88 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



May 



frames the right depth. A deep frame 

 i^ probably better for wintering, but 

 not so good for securing comb honey. 

 Bees in this locality get but little 

 honey until the soft maple blooms, 

 which is about the 20th of April. It 

 yields pollen and honey bounlifullv if 

 weather conditions are right, and the 

 bees pack the combs that are next to 

 the brood solid with pollen. When 

 that is done, move the said combs of 

 pollen and put an empty comb be- 

 tween pollen and brood. Would not 

 recommend spreading the combs that 

 contain brood. By giving empty 

 combs as above the brood nest will 

 expand quite fast enough for the 

 slow approach of warm weather. The 

 presence of fresh pollen and honey 

 in the spring give new life and 

 energy to the stock, and queen and 

 bees will vie with each other in their 

 haste to fill the hive. 



This harvest usually lasts about ten 

 days which bring us to the first of 

 May and the eggs laid at this time 

 are the bees to begin on the white 

 clover, which opens here about the 

 loth of June. But between these 

 (soft maple and clover) the dandelion, 

 hard maple, fruit blooms, June ber- 

 ries and several minor sources keep 

 the bees busy. Another source of 

 honey, which seems to have come 

 into prominence here in the last few 

 years, is a trailing vine with a small 

 blue blossom and called here "cat's 

 foot," has proven itself a good honey 

 yielder. In meadow ground it does 

 no harm but is troublesome in the 

 gardens, as it is not easily killed. 



About June loth or whenever the 

 brood chamber is full, put on the sec- 

 tion cases, (I have had sections filled 

 by the last of May, but not often.) 

 You may have a lot of sections saved 

 over from last season, filled or 

 nearly so, with white comb, which 

 you cleared last fall, either by throw- 

 ing it out with the extractor or let- 

 ting the bees take it out. Fill one end 

 of case with sections of comb and 

 the balance of case with new sec- 

 tions well guided top and bottom, if 

 full sheets are not used. These sec- 

 tions of comb will serve as bait to 

 start the bees working in the supers. 

 Do not put in a section of comb and 

 an empty one next to it. If you do, 

 you will have very uneven sections, 

 unless you use separators. "If sum- 

 mer signs auspicious ride" tier up as 

 circumstances seem to require. Do 



not let bees lay in idleness on out 

 side of hives during a honey flow 

 from want of room to store honej 

 Remember you are working for com' 

 honey, and whenever a colony i 

 strong enough to work in the sec 

 tions, there is a possibility of swarm 

 ing. 



I should have said before that dui 

 ing the month of May and before th. 

 hives become filled with bees, clip on 

 wing of every laying queen in you 

 yard. It seems to me I would nc 

 attempt to keep bees without clij 

 ping tlie queen. With clipped queer | 

 we have absolute control of the bee! 

 Two or more swarms may issue i 

 or near the same time, in which cas 

 they are very liable to cluster t( 

 gether, but if the queens are clippe, 

 it is an easy matter to capture the] 

 and hold them as prisoners in wij 

 cages until the swarms are hived : 

 you desire, and then supply the 

 with queens. Some queens we m; 

 consider very valuable, others not 

 valuable. If you have them clippei 

 you know "which is which." 



HOW TO CLIP QUEENS. 



For a general clipping job, I pref 

 a warm day as early in May as pc 

 sible, when the bees are gettii 

 honey enough to be pleasant to wo 

 with and use but little smoke. L 

 out the frames until the queen 

 found, and if you have no assistant 

 hold the frame, stand it on end ne 

 the hive, with queen near the low 

 end of comb. As she slowly crav 

 up the comb, take one wing betwe 

 thumb and finger of left hand a 

 with pair of sharp scissors, clip t 

 wing, while the feet of the queen i 

 still on the comb. Do not take t 

 queen into your hand, or betwe 

 the thumb and finger as some advi 

 as you may impart to her majestj 

 scent to which the workers are r 

 accustomed, and they take her fot 

 strange queen. Being a little frig! 

 ened, her actions would tend 

 strengthen their suspicions and 1 

 workers will ball their own queen 

 have found many young queens 

 they returned from their bridal ti 

 so balled, and they were saved oi 

 by caging for several hours in 1 

 own colony. 



Do not hesitate to clip your que< 

 because some timid one has said cl 

 ping queens' wings will impair t 

 wing power of her progeny — ^1 



