Tm AMERICAN ^ 



Apiculturist. 



VOL. X. 



A. Journal Devoted to Practical Beekeeping, 



sTj:p:pi-.:B:iycE]isrT. 



MAY 1892. 



No. 5. 



THE DRONE- AND-QUE EN TRAP SELF- 

 HIVER. 



There is always something new under 

 the sun. The readers of the Api are 

 presented with an illustration of the 

 drone-and-queen trap self-hiver. This 

 is a new use for the trap, but that it 

 will do its work in hiving bees as well 

 as catching queen and drones, there is 

 not a shadow of a doubt. 



By examining the illustration it will 

 be seen that the decoy or new hive is 

 placed directly in front of the hive that 

 the colony occupies ; but the frames in 

 the former run crosswise the entrance 

 of the latter and the bees are not com- 

 pelled to travel the entire length of the 

 hive as they must when arranged as 

 are some other swarmers. 



The only extra trouble to arrange a 

 self-hiver as here described is in adjust- 

 ing the bottom board to connect the 

 two hives. I need not here describe the 

 manner of doing it as most any one has 

 sufficient ingenuity to do a small job of 

 this kind, and then the one used on 

 the Bay State hive could not be used on 

 other hives. 



This trap-swarmer arrangement can 

 be attached to any style hive in use with 

 little or no extra expense. 



In order to have the trap work suc- 

 cessfully as a self-hiver, there must be a 

 piece of perforated metal inside the trap 

 having apertures large enough to let a 

 queen through, but too small to let a 

 drone pass. To those who have the 

 traps and wish to test them as a self- 



hiver, I will mail the metal of the e?;act 

 size on receipt of ten cents. 



This hiver can be used with perfect 

 safety in any out- apiary even if the per- 

 son in care does not visit the yard but 

 once in two weeks. Our self-hivers are 

 the only arrangement used for such a 

 purpose that are reliable and safe to use 

 in an out-apiar)', as all others have 

 no device for catching and retaining the 

 drones away from the entrance, thus 



THE DKONE Tl{ 



removing all danger of the bees smother- 

 ing on account of the drones clogging 

 the entrance. Without a provision for 

 catching drones no self-hiver is of the 

 least utility or practicability nor reliable 

 unless the apiarist is present to look 

 after it, especially on hot days. 



Now, friends, while I feel sure this 

 swarnier will catch every swarm that 

 issues, yet I do not consider it quite as 

 practical and convenient as the one de- 

 scribed in the April issue of the Apr. 



If any reader of this paper. can see 

 any reason why the drone-trap swarmer 

 will not work successfully, or can dis- ' 



