PtT^KANTNGS in BEK CULTURfi 



qaeen-cells once a week, involving excessive 

 labor in manipulating brood-chambers 

 heavy with supers as advocated by R. F. 

 Holtermann and others? or shall we prac- 

 tice dequeening with its deleterious effects 

 upon the working qualities of bees, likewise 

 involving excessive manipulation of brood- 

 chambers heavy with suj^ers, to detect signs 

 of swarming? I repeat it, Shall we resort to 

 the abnormal condition of queenlessness 

 with its psychological depression upon the 

 energies of bees, as advocated by Dr. Mill- 

 er? 



Is such excessive labor conducive to 

 economical honey production, the desidera- 

 tum of every method of beekeeping? Since 

 swarming is a natuial impulse, it is imper- 

 ative to combat it with purely natural prin- 

 ciples. Assuming that all preconstructed 

 queen-cells are supeisedure cells, the sup- 

 position is that their construction indicates 

 a desire for a young queen. This supposi- 

 tion becomes an established fact when the 



conect method of requeening eliminates 

 queen-cell construction with its attendant 

 evil " swarming." Here is the method, re- 

 quiring as much time to do it as to name it. 

 " Remove the queen and insert a ripe queen- 

 cell, removing cells while looking for the 

 queen." 



The story is told in sixteen words, and 

 the operation is performed in as many 

 minutes. If done with a strong colony at 

 the beginning of clover harvest, swarming 

 is i^rohibited by a combination of purely 

 natural forces; and the desire for a young- 

 queen being satisfied, the colony will work 

 with a vim and energy that denotes content- 

 ment and satisfaction — a psychological con- 

 dition that cannot be maintained by com- 

 bating nature by abnormal methods. I 

 might deliver a long discourse explaining 

 the philosophy of the pnnciple, whicli 

 might be only theorizing, hence 1 will only 

 say, " Try it and be convinced." 



Birmingham, Ohio. 



INTRODUCING A QUEEN BY DEMOKALIZATION 



BY A. ('. AMES 



A great deal has been writteri concerning 

 the introduction of queens; but yet little 

 has been said in supjjort of one of the best 

 methods in use, and that is the introduction 

 of a queen to one to three pounds of bees 

 which have been placed in an unnatural 

 condition. It is a well-known fact that 

 when bees are in a demoralized condition 

 one can do many things with them that 

 cannot be done otherwise. This way of 

 introduction may be varied to suit local 

 conditions. The main point is to have the 

 bees in an unnatural condition. 



The plan I favor is as follows. Shake 

 from one to three pounds of bees into an 

 empty hive. The bottom of the hive should 

 be fastened and the entrance stopped. To 

 keep the bees from freely leaving this hive 

 I usually wet the inside with water and 

 leave about a quarter-inch of water in the 

 bottom. Then, to make sure tliey are thor- 

 oughly demoralized, I put the cover on, 

 bump the hive on the ground, and give them 

 a good rough handling. 



Witii the la.st bum]) 1 land all tlie bees in 

 the bottom, lift the cover, and place several 

 combs in the hive, the number of combs 

 depending on the amount of bees used. I 

 now either run the queen in the entrance 

 or just throw her in among the bees in the 

 bottom of the hive. These bees are now 



either carried to an outyard and released, 

 or, if to be kept in the yard that the bees 

 came from, they are confined for two or 

 three days. 



It may look as if this is a whole lot of 

 work. It is more work than some other 

 methods, but the results are sure — at least 

 that is my experience. As a way of making- 

 increase after the main flow, it is excellent. 

 At that time there is always a lot of bees 

 wliich can well be spared for this purpose. 



When I wish to replace a poor queen I 

 usually try this method. After the queen 

 has started to lay I take brood from the 

 queen I am going to discard, and with the 

 help of the two c|ueens it is possible to 

 build the new colony to good strength very 

 quickly. 



Keep the j)oor (jueen at work until all 

 her hive makes a good place to go to get a 

 frame of brood when one is wanted, or her 

 stock can be used for further increase. At 

 the end of the season the remnant of her 

 colonj' can be used to strengthen some weak 

 colony foi" winter. In this way one gets the 

 full benefit of a queen which is going to be 

 discarded. Where one has several of these 

 queens in a yard their brood is a big help 

 in making increase or keeping the yard in 

 fii'st-class condition for sti'ength. 



Peninsula, Ohio. 



