130 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



April 



Points on Queen Nailing 



BY GRANT ANDERSON. 



IN the queen business the first point 

 to consider is the rearing of good, 

 well developed queens. It is not 

 necessary to have them extra large to 

 be well developed and vigorous. A 

 queen that is not strong will not stand 

 a long journey in the mails. 



The second point to consider is the 

 cage. Just any old thing will not do. 

 If the distance is short the small Ben- 

 ton cage will answer the purpose very 

 well, but if the distance is so great as 

 to take several days to deliver the 

 queens, a larger cage should be used. 



Seventy-five percent of the queens 

 that I mail go in the large six-hole 

 cages. These six-hole cages are not ex- 

 port cages, but will deliver the queens 



Cages of Different Sizes for Mailing 

 Queens 



in any part of the United States, Can- 

 ada, Cuba, and Jamaica. For export 

 cages I have an eight-hole cage. The 

 blocks are nearly 6 inches long, 2)4 

 inches wide and one inch deep. The 

 holes are an inch in diameter. Two 

 holes at each end are filled with candy 

 and the bees occupy the four central 

 holes. The queen and escorts are put 

 in through a small hole in the side. 

 After the screen is tacked on, a thin 

 bar of wood is placed across the cage 

 at each end and in the middle, and over 

 these three bars is nailed a thin wood 

 cover. The six-hole long distance cage 

 as well as the three-hole cage has a 

 groove in each edge the entire length 

 of the cage ; and a saw kerf from this 

 groove into the queen compartment fur- 

 nishes ventilation. 



Next, but not last, is the candy. The 

 success or failure of the delivery de- 

 pends very much on the quality of the 

 candy. This must be made of the best 

 powered sugar and well ripened honey 

 of good quality. Make a stiff dough 

 of the candy and let it set several hours 

 and then work it over again. If too 

 thin, knead in more sugar, but don't 

 make it too dry. No water is needed 

 in the cages if the can.dy is made right. 

 Never heat the candy in making. 



Last, and very important, are the es- 

 cort bees; for long distance or for ex- 

 port the escorts should be selected with 

 great care; for short distance most 

 any bees will do, but I prefer the young 

 bees at all times. Young worker bees 



that have had a flight and are ready 

 for the field will be best for escorts; 

 old bees will be most likely to die in 

 the cages and cause the loss of the 

 queen. The number of bees for the 

 escorts will have to be determined by 

 the weather. If cool, use many; if 

 warm, use few. 

 Rio Hondo, Tex. 



Bee Hunting 



IF we are to consider the hunting of 

 bee-trees from the angle of profit 

 alone, probably there is no room 

 for an article on this subject in the col- 

 umns of a bee-paper. But we must all 

 have some sport or relaxation, and the 

 old bee hunters tell us that there is 

 nothing more fascinatingthan the hunt- 

 ing of such trees. 



Very few sections ate so thickly set- 

 tled but that the reader may find one or 

 more trees in the adjacent timbers by 

 a careful search, while there are still 

 localities where the trees are so nu- 

 merous as to have considerable wild 

 bee population. 



THE USUAL OUTFIT. 



Bee-trees may be found by locating 

 bees on flowers or at their watering 

 places, and following them by " lining " 

 to their home. The usual manner, how- 

 ever, is to be prepared with a bee-hunt- 

 ing box, a small piece of honey-comb, 



some anise oil, a little feed or bait 

 (honey or sugar and water made thin 

 enough to resemble nectar), a keen 

 sense of observation and good eye- 

 sight. 



THE BO.X. 



The one illustrated has been used by 

 an old bee-hunter of Pennsylvania, W. 

 H. McWilliams, who has located sev- 

 eral hundred trees by the aid of it. It 

 is an heirloom. The box is made in 

 two parts; the lower part holds the 

 comb with bait as in Fig. 1, and the up- 

 per part, fitting snugly over the lower, 

 has on its lower edge grooves in which 

 a cardboard is slid when desired, so 

 that the bees may be separated from 

 the bait below, or they may be caught 

 in the upper box and then released to 

 feed on the comb afterward. At the 

 extreme top of the box is a glass, both 

 to facilitate catching the bees on flow- 

 ers and to give the hunter a means of 

 observing the bees on the bait. 



WHEN TO START AND HOW. 



Naturally bees are not apt to " de- 

 coy" best when there is nectar in the 

 field. Every beekeeper knows that 

 during a honey flow bees will ignore 

 honey spilled here and there on the 

 hives. They prefer the nectar from the 

 flowers. So, in hunting bees in the 

 woods, choose a time of honey dearth 

 if possible. Early spring is best if you 

 are after the bees alone. Late summer 



A BEE HUNTING BOX 



BEE HUNTING BOX WITH BAIT EXPOSED 



