368 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



had nibbled both wings off close to the 

 body; so, that would not do. 



Next, I also clipped just the. horny tip 

 from one mandible of each of four virgins, 

 also cutting off their stings, and I suc- 

 ceeded in mating three out of the four, all 

 from one hive. The other one was lost in 

 mating. 



The bees did not molest the queens, but 

 I never saw bees so non-plussed. They 

 would rush out at the front, and then 

 whirl round as though in search of an 

 enemy, and crosser bees I never saw un- 

 til the queens were laying; after that, 

 peace reigned. 



MATING SEVERAL aUEE.NS FROM ONE HIVE. 



Since then 1 have frequently mated two 

 or more queens from one hive, with vary- 

 ing success, by simply clipping mandibles 

 and stings. 



I have no trouble during a honey flow, 

 in introducing several queens to the same 

 colony, using the ordinary cage, and clip- 

 ping their stings, but I never yet had 

 them winter over together— it is not the 

 queens' fault but that of the bees. 



I have never had queens that would not 

 fight, although I have tried daughters 

 from queens secured from many of our 

 leading bee masters, including G. M. Doo- 

 little, whose queens come as near being 

 docile as any I have been fortunate enough 

 to try. 



In my experience, two or more queens 



in one hive will not always prevent swarm- 

 ing. I had one colony last year, with two 

 queens, that produced nearly 800 pounds 

 of extracted honey; then, just at the close 

 of the season, it swarmed. Only one 

 queen came out with the bees; and, she 

 being clipped, I accidentally stepped up- 

 on her. Then the bees returned; killed 

 the other queen; dragged her out; then 

 waited for the virgins, and swarmed with 

 them. 



WHAT MAY BE HOPED FOR FROM PLURALITY 

 OF QUEENS. 



There is a promise of value in the dual 

 system, as it greatly increases the product 

 in a locality having a long honey flow, where 

 there is warm weather so that the brood 

 can be taken care of. Give such colonies 

 plenty of room and, my, what armies of 

 workers they will produce ! Consequent- 

 ly, there is a wonderful yield of honey as 

 the result. 



TWO QUEENS WOn't WINTER OVER IN THL 

 SAME COLONY. 



But you must not expect both queens 

 to winter over; therefore, it means the 

 raising of a lot of queens each spring, 

 only to see them killed off in the fall, like 

 so many drones. 



You are "all right" in advising a person 

 to make of his business a specialty, but I 

 don't know about keeping "more bees." 

 Help is so"independent," and difficult to get. 



OxNARD, Calif., Nov. 16, 1907. 



Why the Clipping of Queens Is 

 Undesirable. 



R. L. TAYLOR. 



g/HE editor requests me to write an 

 T apology for the statement recently 

 made by me that clipped queens are an 

 unmitigated nuisance in swarming time. 



SUPERSEDURE AND ACCIDENTS MAKE CLIPPING 

 A RROKEN REED. 



The chief argument for the clipping is 

 that it prevents the escape of swarms, but 



