Page34   ISCNSI  BEEEEPNGIay,193 
 
 
one yard of 150 colonies left.   I fed 
5,000 pounds of sugar last fall to win- 
ter them, and I am in hopes that they 
will do something this season. 
   "Bees have wintered here in fine 
 order," writes Mr. E. M. Johnson, 
 Blue Mounds, Dane County, "but a 
 few -miles west were reported badly off 
 with dysentery." 
   Mr. George   Jacobson, Kaukauna, 
Wisconsin, Outagamie County, wrote 
on March    11, that prospects for a 
honey crop this season in his locality, 
look very poor.   H? reports that the 
little clover that grew last fall is heaved 
high with the frost 
   Mr. Alfonsus offers the following 
regarding conditions in the University 
apiary:   "The bees in the University 
Apiary develop slowly, due to cool 
weather which hinders the collection 
of the pollen essential to brood pro- 
duction.   An open feeding place in 
the yard keeps the bees at home, thus 
preventing unnecessary flights to the 
field. The bees which visit this com- 
mon feeding place are mostly old bees 
-hairless, shiny creatures, exhibiting 
the appearance of robbing bees. Since 
this feeding started, all robbing at- 
tempts in th2 yard have ceased. 
   "The comb and extracted honey 
equipment is already set up, remaining 
in a corner of the workshop, awaiting 
the days when nectar shall flow abun- 
dantly and   storing  space  shall be 
needed. 
   "The queen-marking colors,    with 
instructions, have been mailed to the 
beekeepers who desired them, and we 
hope to hear at the end of the season 
whether the marking system has prov- 
en useful." 
   Mr. Fred W. Krome, Black River 
Falls, sent the following report on 
April  16.   "Beekeeping   is   rather 
poor around herc-no crop for two 
years, and I think it looks rather tough 
for this year. On account of the very 
dry summer last year, there is hardly 
any clover. But we all hope that we 
will have some honey. In one way. 
 
 
it isn t so bad that we didn't get any 
honey-people seem t.- have no money 
to buy with. But we hope it will be 
better soon.   If some have honey to 
sell, they sell it so ch~ap that there is 
not much use in producing honey. I 
do not know how true it is, but I was 
told recently that at an auction a man 
sold 6 ten pound pails of honey for 
$5.00.    I don't think it would be 
worth while to hold a meeting in this 
locality, for so many have gone out of 
the bee business." 
 
SWARMING AND 
                    SUPERCEDURE 
 
      BY ERWIN C. ALFONSUS 
   Swarming, the natural reproducing 
process of a bee-colony, is known to 
almost everybody. There is hardly a 
person who is not familiar with a 
flying or clustered swarm. In this case, 
the old queen leaves and a young one 
succeeds her in the egg laying duties 
within the old home. 
   Supercedure is another means of 
supplying the colony with a young 
mother, but without the noisy depart- 
ure of a swarm.    The only external 
sign is the wedding flight of the new 
queen, an event which is'seldom ob- 
served.  Unless the   old  queen  has 
clipped wings or other means of iden- 
tification, the change is not noticeable, 
even to the beekeeper, for it is not 
unusual for the old and the young 
queen to remain in the hive together 
for sometime until one day the old 
queen disappears. 
   The causes of swarming have been 
discussed in various places; different 
theories have been developed.  Lack 
of room is the most sensible explan- 
ation, since the number of queen cells 
is determined only by the number of 
jelly-producing young bees.    Super- 
cedure is supposed to occur with the 
failing of an old queen, but how are 
we to account for the supercedure of 
1 0%  of all package queens?   It has 
 
 
Page 34 
 
 
WISCONSIN BEEKEEPING 
 
 
May, 1932