534 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



next to the frame containing the cell- 

 cups. 



I think it was in the last week of May 

 and during the first week of June that 

 we had our spring crop of honey here. 

 But it was too good to last long — a week 

 or ten days, and it was over. The 

 weather and atmosphere were wrong, 

 some way. 



TWO APIARIAN PBOPHETS NOW. 



I was one of the prophets, too, as will 

 be seen by referring to some of the back 

 numbers of the American Bee Journal. 

 As Mr. Wilson says on page 407, the 

 crop would have been good had the 

 weather been favorable. Mr. Sam Wil- 

 son has been a true prophet, as he has 

 endorsed my predictions every time, and 

 I rather think that next year is going to 

 be a good season for honey, in this 

 neighborhood, at least, judging from 

 present indications, as white clover is 

 very abundant. 



I rather think that Mr. Wilson has 

 given a good deal of proof that he knows 

 something about predicting about the 

 future crop, but I think he undertakes 

 too much. He ought to be satisfied in 

 predicting for his own neighborhood. I 

 think he is liable to predict a big honey- 

 flow from white clover where there is 

 none growing, unless he is a little care- 

 ful. I do not think, however, that he is 

 going to be put down as a "false 

 prophet," simply because he does not 

 give his reasons for his conclusions, as 

 mentioned on page 407. 



Upper Alton, Ills., Oct. 1, 1892. 



Shall Queens' Wings be Clipped, 



or Wot ? 



Written for the American Bee Journal 

 BY M. H. DE WITT. 



At one time I was strongly in favor of 

 clipping the wings of all my queens, 

 just as soon as they were found laying. 

 As they often got out in the grass during 

 swarming time, and were lost, when 

 they would probably have been saved if 

 they would have had their wings, I 

 afterward concluded that I did not want 

 the wings of my queens clipped. In 

 selling queens, since then, very many of 

 them have flown away while being in- 

 troduced, and I have begun to decide 

 that clipping them is perhaps the lesser 

 of the two evils. 



To prevent them from flying, it has 

 been suggested that they bedaubed with 

 honey, which the bees will soon lick off; 



this did very well until some one re- 

 ported a queen that had to be re-caged. 

 The honey dried on her body, and killed 

 her. 



It has also been a query as to whether 

 a laying queen ever leaves the hive for 

 a second fertilization. The facts indi- 

 cate very strongly that imported queens, 

 and others that have been a long time 

 confined so that they cannot lay, some- 

 times do this. Clipping will certainly 

 prevent this, although it may result in 

 the loss of the queen. I think I would 

 prefer the chance of loss, rather than 

 that of a tested queen turning a 

 hybrid, but I dislike the idea of clipping 

 a queen just before starting her off on a 

 journey. 



To make it sure that there can be no 

 flying, I would clip the greater part of 

 both large wings ; the small wings being 

 perfect, although smaller, will give her 

 a symmetrical appearance, while cutting 

 off both wings on one side always makes 

 her look ever afterward very much like 

 a cripple. If a queen is ever so fine, 

 few people can see her beauty when she 

 has two long wings on one side and 

 none on the other. 



HOW TO CLIP THE QUEEN'S WINGS. 



For clipping a queen's wings, you will 

 want a pair of embroidery scissors. 

 They must be just as keen and sharp at 

 the points as they can be made ; for it 

 will never do to have the wings of a 

 valuable queen double up, or catch so as 

 to frighten her out of her senses. With 

 good scissors you can lift a wing and 

 clip it off almost without her knowing 

 it; but where two are to be clipped, 

 open the hive and hunt the frame that 

 the queen is on, get the scissors ready, 

 and follow her about over the combs, 

 and when you get a chance, clip her 

 wings while she is walking leisurely 

 about over the combs. But the opera- 

 tion is the most trying to the nerves of 

 any that I ever did, and I would not ad- 

 vise beginners to practice it. 



Because my queens must be clipped, I 

 had to find a better way ; and how many 

 queens have been injured by handling, 

 nobody knows. I like to know that 

 mine are not thus injured, because ab- 

 solutely untouched. I set a small wire 

 cage over the queen on the comb ; when 

 she runs up into it (she will sooner run 

 up into a small cage than a large one), 

 I lift it, pick off two or three bees by the 

 wings, and put in for company, carry 

 them into the house, and let them loose 

 on a clean window. She can be clipped 

 here better than on the comb ; but after 



