. This shows the variable nature 

 of this plant that in the hands of a skilful 

 lilant-breeder may become one of the most 

 \aluable of forage plants. I noticed a wide 

 variation in the small lot of annual sweet 

 clover I raised last year. This plant, as 

 now grown, is quite imperfect. If, instead 

 of one stem, it would throw out a large 

 number of small branches near the ground, 

 fo as to be more acceptable to stock, it 

 would add much to its value. Its leaves 

 should be larger than it now produces. 



Some years ago shaking a colony on to 

 empty combs or roundation was highly rec- 

 ommended. We don't hear as much "about 

 it of late. Yet Mr. Demuth, in his excellent 

 article on "Comb-honey Production," says 

 on page 276, "In some cases taking away 

 the brood, leaving most of the bees, the 

 queen, and the supers together in the hive 

 on the old stand as in hiving a natural 

 swarm, gives best results." Again he 

 says, "In other cases the queens should be 

 removed or killed, all queen-cells destroyed, 

 and the colony left until the tenth "day 

 when all queen-cells should again be de- 

 stroyed and a young laying queen intro- 

 duced." Now what n)akes the difference"? 

 We have practiced the former method for 

 many years, and have found that it is some- 

 what difficult to succeed in shaking if you 

 have an old or failing queen, or if the colony 

 is just at the point of swarmng. Unless the 

 colony is very strong the supers are liable 

 to be vacated to some extent. If shaken on 

 to foundation alone, they may desert the 

 liivc. A single comb, together wath the 

 frames of foundation, will usually satisfy 

 the newly sliaken swarm. We have found 

 them liable to swarm out if even a little un- 

 sealed brood is given them; but' several 

 combs of honey or sealed brood can be given 

 without tempting them to swarm out, and 

 the emerging brood helps to keep up their 

 strength. Under right conditions it cer- 

 tainly works Avell. If conditions are not 

 right, it is belter, as he says, to remove the 

 (piei'ii. 



