1913. 
THI? RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Swarming Bees; Clipping the Queen. 
K. C., Cayuga Co., N. Y .—I have been 
reading The II. N.-Y. for a year or more 
and have occasionally seen short articles 
on bee-keeping. I do not expect to do 
great things with bees, but would like to 
raise enough honey to fill the sugar teeth 
of the family, some to give away and 
enough to sell to pay expenses. Two years 
ago my husband bought a swarm of bees, 
and at the present writing we still have a 
swarm of bees, so you see we are not pro¬ 
gressing. Last year a swarm left us in May, 
do not think it even alighted, for I was 
watching out, but when we went out from 
dinner they were going, and all power of 
persuasion proved useless to keep them. 
We had a new and comfortable home with 
necessary furniture ready for them, but 
like many a wayward youth, they knew 
best. We followed to the woods, but could 
not locate them, so my “load of hay - ’ was 
gone. With this experience and others 
similar I decided to study bees, so pro¬ 
cured an A. B. C. book, by a noted author 
and began at the beginning. The very 
first heading in this book was “Abscond¬ 
ing Swarms.’’ I was interested and read, 
“To prevent first swarms absconding clip 
the queen's wings,” etc. I read on, but 
decided that if there were a letter in 
the alphabet before the A, possibly I 
might understand. I am not much afraid 
of bees; even if I get stung do not mind 
it much, but I want to know just where 
will I look for the right queen, and when 
found how will I clip her wings? Won't 
there be other queens at the time of swarm¬ 
ing, and will said queen submit to the 
operation wifehout arousing the ire of the 
whole colony, or must I take her away 
under screen and return her wingless to 
her family? You can readily see it is 
not the great exploits of great bee keepers, 
that fill so many books that appeal to me. 
The only bee-man anywhere near here is 
away from home, and may not be home 
until after I should have my queen cor- 
raled, so I hope some one who is sorry 
for me will give some very simple informa¬ 
tion. 
Ans.—A s it is only under very ex¬ 
ceptional circumstances that more than 
one queen will be found in a hive, you 
need have no fear of being embarrassed 
by their numbers when you wish to 
clip the wings of the head of the col¬ 
ony. Indeed, you will probably con¬ 
gratulate yourself when you have found 
one queen. 
Do not wait until swarming time be¬ 
fore clipping a queen's wings, but some- 
timb early in May provide yourself with 
a pair of scissors, a queen excluder, an 
old sheet, a smoker and a veil. Better 
dispense with gloves if you can, as you 
can work better with bare fingers. Af¬ 
ter subduing the bees with a little smoke 
blown into the hive entrance, open the 
hive and remove a brood frame with its 
clinging bees from near the centre. Ex¬ 
amine each side of the frame carefully, 
paying special attention to the bottom 
where the comb is open and the queen 
can pass from one side to the other. She 
is apt to elude you by doing this quickly 
in her efforts to hide. Having satisfied 
yourself that the queen is not on this 
frame, set it carefully aside, either lean¬ 
ing it up against the outside of the hive, 
or placing it in another empty hive con¬ 
veniently placed, and continue your 
search until you have gone over all the 
frames in the hive, if need be. Should 
you still be unsuccessful, look into the 
hive to see that the queen is not hiding 
in a cluster of bees there, and go over 
the frames a second or third time, if 
you wish. A laying queen differs so 
much in size and shape from workers 
and drones that she is readily recog¬ 
nized, even by an amateur, but if you 
fail to find her upon the brood combs, 
you still have recourse to another meth¬ 
od which can hardly fail. After seeing 
that the hive is entirely empty, close it 
up and place the queen excluder before 
the entrance; then spread your sheet 
upon the ground in front of the hive, 
and shake the clinging bees from each 
frame upon it. The workers will at 
once run into the hive through the ex¬ 
cluder, and after thev are all in, or be¬ 
fore, you will see the queen running 
about and vainly trying to make her 
way through the zinc. Having found 
her, pick her up gently by the wings, 
or the head and thorax (do not hold 
a queen by the abdomen), and with your 
scissors clip the two wings of one side 
fairly close to the body. She may then 
be placed upon a comb or allowed to 
run into the entrance. The queen will 
not sting, no matter how roughly han¬ 
dled, and the other bees will pay no 
attention to you or her until after she 
has been released among them. Un¬ 
fortunately they then sometimes seem 
to recognize that their queen has been 
violated by human touch, and ball her. 
