THE beekeepers' DIRECTORY. qg 



The trap as » drone-catcher. 

 When the trap is placed at the entrance of a hive no drones 

 or queens can escape though the worker bees do not have the 

 slightest difficulty in passing the perforations in the metal, 

 while nearly eve.ry drone that .attempts to leave the hive will 

 be trapped the first day it is set, and a large proportion of 

 all the drones in the colony will be destroyed in the course of 

 three days. The trap may remain on the hive all the season 

 if occasionally cleaned of the drones. The best time to. do 

 such work is early in the morning, as no drone, at that time 

 of the day, will attempt to fly. Make a hole in the ground 

 and throw the contents of the trap into it and cover up. 



How to manage the trap when a swarm issues. 



The trap should be placed on the hives about the time the 

 bees are expected to swarm, or at any time it is desirable to 

 destroy any of the drones. It should be put on in the morn- 

 ing, or at night after the bees are about done work. The 

 bees will be somewhat bothered at the different appearance of 

 the front of the hive by the trap being placed there, but after 

 they have been through the metal two or three times or work-' 

 ing through it for an hour there will be little or no trouble. 

 The trap is so constructed that the proper ventilation of the 

 hive is in no wise interfered with. We place them on nearly 

 every hive in the Bay State apiary, and there they remain 

 during the entire season, and though our hives are without 

 any protection from the heat of the sun the bees do not clus- 

 ter up on the outside to any extent, and there is no other, 

 means of ventilation except at the entrance and through l;he 

 trap. 



When a swarm issues the queen will try to pass the metal ; 

 but, finding she cannot, will pass through the cone-tube in- 

 to the chapiber, or trap. When once in she cannot return. 

 The bees, of course, are some distance from the stand, fly- 

 ing through the air in search of their queen. Not finding 

 her, they soon return to the hive they went from, but before 

 they have had time to do so, the parent hive should be re- 

 moved one side, or back a few feet and a new one put on the 

 stand in its place. The bees, being confused on account of 

 having, no queen, do not notice the change that has been 



