io6 Journal of Agricuhiire, Victoria. [lo Feb., 1911. 



cage is eaten out quickly and the queen released very soon, this escort of 

 worker bees may cause trouble. Should the colony be in a perturbed con 

 dition, they are by their odour recognised as strangers and the animosity 

 aroused is often transferred to the queen. 



To avoid this contingency, the writer introduces queens by means of the 

 cage described on pages 566-568 of the September, 1910, issue of the 

 Journal. The queen is put into the cage alone (without workers). With 

 the slides h and c in position, the cage is suspended between the brood 

 frames of the colony where the hive odour is strongest ; and when the 

 queen is liberated by the consumption of the candy in the lower end of 

 the cage, there are no workers of her own escort present to cause trouble 

 and she has already the hive odour of the colony. The worker bees may 

 be kept in the mail cage till it is known that the queen is safely intro- 

 duced. Should, on the first examination after introducing, the queen be 

 found balled, the ball of bees should be dispersed by blowing cool smoke 

 on it, the queen secured and returned to the cage. Queen-cells which may 

 have been started should be destroyed, by picking out the larvae in them 

 before the queen is again given to the colony. 



Under very adverse circumstances, such as a dearth of nectar in the 

 flora, robber bees in the apiary, or after wet extracted combs have been 

 returned to the hives when nectar is not coming in freely, the methods of 

 introduction usually employed often fail. If a queen must be introduced' 

 it is best, before attempting it, to remove all combs containing brood, 

 except one which is left till evening to prevent the bees leaving and joining 

 neighbouring hives. At dusk, shake the bees off this comb, give it to some 

 other colony to take care of, and hang the caged queen between the brood- 

 less combs. When the brood is removed, the bees should be shaken off and 

 the combs put on other colonies till after the new queen is safely laying, 

 when they may be returned, again without bees. 



Success in introducing queens is assured largely by a minimum of inter- 

 ference and fussing. Most of the failures are due to two causes ; either 

 the colony has teen kept open too long when hunting for the old queen, 

 or it has been opened and examined too soon and at the wrong time after 

 introducing the new queen. Over-anxiety of the bee-keeper for her safety 

 often proves fatal to the queen. Under unfavourable conditions, bees will 

 sometimes ball their own queens when the hive is opened ; therefore a hive, 

 which has just had a new queen given to it, should not be interfered with 

 for at least two or three days, unless an unusual commotion at the entrance 

 indicates that the queen is balled. If desirous of ascertaining whether the 

 queen has been accepted, do so on the third or fourth day after the bees 

 have ceased flying for the day. 



ORCHARD AND GARDEN NOTES. 



E. E. Pescotf, Principal, School of Horticulture, Burnley. 



The Orchard. 



Spraying. 



A final spraying for Codlin Moth will be necessary this month. Pro- 

 bably owing to the irregular season, the moth has been more active during 

 this season than last. Larvae were observed entering the apple on the 4th 



