1889 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



705 



in the honey-room, and was very fine. The ship- 

 ping-cases here were marked in colors, and with 

 the most tasty and attractive stencil designs we 

 have seen. 



The next apiary visited was that of B. W. Hall, a 

 few miles away. He is a manly and gentlemanly 

 young man, the son of a farmer. He keeps bees 

 because there is money in it, and not from any 

 special taste for it. He has 70 colonies in chaff 

 hives, with movable outer cases. He had in spring 

 53 colonies, and obtained :.'000 lbs. of honey, comb 

 and extracted, the former in 2-lb. sections. 



He has a honey-house similar to Mrs. Wolcott's, 

 though larger. After being courteously entertain- 

 ed here we made a call on Miss M. A. Douglas, well 

 known as the secretary of the Vermont Bee-keep- 

 ers' Association, and a successful lady bee-keeper. 

 Our time being limited, we were obliged to make a 

 hurried call. This lady had in spring 29 colonies; 

 increased to 34, and obtained TOO lbs. of honey in 

 2-lb. sections. Her comb honey was the finest ex- 

 hibited at the Bay State Fair, held in Springfield, 

 last fall, and was awarded first premium. She 

 commenced in 1883, and finds she can do most of 

 the work herself. When there is occasional lifting 

 or heavy work she calls on one better fitted to do it. 



We next visited the home yard of Mr. Holmes; 

 but as he was away we were obliged to postpone 

 our interview ; and instead of continuing our jour- 

 ney by rail we availed ourself of friend Larrabee's 

 hospitality another night. The next day both of us 

 dined with Mr. Holmes, and inspected his apiary; 

 and I must say that the finest and neatest prepared 

 sections of comb honey we have seen were at this 

 gentleman's place. In scraping sections he uses a 

 narrow-handled pocket-knife, with the thick blade 

 ground short and to a point. He is assisted in this 

 work by his wife and daughters. 



In the springof 1888 he had 92 colonies; increas- 

 ed to 100, and obtained 2200 lbs. of comb honey in one- 

 pound and half-pound sections, which are put on the 

 market both glassed and in paper cartons. He 

 uses the movable outer cases lor winter, though 

 somewhat different from those used by either 

 Crane or Manum. He packs beneath the colony al- 

 so. He uses the Langstroth size of frame, because 

 on it bees are more salable. The hives are painted 

 and numbered, and arranged in rows. Mr. Holmes 

 was at one time in the employ of Mr. Crane, and 

 partly follows his methods. He was formerly sec- 

 retary of the Vermont Bee-keepers' Association, 

 and is now its pres.dent. We found him well post- 

 ed and thoroughly practical. An opinion express- 

 ed was first carefully weighed. He is a professing 

 Christian, and, in our opinion, is a reliable man. 



After a profitable call and very satisfactory din- 

 ner here, friend Larrabee took us to the train, 

 where we took leave of him, hoping that we might 

 have an opportunity to return his favors, and feel- 

 ing that the bee-keeping world would hear from 

 him in the future. This winter he was elected sec- 

 retary of the Vermont Bee-keepers' Association, 

 Miss Douglas having resigned. We would whisper 

 aside, and in confidence to our friends, that, though 

 John is very kind and friendly, his hair is inclined 

 to be sandy, and it won't do to pull it roughly. 



Our next stop was with Mr. N. V. Forbes, a bee- 

 keeping farmer in West Haven. Having a good lo- 

 cation he has done well, and thinks some of renting 

 his land and attending to the bees. He had 75 colo- 

 nies, and a crop of 2(>0J lbs. of comb honey as the 



season's results. In 1887, from 80 colonies in two 

 yards he obtained 6IKH) lbs.; and in lswi, 80 lbs. per 

 colony. Mr. Forbes kindly took us to visit Mr. 

 Eugene Lee, of Benson, a neighboring bee-keeper, 

 and quite an extensive dairy farmer. Among 

 those bee-keepers we could not visit were V. V. 

 Blackmer, of Orwell; H.L.Leonard, of Brandon; 

 W. H. Proctor, Fair Haven, an.l many others. 



Mr. Blackmt r, a bee-keeper of ten years, has 100 

 colonies, which have paid their way from a small 

 commencement. Mr. Leonard has 100 colonies. 

 Some of the bee-keepers in the region have become 

 well off through their bees. 



Pawtucket, R. I. Samuel Cushman. 



To he continued. 



INTRODUCING. 



A METHOD OF INTRODUCING QUEENS TO FULL 



COLONIES, WITHOUT REMOVING A COMB OR 



EVEN OPENING THE HIVE. 



fHERE are many novices and others interest- 

 ed in bees who would buy a queen of a given 

 race or strain if they could only introduce 

 them in a simple and sure manner without 

 opening the hive after dequeening it. Then 

 there are the box-hive people and those careless 

 people who allow their bees to build crosswise on 

 the hanging frames, all of whom would buy queens 

 if they could be introduced with safety. There are 

 many who are afraid of their bees, and hardly dare 

 open the hives at all. A man wrote me recently, 

 saying, " I want a queen of your strain, but, to tell 

 the truth, I dare not introduce her. My bees are 

 very cross." 



My method of accomplishing this end is as fol- 

 lows: On the day the queen arrives, or before, go 

 to the hive where you wish to introduce her and de- 

 queen it, either by drumming out or removing the 

 frames. Adjust a small box-feeder, that can be 

 closed tight to the top of the hive, directly over 

 the combs, and so arranged that the bees can enter 

 the feeder directly from the brood. Give them 

 about a pint of thin syrup; close the hive and leave 

 it for 24 hours in this queenless condition. 



On the next day, about 4 o'clock, go to them with 

 the queen that was received the day before, and, 

 after turning in more of the feed, place the cage on 

 the float, so arranged that all the bees can cluster 

 over the screen-cloth on the cage, and " get ac- 

 quainted with her majesty," as Mr. Root terms it. 

 I do this so that the new queen, cage, and attend- 

 ants, may absorb the same odor as the hive, rather 

 than for acquaintance' sake, which I think is a 

 more correct way of putting it. 



After you make sure that the cage is above wa- 

 ter, and will remain there, and that you have left 

 plenty of room for the bees to pass over the cage, 

 close the hive, and leave them until about 9 o'clock 

 the next morning, when you will go to them again, 

 remove the cage, and turn back the wire cloth at 

 the provision end far enough to allow the queen to 

 pass. Plug this entrance full of candy; pour a lit- 

 tle syrup into the feeder, place the cage back on to 

 the float, and close the hive. Do not open again 

 for a week. 



The above is almost infallible. I have used it 

 two seasons successfully. I have allowed queens 

 to leave cages after the first 24 hours, with success. 



If robbing is rife, do all feeding at sundown, and 

 do not release the queen until after 4 o'clock. For 



