676 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Aug. 1 



fession of bee-keeping- should use the wired 

 frames and full sheets. But for the hap- 

 hazard bee keeper, the less he spends in 

 the start, the less he will lose in the end; 

 for there are only certain ones that seem to 

 have the tact for bee-keeping-. It is just 

 the same with any other calling-. 



I wish to say a few words with reg-ard to 

 clipping queens' wings. One day in the 

 apple- blossom season of the present j'ear I 

 started with the object of clipping- the 

 wings of anywhere under 50 queens. I 

 commenced by catching the queen up by 

 the wings with one hand, and then passing- 

 her to the other, or the left; then with the 

 right hand free I caught up the scissors 

 and off would go her wing. But between 

 having to manage the frame with the bees 

 adhering, and the scissors and the queen, I 

 found it difficult, for I didn't always get 

 things to come just right, and, consequent- 

 ly, had the experience of seeing one of the 

 queens twist her leg off; but she is still do- 

 ing good service. 



Now all of a sudden the thought struck 

 me to put my finger or thumb of the left 

 hand on her feet as she was moving slowly 

 around; so when I would find the frame 

 with her on I would place one end on the 

 remaining ones that were in the hive, lean 

 the other end against my body, place my 

 thumb or finger on her feet, which are 

 spread out as she walks about, and with 

 the right hand free she is clipped instantly. 

 I found this plan complete, and went 

 through the remaining number in short or- 

 der without hurting any. 



I have lost a great number of bees this 

 season by poisoning. I believe they were 

 reduced by fully a third. I attribute it to 

 poisoning gooseberries, currant-bushes, 

 and small plum-trees, as they seemed to 

 disappear just at that time. Some colonies 

 were terribly reduced — in fact, left useless 

 for the season. I might have passed this 

 over but for your article in the June 15th 

 issue. 



Elora, Out., Can., June 22. 



[Your method of clipping will, no doubt, 

 work satisfactorily for the veteran who is 

 not at all nervous; but it strikes me I 

 should prefer to take a little more time, and 

 work in a way I am sure would not maim 

 the queen or cause a flurry among the bees 

 by holding the queen down and causing her 

 to "squeal," perhaps, while being so held'. 

 The method I described in our issue for 

 May 15, page 429, would require but a lit- 

 tle more time. 



When the roil is called of the losses from 

 poisoning during spraying time, we shall 

 find that thousands and thousands of bees 

 — yes, millions of them — have been de- 

 stroj'ed, all because of the ignorance or in- 

 diflference, or both, of the fruit-grower. 

 For the purpose of gathering statistics and 

 facts, I wish our subscribers who have lost 

 bees during spraying time would give us a 

 brief siatement of the facts so that we can 

 publish them in pamphlet form, and thus 



prove to the fruit-growers that spraying 

 during the wrong time does actually kill 

 our property — the bees. The majority of 

 neighbors would be inclined to be consider- 

 ate of the rights of their neighbor bee-keep- 

 ers if they can only have incontrovertible 

 facts. Now, then, let us have the "evi- 

 dence," even if the statements come in by 

 the hundreds. I have already collected a 

 few, and these will be placed with the rest, 

 ready for distribution next season, or this 

 season as soon as material is gathered. — 

 Ed.] 



. » • •••%%%••• » ■ ' 



QUEEN-.nATINQ ATTEMPTED IN A SMALL CAGE. 

 Some Experiments That Just Failed of Success. 



BY FRED BECHLY. 



On page 94 is an article on fertilizing 

 queens in confinement, and at the close of 

 the article you make the remark that you 

 would turn your brother Huber loose in the 

 apiary to make some experiments next sea- 

 son. Allow me to give my experience I 

 have had in that direction, and you may 

 thereby overcome some of the failures I 

 have had. 



I think it was in 1887 that Mr. McLean 

 made those experiments, and the following 

 season I made some similar ones, but on a 

 smaller scale. I built a tent four feet square 

 and four feet high. It was made in six 

 pieces — simply six frames, five covered with 

 muslin, and the top covered with wire net- 

 ting. This tent was fastened together with 

 hooks when wanted, and taken down in the 

 evening when the drones quit flying. 



Three sides, outside the tent, were occu- 

 pied by nuclei, placed so that the tent would 

 just fit snug against them. The nuclei 

 were made of ten-frame L. hives, with two 

 frames to each, one with brood and one with 

 honey, and a division-board next to the 

 combs. The rest of the hive was left empty, 

 the entrance closed with queen excluder. 

 The bees were put on the side next to the 

 tent. A 1'4-inch auger-hole was made in 

 the hive near the bottom, and closed with a 

 cork until wanted; the tent was fastened 

 against those hives with a button, and the 

 cork removed when wanted. I gave those 

 bees plenty of drones from other hives not 

 reared in the nuclei. 



In the afternoon I would go and watch 

 them. The drones and some workers would 

 come out, and fly with all their force against 

 the wire netting, and fall down stunned on 

 the bottom of the tent, and fly up and repeat 

 the same thing over again until I spread a 

 cloth over the top, when they would circle 

 around the tent quite freely. I did not see 

 any hesitation about the queens coming out. 

 I saw one queen come out four times in one 

 afternoon. The first time she came out she 

 took the location, the same as they do out- 

 side. I saw the queen and the drone come 

 together frequently, but no matifcig took 

 place. 



About three days later one of the queens 

 was laying, and I felt like shouting. On the 



