MARCH 1, 1915 



yet 1 will have no quairel willi the fellow 

 wlio wants to winter four (or twenty-foui'. 

 for that matter) in the one ease. 



• • » 



Candy-makers tell me that it is a neces- 

 sity to have a candy-thermometer in order 

 to be sure of having a uniform product one 

 time with another; and in this connection I 

 might say that, only a few days ago, we 

 received 25 pounds of candy made specially 

 for bee feed, from one of the large confec- 

 tionary firms in Toronto. This can be bongiil 

 for about 10 cts. per lb.; and if it is as 

 good as I have been told it is, I would rather 

 pay that price than make it myself. With 

 J. E. Crane I think candy-feeding is more 

 of a fad than any thing else, and I seldom 

 have any need of it since good syrup an- 

 swers all my purposes nicely when bees are 

 short of natural stores. 

 « * * 



On page 46, Jan. 15, old covers are men- 

 tioned as used for alighting-boards in front 

 of those big cases shown on the cover page. 

 I'll tell you something better than that, at 

 least for our locality, where snow and ice 

 pile around the winter cases during winter. 

 Have no board in front at all, and leave a 

 ]>erfectlj- straight hive-front right down to 

 tl'.e ground. With a sloping board up to 

 entrance, snow and ice, particularly the 

 latter, will often be likely to give trouble, 

 and T find the straight front very much 

 preferable. Of course the hive-stand fills in 

 I space directly under the front of the cases, 

 '^ so that there is no danger but that chilled 

 bees can crawl up just as w-ell as they could 

 with a regular alighting-board. 

 « • » 



F. M. Baldwin aslvs on page 67, Jan. 15, 

 if any one has had experience in introducing 

 queens by first daubing them with honey 

 and then placing them right with the bees. 

 Like many other new( ?) ideas this one is as 

 " ohl as tiie hills," as they say. I remember 

 seeing my grandfather do this when I was 

 but a wee kiddie. T have used the plan once 

 in a while myself, generally when coming 

 across a queenless colony at an outyard, and 

 when I had a queen to introduce and wa.s in 

 ■a hurry. As nearly as I can remember cor- 

 rectly I have an idea that as good results 

 were obtained on the average as with any 

 other plan; but it always seemed a rather 

 inussy way in which to treat a nice queen. 

 After all, it might be as good as any way 

 yet given, and no one can say but that the 

 plan is easy. There is no danger of the 

 beekeeper not following directions implicit- 

 ly, and tliinking he knows better than the 

 originator. 



Tlie i)ush-in-the-comb-cage method of in- 

 troducing queens, page 922, Dec. 1st, is as 

 '' old as the hills," but nevertheless one of 

 the surest plans ever given to the public. 

 My grandfather used the plan at least forty 

 years ago — probably longer, and some of 

 the original wii-e cages are still to be found. 

 He made the cages larger than those com- 

 monl}' used, many of them being from four 

 to six inches square. We always aimed to 

 squeeze in the sides of the cage so that 

 honey and hatching brood would be cov- 

 ered. Tn a day or two scores of young bees 

 would be hatched and free with the queen; 

 and I have often found every available 

 erajjty cell filled with eggs before the queen 

 was alloAved to run at large. But, good as 

 the plan is, we rarely use it now unless we 

 wish to be very careful about a particular 

 queen. Why? Simply because of quite a 

 lot of work; and I am afraid that this 

 feature, coupled with some other objections, 

 will cause the plan to be rejected by most 

 amateurs, even if it is recommended, instead 

 of those methods of introduction now in 

 vogue. The queen must be taken out of the 

 cage. Most beginners will dread that oper- 

 ation to start with. Even when working in 

 a closed room, which is imperative, now and 

 then a queen will get away from the cage to 

 the window, even if slie does not happen to 

 get behind some furniture. This means 

 catching the queen, and this operation is 

 again dreaded by very many, as, in their 

 eagerness not to hurt her, they are all the 

 more likely to do so owing to nen'ousness. 

 Then the comb of brood and honey must be 

 taken from the colony. Many amateurs 

 would dread that operation too. The queen 

 must be placed on one side of the comb 

 alone, and then the cage must be placed over 

 her, the sides of the cage being pressed into 

 the comb right to the septum if one wishes 

 to avoid having the bees liberate the queen 

 too soon. In pressing the comb in I have 

 known it to be done so forcibly that the 

 cage would " press " the queen to death, 

 especially if the comb used was a very old 

 one and tough with many cocoons. 



Assuming that all the foregoing difficul- 

 ties have been overcome efTecfively, in three 

 or four days it wnll be necessary to examine 

 the comb; and if the queen is not already 

 released, punch a hole from the opposite 

 side of the comb or lift tlie edge of the cage. 

 All these details are given to back up my 

 contention tliat the method will never be 

 accepted by the majority of those who buy 

 queens when other plans, although not as 

 uniformly successful, are fairly reliable and 

 much more easy to practice. 



