90S. 



vorker bees. Sheep growers of this 

 ection of the country have been in 

 he habit of cutting ofif their lambs' 

 ails, for good reasons, and I have 

 lever heard of a strain of tailless 

 heep being produced yet. And if any 

 eader of the American Bee-Keeper 

 ver hears of such a case please pub- 

 ish It to the world. The only use of 

 vings for a queen bee after fertiliza- 

 ion, is to enable her to go with a 

 ew swarm to some hollow tree in 

 he deep recesses of the forest, if 

 here still remains such a place. 

 The shade and fruit trees I set 

 ut in early manhood have grown too 

 ill for a man of 'jy to climb, even 

 ith the aid of an i8-foot ladder. In 

 ict, any man of that age ought to 

 ave learned better than to try such 

 feat. 



This is how I manage young 



ivarms: When I see a swarm emerg- 



ig, I walk out with a wire queen 



lyc, and usually before a swarm is 



1 out I find her ladyship on the 



ass, and I place the open end of 



ige over her and she crawls in. I 



ip in a plug and lay the caged queen 



-■ar. Set the old stock off a few feet 



id place an empty hive, (pref- 



ably of same color as the old hive) 



1 the old stand and lay my caged 



leen on the alighting board of the 



■\v hive, step back and await devel- 



)ments. After flying awhile, and 



scovering that their queen is not 



ith them, they will return to the old 



and and when .they begin to run in 



eely, I pull the plug from the end of 



e cage and let the lady walk into 



r new home with her children. 



lould two or more swarms issue at 



near the same time (which fre- 



lently happens) they are very liable 



cluster together. In this event 



ey will remain clustered much 



nger than a single swarm, and it is 



metimes necessary to take :i part 



the bees in a swarm catcher and 



ake out in front of the hiv-^s nre- 



led to receive the swarms, and get 



em to "going back" as we call it. 



le glad hum of "mother's found" 



11 speedily attract the flying bees 



■ il the two, three or four swarms 

 11 soon be hived. Let the young 

 arms remain on old stands and if 



■ • of such new swarms has received 

 ; f than its share of bees, it will 

 11 be indicated by a crowded con- 



' ion, and the bees will cluster on 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



89 



the outside of such hive, in which 

 case take a thin broad board or pane 

 of glass and gently scrape off the 

 bees from the bottom of cluster up- 

 ward and carry to the hive that has 

 not received its share of bees. 

 To be Continued. 



NOTES BY SAVARTHMOBE. 



The great value of queen-excluding 

 metal is not half appreciated by the 

 majority of bee-keepers. I think we 

 should place the invention on a par 

 with comb-foundation when useful- 

 ness is considered. 



I am convinced that queens be- 

 come aware of the presence of sealed 

 queen-cells upon the combs of their 

 hives entirely by feeling. Uncapped 

 queen-cells are seldom if ever dis- 

 turbed by reigning queens, but as soon 

 as capped will be torn down by them. 



It is not always the fittest queen 

 that survives in a batch of natural 

 cells. It is generally the first hatched, 

 and in consequence the strongest at 

 the time. Thus many fine cells are de- 

 stroyea each year. 



Bees prefer a one-inch auger hole to 

 all other forms of entrances. This 

 m.ay be proven by boring a hole into 

 the back of any hive having a slot 

 entrance at the front. 



During heavy flows of honey cells 

 are always poor for the simple reason 

 that the young bees are more intent 

 on storing honey than in feeding 

 larvae. 



The size and condition of a queen 

 while yet in repose can be tested by 

 carefully tilting the cell from side to 

 side. The trained hand can readily 

 detect an extra strong queen by the 

 jar when the body of the queen 

 strikes the opposite side of the cell. 



Extra prolific young queens when 

 first beginning to lay will de- 

 posit their eggs uniformly, all point- 

 ing in one direction, usually with a 

 downward tendency. 



Virgin queen with broad thorax, 

 cob-like form and stout legs, broadly 

 spread, invariably turn out to be 

 long-lived and prolific. Such queens 

 are seldom lost at mating time. 



To quickly supply a comb with 

 water for use in a cell-building col- 

 ony, fill a jar-feeder and sprinkle the 

 water into the cells as one shakes salt 

 from a salt-cellar at table. Lay the 

 eomb flat upon the ground and after 