Clipping the queen’s wings does not 
keep the bees from swarming, it sim¬ 
ply prevents the queen from going with 
them, and without her, they are pretty 
sure to return. If the bee keeper would 
hive these returning swarms and save 
the clipped queen, he must needs be 
watchful, and it is a question whether 
the amateur with a few swarms may not 
better permit swarming in the usual way, 
and take his chances on their clustering 
within his reach. The writer finds few 
things more pleasurably exciting than 
climbing a ladder into a big tree, cutting 
down a big swarm of handsome yellow 
bees, and getting them safely installed 
in a new home. Swarming bees sel¬ 
dom sting, but there are possibilities that 
lend a distinct thrill to the process. 
M. B. D. 
Crimson Clover on Thin Land. 
I have a piece of land about three or 
four acres in extent on which 1 raised 
corn last year. I limed the land pretty 
thoroughly for the corn and the year be¬ 
fore I had tried oats, but the severe 
drought which this section suffered caused 
my oats to be a failure, although I put 
a large quantity of fertilizer mixed by 
myself from muriate and nitrate of soda 
and a good grade of commercial fertilizer. 
1 also used some fertilizer last year. 
I have been reading with considerable inter¬ 
est, the reports of the beneficial results 
from Crimson clover following corn, and 
1 would like to try it myself. Do you 
think the land would be seriously injured 
to crop in corn, again this year, follow¬ 
ing the corn with the Crimson clover ? I ex¬ 
pect to fertilize the corn well. The land 
is thin and the humus is scant But I want 
to put on something which will give me a 
chance to get it in grass. a. s. b. 
West Virginia. 
We would try this field in corn once 
more, using fertilizer freely. At the last 
cultivation sow 12 pounds Crimson clover, 
t*ro pounds Cow-horn turnips and one peck 
of rye per acre. This will make a heavy 
growth, which can be plowed under the 
following Spring. 
Binder Twine in the Silo. 
What have stock feeders to report regard¬ 
ing letting the binder twine go in the silo 
with the silage? I hear for and against 
it; some say it balls up in the stomach. 
Manchester, N. H. b. w. b. 
We ask our readers for experience In 
this. Thus far no reports of danger or 
damage have come to us. There might be 
cases where stock got too much of the 
twine, but they would be very rare, and 
the damage would be small. 
Wood Ashes and Hen Manure for Potatoes. 
I have some sandy soil on which I would 
like to grow potatoes. Will wood ashes 
and hen manure make a good fertilizer? 
New City, N. Y. c. w. 
No. We must have stated 100 times 
that wood ashes should not be used on 
potatoes or mixed with hen manure. The 
lime in the ashes will act to increase the 
scab and also to set free ammonia in the 
hen manure. We should bi-oadcast the 
ashes on land intended for garden or for 
corn, and use the hen manure in the hill. 
When you write advertisers mention The 
R. N.-Y. and you'll get a quick reply and a 
“square deal.” See guarantee editorial page. 
IN A SHADOW 
Inveterate Tea Drinker Feared Paralysis. 
Steady use of either tea or coffee 
often produces alarming symptoms as 
the poison (caffeine) contained in these 
beverages acts with more potency in 
some persons than in others. 
“I was never a coffee drinker,” writes 
an Ill. woman, “but a tea drinker. I 
was very nervous, had frequent spells 
of sick headache and heart trouble, and 
was subject at times to severe attacks 
of bilious colic. 
‘‘No end of sleepless nights—would 
have spells at night when my right side 
would get numb and tingle like a thou¬ 
sand needles were pricking my flesh. 
At times I could hardly put my tongue 
out of my mouth and my right eye and 
ear were affected. 
‘‘The doctors told me I was liable to 
become paralyzed at any time, so I was 
in constant dread. I took no end of 
medicine—all to no good. 
“The doctors told me to quit using tea, 
but I thought I could not live without it 
—that it was my only stay. I had been 
a tea drinker for twenty-five years; was 
under the doctor’s care for fifteen. 
‘‘About six months ago, I finally quit 
tea and commenced to drink Postum. 
“I have never had one spell of sick 
headache since and only one light at¬ 
tack of bilious colic. Have quit having 
those numb spells at night, sleep well 
and my heart is getting stronger all the 
time.” Name given upon request. 
Postum now comes in concentrated, 
powder form, called Instant Postum. 
It is prepared by stirring a level tea¬ 
spoonful in a cup of hot water, adding 
sugar to taste, and enough cream to 
bring the color to golden brown. 
Instant Postum is convenient; there’s 
no waste; and the flavor is always uni¬ 
form. Sold by grocers everywhere. 
A 5-cup trial tin mailed for grocer’s 
name and 2-cent stamp for postage. 
