1885 



GLEANIXG8 IX BEE CULTURE. 



S2^ 



fight the moth— at least once a weak during their 

 prevalence; and now that six little mouths, and 

 several big mouths, too, are daily filled with sweet- 

 ness, with big jars and numbers of section boxes set 

 away to sell, the previous remark has ceased to be 

 repeated. 



The season has been a good one for honey— the 

 fall, remarkably so. The bees were wild with de- 

 light, and kept up a busy hum everywhere in the 

 fields. On the 14th of September I was surprised 

 and chagrined to discover a swarm absconding to 

 the woods, too far gone to be stopped. About the 

 same time, Mr. Moore's wife, when he was gone 

 from home, caught a swarm of black bees. Of 

 course, they were not from his or mine, for ours 

 are all hybrids and Italians. John S. Sargent. 



Hutton, 111., Nov. 13, 1885. 



Friend 8., we thank you for your interest- 

 ing account of jour exi)erieuce, even though 

 you are an AB C scholar. Your plan of 

 'finding black (jueens is the same used by 

 Mr. Quinliy years ago. and was mentioned 

 in our bee-journals, and I think it is de- 

 scribed in his book, although he did not 

 have tlie perforated zinc for the purpose, as 

 we do. We liave sometimes succeeded by 

 shaking the bees on a sheet, a yard or more 

 from the entrance. As they spread out and 

 crawl in. the queen can usually be recog- 

 nized. Your plan of tacking burlap on the 

 inside of a Simplicity hive is also old ; but 

 as we do not often winter bees in Simitlicity 

 hives, the idea has l)een gradually drop])ed. 

 I think as a rule, friend S., bees will gather 

 more honey where the hives are opened al- 

 most every day, than where tliey are not so 

 much watched and loved. 



INTRODUCING. 



A MODIFIC.VTION OF THE 



)i.n 



,E PLAN. 



f?^ HE following plan of introducing (jueens 1 do 

 ^ not claim as entirely now, but rather a new 

 i^ application of the plan given last spring by 

 Mr. Uoolittlo. of introducing queens in form- 

 ing nuclei. 



DOOLITTI.E'S IT, VN OV KOltMING NUCLEI. 



By the way, I made 35 or 30 nuclei on his i)lan. 

 and should not want to be deprived of the use of it 

 for the next five years, for $.50.03. Nuclei formed 

 on this plan will often repel robbers in a few min- 

 utes after being hived on the new stand, and in an 

 hour or so will be bringing in honey and pollen 

 with a vim; in short they behave precisely like a 

 natural swarm when hived on a new location. 



INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



First make the swarm quecnless, if not already so. 

 I remove the old queen in the middle of the day. If 

 the queen to be introduced is a very valuable one. 

 and the queen to be removed is old, and likely to be 

 supei-seded, I would wait a day or two to see if cells 

 were started, so as to prove that there were not two 

 queens in the hive. In ordinary cases I would not 

 wait another day, but would proceed just before 

 night to smoke them thoroughly, a little at first, so 

 as to drive them into the combs, and more of it 

 afterwai'd, and at intervals, until they are thor- 

 oughly gorged with honey. The bees are then to 

 be shaken off in the hive, and the queen dropped 

 right down among the helpless mass at the 



bottom, and the swarm deprived of their combs un- 

 til morning. If the weather is cool, put the cover 

 on as usual; if hot, put a chip under it to give more 

 air. The combs containing brood may be given to 

 another swarm to care for thi-ough the night. If 

 covered up warm, a strong swarm might cover 

 brood for half a dozen others. I return the combs 

 early in the morning, and let them alone for a few 

 days. 



C'a(t((y)t.— Before smoking th?m, see that there is 

 honey in all parts of the hive; if not, it must be 

 given them in soma way, as the bees must be made 

 to goi'ge themselves. This is essential to success. 



MV IMPROVE.MENT 



in the method of introducing queens, as given by 

 Mr. Doolittle. consists in applying the same to full 

 swarms by waiting until night, when all the bees 

 are at home, and also dispensing with the trouble- 

 some caging process. I give the following 



REASONS WHY I PREFER THIS METHOD 



of introducing queens, to anj^ way I have tried: 



First, I think it is the sui-est method extant. I 

 have never tried it with a case of laying workers; 

 but if I had the opportunity I would try it with a 

 good deal of confidence. I introduced queens this 

 fall to over a dozen heavy swarms, mostly vicious 

 hybrids, with perfect success, and that at a time 

 when robbers were bad and bees were cross, which 

 brings us to another reason. 



Second, It makes no diffei-ence how cross bees 

 are; in fact, during a dearth it seems easier to 

 make bees gorge themselves by the use of smoke, 

 and especially blacks and hybrids, which are the 

 class of bees generally operated on by the ABC 

 class. 



Third, This process brings about the same condi- 

 tions that exist during a flow of honey, but in a 

 greater degree; that is, all the bees are gorged; 

 and having no place to deposit their honey, wax 

 secretion is commenced by all hands; and after the 

 combs are returned, the cells will be lengthened 

 out with new white wax, even if it is during a time 

 when no honey is gathered. 



Fourth, It does not require the skill of an expert 

 to introduce queens by this method. Anybody who 

 knows how to make bees gorge themselves by the 

 use of smoke can succeed every time. I return 

 their combs early in the morning, and contract the 

 entrance, if robbers are bad, as, of course, they 

 would be in no condition to repel robbers until they 

 could disgorge some of their honey. Also, there is 

 no danger of thtir absconding when deprived of 

 their combs in the night time, even if they were in 

 condition to fly. Chalon Fowls, 42—90. 



Oberlin, O.. Nov. 16, 1885. 



The plan you mention, friend F., is not 

 new; in fact, 'it was given through the jour- 

 nals as much as ten years ago. Friend Al- 

 ley used to recommend tobacco smoke, in 

 place of smoke from rotten wood, because it 

 partly stupeiied them, and I frequently used 

 this plan for introducing queens, when I 

 failed to succeed by any other. I have often 

 made nuclei stop balling their queens, by 

 taking their combs away, and letting them 

 cluster on the sides of the empty nucleus 

 hives. The objection to it is, the a'mount of 

 time it takes, and the troublesome process 

 of shaking and brushing the bees off from 

 every comb. With a two-frame nucleus, of 

 course tliis does not amount to much ; but if 



