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INTRODUCTION OF QUEENS. 



M S many infalliablc plans have been 

 ^^j given for introducing queens per- 

 haps, as for any other operation in Bee 

 Culture) yet the great number of com- 

 plaints that are continually being made of 

 humiliating failures, seem to indicate suc- 

 cess by no means certain with any one 

 plan. Several points require considera- 

 tion in the matter ; for instance, we can 

 afford to run some risk of losing a queen 

 occasionally, rather than to consume the 

 amount of time required for some of the 

 methods given, such as caging the queen 

 or keeping the colony queenless until all 

 brood is hatched, or letting one of the 

 cells hatch and then destroying the young 

 queen after she has torn down the rest of 

 the cells, and before she has become fer- 

 tile. 



We think Mr. Quinby favors one, or 

 both of these processes, and it is true that 

 queens will often be received this way 

 when quicker methods fail, but as the 

 danger of having queens die in the cage 

 when they have been some time confined, 

 is considerable, we cannot think it much 

 advantage after all. We cannot think any 

 (if the plans invariably safe, such as scent- 

 ing bees and tjueens with peppermint, to- 

 bacco, etc,, for a queen is often well treat- 

 ed for a few hours and then attacked and 

 stung. In raid-summer confining the 

 queen on combs of hatching brood with- 

 out bees, is probably as safe a plan as 

 any, and will do very well for a queen of 

 considerable value, but as we must gener- 

 ally make a new colony to do this, and it 

 takes considerable time, we think it can- 

 not come into general favor, besides it is 

 next to impossible to do this except in 

 very warm weather. 



Mr. Langstroth's plan is the one wo 

 think best, all things considered, and we 

 shall make no additions to his directions 

 <mly to say that no exact time can be giv- 

 en as to when the queen shall be liberated. 

 In warm weather, during a yield of hone}' 

 they can almost always be uncaged in 

 about twenty-four hours, and we have 

 sometimes succeeded perfectly in releas- 

 ing the queen at once, without caging at all. 

 Wo would strongly recommend Novices to 

 experiment with queens of no value until 

 the}' learn to judge by the behaviour of 

 the bees when danger may be expected. 

 Queens are more often "hugged to death" 

 than stung, and where they have been re- 

 leased after being caged but a short time, 

 or when the queen is very valuable we 

 should always examine the hive after an 

 hour or so, and again after a lapse of sev- 

 eral hours. In early spring, or after fall 

 pasturage has ceased, queens are most 

 difficult to introduce ; at the latter season 

 we sometimes have them killed even after 

 they have filled several combs with eggs, so 

 we think it best to attend to all such work 

 as early in the fall as is practicable. We 

 do not favor stopping the cage with cloth, 

 paper wet with honey, comb compressed 



in the hands, or any such means, because 

 we wish to see the bees when the queen is 

 set free. When they first become aware 

 of the fact that they are queenless, the 

 cage of the strange queen is generally 

 densely covered with bees, sometimes 

 knotted so closelythat they can hardly be 

 pulled apart; but if the wire cloth of 

 which the cage is made, is of a mesh not 

 less than ten strands to the inch, no dan- 

 ger need be apprehended to the queen. 

 The knotted bees often make a buzzing 

 sound, and it is never safe to release the 

 queen before this buzzing has ceased, even 

 if they keep it up for four days or a week. 

 as we have sometimes known them to do. 

 When she can be released safely, but few 

 be?s should be seen on the cage and these 

 not excited and angry. Slip out the wad 

 of paper that confines her as quietly as 

 possible, and carefully note appearances. 

 If they offer her food which she partakes 

 of quietly, all is well, probably; but if they 

 crowd after her and grasp her as thej' 

 would a robber, pick her up with your lin- 

 gers carefully and recage her. If a bee 

 attempts to sting her while in your hands, 

 you had better crush him; some smoke 

 here is quite serviceable, and if you should 

 get stung yourself, dont make a fuss 

 about it until your queen is safely caged. 

 Keep her caged until toward sunset the 

 next day and try again. Sometimes it is 

 best to destroy all queen cells after three 

 or four days, if they "don't behave;" also 

 removing all their brood, "does good" at 

 times. If that wont, do, take their combs 

 away, and when you can't get them to have 

 any queen unless they rear it from a cell of 

 their own, console yourself with the idea 

 that you are no worse off than some oth- 

 er folks have been occasionally. 



If you wish to become an expert in 

 such matters keep practicing; learn the. 

 conditions necessary for being able to 

 take a frame of brood bees and all from 

 one hive and place it in another without 

 fighting. The matter is very' easy, when 

 the bees are in the proper mood, and it 

 expedites work greatly, such as giving a 

 colony choice brood wherewith to rear a 

 queen and strengthening them up in num- 

 bers at the same time. 



Bees are wonderfully tractable and 

 yield to our wishes with the greatest good 

 nature when we have learned just where 

 and how they may be "imposed upon ' 

 with impunity. 



If we have decided to winter our bees 

 on sugar syrup instead of honey, the only 

 question remaining is, whether they have 

 bees enough and a good queen, i. e. one 

 that has proved herself prolific; and not 

 whether they have stores sufficient. 



Send us all the circulars pertaining to 

 bee culture you can, if you have reason to 

 think they contain misrepresentations. 