Postum Cereal Co., Ltd., Battle Creek, 
Mich. 
Weis Your Watch 
Made This Way? 
Was the watch you carry now 
baked in an oven, frozen in ice, 
adjusted to position, inspected 
411 times and put through a 700- 
hour test for accuracy before it 
was considered fit for yourpocket? 
If it wasn’t, then it 
has never met the 
exacting tests that 
every South Bend 
watch must meet 
before it leaves the 
factory. 
It takes nearly 
200 days to build a 
South Bend watch. 
Then the rigid in¬ 
spections and tests 
commence. 
Can you wonder that the South 
Bend watch is a marvel of me¬ 
chanical construction and accu¬ 
racy? Can you question its popu¬ 
larity among railroad men, city 
men and farmers everywhere ? 
Even when a South Bend watch 
has left the factory, our interest 
in its on - the - dot performance 
does not stop. 
We sell only through retail 
jewelers—15,083 of them. These 
men are alone abletoproperlyreg- 
ulate a watch to the buyer’s per¬ 
sonality. And that 
is necessary, as 
good watches run 
differently for dif¬ 
ferent people. 
This is a fact, 
but it’s a long story 
to tell in an ad, so 
we’ll leave that to 
the jeweler him¬ 
self. Ask your jew¬ 
eler to explain it. 
Ask him to show 
you a South Bend watch. Write 
for our free book, “How Good 
Watches Are Made” — a revela¬ 
tion to every reader. Brimful of 
good pointers. Get a copy before 
you buy any watch—it may save 
you money and disappointment. 
Start a postal off to us tonight sure. 
The South Bend Watch Co., 3 Rowley St., South Bend, Ind. 
OUR NEW BROADWAY STYi/bOOK?' 
WITH SAMPLES, FREE TO YOU 
We weave the 
goods and our own 
New Yosk-trained 
tailors make cloth¬ 
ing to your meas¬ 
ure in these mills 
—you save all deal¬ 
er's profits. 
MADE-TO-MEASURE 
Suits and 
Overcoats 
$10 to $22 
worth 
$18 to$30 
; All-wool fabrics in 
j rich patterns, fine¬ 
ly hand tailored; 
fit, m aterial .work¬ 
manship, guaranteed on money-back plan. 
Delivered free anywhere. Send post 
card for samples and book. 
GLEN ROCK WOOLEN CO. 
203 Main St., Somerville, N. J. 
CASH 5HAGS 
turn them into money. We buy them in any quan¬ 
tity, sound or torn, at a liberal price and pay the 
freight. Write for particulars. Reference: Citi- 
s R ai lV- Iroquois liag Co., 750 Broadway, 
Buftalo, N. Y. 
OUR SPRING 
STYLE BOOK 
Men and Boys 
j S ready 
Send for yonr Free Copy Today | 
It is the most complete book of itsl 
[kind ever published and contains over 200 IHus-l 
Itrat tons and Samples of all kinds of Gar-f 
\ ments for M en and Boys, including a full line j 
[of Men’s Furnishings. 
We manufacture and sell to you direct by j 
l mail, enabling you to dress better at less 
L cost than yon have ever done before. 
Send for your copy to-day — it’s free 
C. V. BOLLER COMPANY 
| 372 Bridge Street NEW YORK CITY | 
The House for Men and Boys 
IN THE 
SOUTH 
donbt abontthe profitable returns from 
Vegetables, Oranges, Grape 
Celery and Sugar Cane In the fam- 
Manatee Country, Biooksville and Annutta- 
lagga, Hammock Area. Lands can be secured 
reasonably, yielding several crops annually. De¬ 
lightful and heaitbfnl climate. Water 
Good scoools and churches. Quick transporta¬ 
tion to big markets. Write for descriptive 
booklets J. A. PRIDE, Gen. Ind. AgL, 
SEABOARD AIR UNE RAILWAY, 
Suite 385 NORFOLK, VA. 4 
2"3 CROPS 
A YEAR 
Mishawaka Wools* 
■Mfg. Co. 
333 *ater St., Mishawaka. Ind. | 
"The House mat Pays Millions for Quality” 
T HE “BALL-BAND" mark on boots and arctics is the sign of 
rubber footwear made by men who work conscientiously^ 
to give full value. The price paid for them is an 
investment in warm, dry, well-fitting footwear. 
Look for the Red Ball when you buy. 
45,000 dealers sell “Ball-Band” § _ 
Write for Free aB A 
Illustrated HT/T-t-/I ) ■ 
Booklet 9 
