1905 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



965 



THE FINDING OF QUEEN-CELLS. 



Something about Clipping Queens. 



BY F. GREINER. 



In your comments to the article of Mr. F. 

 H. Cyrenius, on pages 774, 115, you say that 

 the described method of finding queen-cells 

 is practicable only with double-deckers. It 

 is, perhaps, true that more queen-cells are 

 started in the center of the brood-nest of 

 the double-deckers than at the lower edges 

 of combs in single-story brood-nests; but 

 I wish to say that I have been quite success- 

 ful in spotting all such colonies as showed 

 signs of swarming the past season in my 

 two outyards by the Cyrenius method, al- 

 though almost all my colonies were on one 



set of combs and deep frames at that. My 

 frames are 11 inches deep, with bottom-bars 

 only J to f inch in width. Not all queen- 

 cells are started at the lower edge of the 

 combs, but nearly always a sufficient num- 

 ber of them to inform us of the intentions 

 of a colony. If colonies always waited till 

 the queen-cells were sealed before swarming 

 I would have made no misses. But this is 

 not always so, and so there will be some 

 swarming in the outyards. 



No extensive bee-keeper can nowadays 

 afford not to clip queens; and when they are 

 clipped they may get lost in the several at- 

 tempts made to swarm; but the bees are 

 saved, and we find out the state of things 

 when we make the next examination. There 

 will then be a certain uncertainty as to 



FBIEDMANN GREINER IN THE ACT OF CLIPPING A QUEEN WHILE ON THE COMB. 



