496 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Apr. 15 



culture distributes a worthless variety of 

 radish, for instance, no one is greatly harm- 

 ed. No one is likely to plant them a second 

 time or to raise seed from them, and the 

 bad results of the experiment do not extend 

 beyond the experimenter, and disappear en- 

 tirely in one or two seasons. But the one 

 who introduces a worthless variety of bees 

 into a bee-keeping neighborhood may do his 

 neighbors hundreds of dollars' worth of dam- 

 age which they are powerless to prevent, 

 and the bad effects of which they may not 

 be able to get rid of for a number of years. 

 The worst feature of the business is that 

 those who are least capable of properly test- 

 ing them and judging as to their merits are 

 the very ones most likely to undertake it. 



SUBSTITUTES FOR POLLEN. 



Feeding some substitute for pollen will be 

 very profitable unless your bees have access 

 to early flowers. As such sources of early 

 pollen are rather scarce in many parts of 

 the irrigated West, it will pay you to look 

 after this. 



SOURCES OF EARLY POLLEN. 



The earliest blossom on which I have found 

 the bees working has been the elm, March 

 15, closely followed by the soft maple. Both 

 of these trees, however, are very rare in 

 this locality. The first source of any con- 

 siderable amount of pollen is the Lombardy 

 poplar, about a week later, followed in four 

 or five days by the Carolina poplar. Both 

 of these succeed well here as shade- trees, 

 and the Carolina poplar in particular is be- 

 ing largely planted for that purpose. The 

 native cottonwood, common almost every- 

 where, comes next, and in many localities it 

 is the first source of any amount of pollen. 

 Then come the various fruit-trees, so com- 

 mon here. With these comes a bountiful 

 supply of honey, and brood- rearing is stim- 

 ulated to the utmost. Nothing should be al- 

 lowed to check it after this. If honey from 

 cleome or other natural sources does not fill 

 up the ^ap between fruit- blossoms and alfal- 

 fa it will pay you to feed. 



CLIPPING QUEENS' WINGS. 



Get the wings of your queens clipped be- 

 fore the colonies get too strong. I know 

 that there are a few who do not believe in 

 clipping the wings of their queens, and that 

 there are a great many who, for various 

 reasons, neglect it; but I do not know how 

 any one keeping bees on a commercial scale 

 can afford to try to get along with undipped 

 queens, 



KEEP YOUR HIVES TIGHT ON TOP. 



See that your hives are tight on top dur- 

 ing the early breeding season. A little leak 

 at the top of the hive will let a great deal 

 of heat escape, and discourage brood- rear- 

 ing greatly if the colony is at all weak at 

 the start. As most of the covers supplied 

 by the hive manufacturers will warp in a 

 short time so as to leave cracks along the 

 edges, a cloth of some kind is almost a ne- 

 cessity. Several old newspapers spread over 

 this will help to make a tight and warm 

 cover. 



CowcrsatioDS 



with 



sDoo/ittle 



SWARMING WITH NO INCREASE. 



"Good morning. This is Mr. Doolittle, 

 the bee-man, is it not?" 



"It is certainly Doolittle, and I keep a 

 few bees." 



" My name is Young; and I came up from 

 Alabama to have a little talk with you on 

 the swarming matter." 



"Are you able to control swarming, Mr. 

 Young?" 



"No. If I had been, I should not come 

 up to your cold climate to talk the matter 

 over with you. ' ' 



' ' But you know some claim that they can 

 work so that they practically have non- 

 swarming. ' ' 



"Yes, I am aware of their claims; but 

 after studying on and trying very many of 

 these anti swarming plans I find that they 

 all fail sometimes, for it is natural for bees 

 to swarm. So I have concluded to let 'em 

 swarm. ' ' 



"Yes, I see; and that is the way the most 

 of us conclude, sooner or later. ' ' 



"That is right; but I have as many colo- 

 nies as I wish, and so do not desire any in- 

 crease. I have a method by which I hope 

 to have no increase, and yet allow of natural 

 swarming." 

 "That so?" 



' ' Yes, and my object in coming to see 

 you was that we might talk it over together, 

 to see whether you thought this method 

 would work well. ' ' 



"Very good. I am in a listening atti- 

 tude." 



' ' When a swarm issues, hive it in an emp- 

 ty super; and top of this put another super 

 with sections filled with comb foundation. 

 As soon as the bees get settled in these, 

 take them and carry to their old stand; but 

 instead of putting them on the old bottom- 

 board, put them on top of the cover to the 

 old hive from which they came, letting the 

 hive- cover serve as the bottom-board for 

 the new colony. ' ' 



"Don't you have any frames or anything 

 of the kind for comb-building in the empty 

 super, under your super of sections?" 



"No; for as soon as the swarm accepts 

 their new surroundings and begins to draw 

 out the foundation in the sections, and be- 

 fore the queen has a chance to lay any in 

 these sections now being drawn, I expect to 

 carry out my method by removing the hive- 

 cover, which separates the two colonies. 

 Then I will take out the empty super and 

 let the super of sections, in which the bees 

 are at work, right down on the old hive from 



