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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



May 15 



ened, or passing by with an arrogant air, 

 when she meets a bee she humbly begs 

 for food. This is always given, and so all 

 is serene. It is, perhaps, best, though not 

 imperative, for the colony to remain with- 

 out a queen for half a day, or until they 

 realize their queenless condition. However, 

 I have on several occasions removed the old 

 ((ueen and put in the new one at the same 

 operation, and the bees did not seem to 

 know any difference. Either laying queens 

 or virgin's can be successfully introduced by 

 this method. 



Not the least advantage of this plan is the 

 .small loss of time in egg-laying, as com- 

 pared with some of the older methods, and 

 this is an important consideration where 

 the queen is introduced before or during the 

 honey-flow. 



Franklin, Tenn., April 25. 



[This is almost identically the same plan 

 of introducing that is known as the "fast- 

 ing" method, first fully worked out and 

 placed before the public by Mr. Samuel Sim- 

 mins in his book, "A Modern Bee Farm," 

 in 1887. It has been continued in all the 

 subsequent editions of the same work. We 

 haven't a doubt that so far as Mr. Buchanan 

 is concerned that the plan was entirely origi- 

 nal. While the Simmins plan is not exact- 

 ly the same, it is so near like it that it may 

 be considered as one and the same. For the 

 l)urpose of comparison we reproduce the 

 Simmins plan here: 



SIMMINS' "fasting METHOD," 



long since practiced by myself, and first mentioned 

 in my pamphlet upon Direct Introduction, I have 

 since improved by inserting the queen at night. 

 The three things of importance to be observed are 

 us follows: 1. Keep the queen quite alone for not 

 less than thirty minutes: 2. she is to be without 

 food meanwhile: 3, and to be allowed to run down 

 from the top of the frames after darkness has set in, 

 by lamplight. It is also imp(jrtant that the same 

 receptacle be not used twice over for holding the 

 queen during the thirty minutes" probation with- 

 out first being scalded or otherwise cleansed. t»f 

 course, a metal cage is easily made clean, though 

 there is no objection to the cheap " safety '" match- 

 boxes so commonly in use, as there is nothing ob- 

 noxious about this kind. My own practice is to 

 carry the queens in the vest pockets, in small tubu- 

 hir cages made of fine perforated zinc or tin. one 

 end permanently closed, while the other end is 

 pressed into a piece of foundation after the queen 

 is in. When ready, remove the foundation and let 

 her run into the hive. 



It will be noticed that Mr. Simmins says 

 the queen must be kept alone for not less 

 than thirty minutes, while Mr. Buchanan 

 .-specifies forty-five. And, again, Mr. Sim- 

 mins directs that the queen be run into the 

 hive after dark, by lamplight, while our cor- 

 respondent says it should be done just be- 

 fore sundown. We will have more to say 

 :about night introduction later. But Mr. 

 ;"?immins was not the originator of this idea 

 of fasting the queen before introduction. 

 We find references to it in Langstroth's old 

 work, "The Hive and the Honey-bee," and 

 even in earlier writings. 



This fasting method of introduction has 

 been discussed in this journal at ditTerent 

 times for years back. For example, there is 

 quite a discussion of it on pages 12:5 to 126 

 of Gleanings for February 1st, 1905. A 



further article appears on page 598 of the 

 same volume. But because the plan is old, 

 that does not necessarily signify it is not 

 good. We have used it off and on to a con- 

 siderable extent. In fact, our Mr. Bain, at 

 the home yard, says he always uses it when 

 taking a laying queen out of a nucleus and 

 introducing her to a full colony in the same 

 yard. We will suppose that in one yard 

 bees are working on goldenrod, in another { 

 yard bees are doing nothing. To take a 

 queen from the first-mentioned yard and try 

 to introduce her by the fasting method in 

 the other yard might result in her loss. 

 Why? Because the aroma of the goldenrod 

 would possibly make her a persona non 

 grata in the yard where there was no such 

 odor. Yes, indeed, the scent factor is very 

 important and can not be overlooked. But 

 he says he would by no means recommend 

 that plan for the average person to follow 

 out, as so much depends on conditions and 

 the time of the year. In connection with 

 this we may possibly lay down some general 

 l)rincii)les that may prove helpful. 



1. When a little honey is coming in, it 

 is much easier to introduce and unite bees 

 than during a dearth. 



2. A queen in the height of her egg-laying 

 will be accepted far more readily than one 

 that has been deprived of egg-laying, as in 

 the case of one that has been four or five 

 days in the mails. 



3. Some colonies are more nervous than 

 others. To open a hive of such on an un- 

 favorable day might arouse the inmates to 

 a stinging fury. Indeed, such colonies will 

 often ball and sting their own queen when 

 the hive is opened if the day is unfavorable. 



4. It is easier to introduce toward night, 

 or after dark, than during the day. The 

 reason of this is that after dark the excite- 

 ment of the day has subsided. There is no 

 chance for robbing and no reason for vigil. 

 In short, bees are not expecting trouble and 

 are not inclined to make any. 



5. A fasting queen, or, rather, a queen 

 that is hungry, will usually ask for food, 

 and hence will generally be treated more 

 considerately than one that shows fear or 

 fight. 



6. The scent factor can not be ignored. It 

 is because of this variety of conditions, which 

 the average beginner and many old bee- 

 keepers do not understand, that we would 

 not recommend the fasting method, in pref- 

 erence to the caging plan. Mr. Bain uses 

 either, according to circumstances; but with 

 either he says he loses no queens. Right / 

 here he asked us not to make this statement, s^ 

 because he thought he would not be believ- 

 ed; but we know him well enough to say 

 that he would not misrepresent the facts. 



It is possibly true that, when the bee-keep- 

 ing jniblic becomes a little better educated, 

 it might be safe for queen-breeders to advise 

 the fasting method of introducing rather 

 than the cage-and-candy plan. If they 

 were all like Mr. Buchanan, and other con- 

 ditions were suitable when the queens were 

 received, we might recommend that plan; 



