582 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



I think closing' the entrance is a mistake. 

 I never have done it, and am sure it is not 

 part of the Simmins method. 



3. Then, again, in the A B C you say, 

 " This will work safely in many cases ; but 

 we are sure there are some conditions wliere 

 it does not." And now at once, as a com- 

 parison to the above, let me quote from Mr. 

 Simmins' book, 1904 edition, page 289, an 

 extract he gives from Mr. F. Cheshire's 

 work on bees : 



" Following up the question, I tried many 

 dozens of experiments, and found tliat by 

 Mr. Simmins' method it was quite easy, and 

 not only to introduce, but to get one queen 

 to lay in half a dozen distinct hives in a 

 single week. . . . My trials have, I believe, 

 embraced almost every supposable difficulty 

 and variation in season and in the condition 

 of the stocks, and show the system to be 

 practically perfect Direct introduc- 

 tion as taught by Mr. Simmins has saved 

 me queens, time, and anxiety, and I feel 

 pleasure in expressing my indebtedness." 



From the above it appears Mr. Cheshire's 

 unqualified praise of the system is based on 

 exhaustive experiments. Can you tell us 

 whether the above rather discouraging quo- 

 tation from the A B C is similarly based on 

 practice, or is it merely supposition or 

 opinion of the authors'? It reads as though 

 it were merely an opinion. 



Here are the directions in the author's 

 words : 



" The three things of importance to be 

 observed are so follows : 



" 1. Keep the queen quite alone for not 

 less than 30 minutes. 



" 2. She is to be without food meanwhile, 



" .3, and to be allowed to run down from 

 the top of the frames, after darkness has 

 set in, by lamplight. It is also important 

 that the same receptacle be not used twice 

 over for holding the queen during the thirty 

 minutes' probation without being first scald- 

 ed or otherwise cleansed. Of course, a metal 

 cage is easily made clean, though there is 

 no objection to the cheap * Safety ' match- 

 boxes so commonly in use, as there is noth- 

 ing obnoxious about this kind. . . Caution : 

 Make no examination after inserting the 

 queen, until 48 hours have expired. 



" The above meets all requirements, 

 whether the colony has been long or only a 

 short time queenless, if it has brood or not, 

 or queen-cells in any stage of development. 

 It is also applicable to any season of the 

 year." 



In conclusion I will add three hints from 

 my own experience: 



1. Have a good lamp so as to be sure the 



queen actually goes down between two 

 frames. 



2. Take the smoker lighted just to keep 

 back the bees that come out when the mat is 

 lifted. 



3. Make a rule of running the queen be- 

 tween two central combs in case the bees are 

 not clustering at the corners of the hives, 

 and only just uncover the ends of the 

 frames so as to give room to run the queen 

 down comfortably ; don't pull all the mat off 

 and make a disturbance. Do it all as quiet- 

 ly as possible. Use very little smoke, just 

 to prevent the bees coming out and getting 

 crushed when you adjust the mat again. 

 Work as if you were in a room with a 

 sleeping baby who must not be awakened. 



Blenheim, N. Z., March 20. 



[Your whole plea in favor of the Simmiu.s 

 method of introducing is based on a mis- 

 understanding of an unfortunate wording 

 which, we are frank to admit, might be 

 construed to mean closing the entrance of 

 the hive. It certainly was not so meant by 

 us. What we intended to convey was that 

 the hive should be closed up, meaning put- 

 ting on the cover and not opening it up nor 

 disturbing again for 48 hours. You have 

 the idea that we intended the entrance 

 should be closed. We are not sure that Mr. 

 Miller received the same impression. If he 

 had he would have called attention to the 

 error. This language has been used in two 

 different editions of the ABC and X Y Z 

 of Bee Culture, and yet no one hitherto has 

 read it as you do, unless it was, perhaps, A. 

 C. Miller, as implied in his footnote. We 

 will see that there is no ambiguity in our 

 next edition. 



You object to the word of caution where- 

 in we state that the plan " is not one that 

 we would recommend in the case of a val- 

 uable queen, or in any event to a beginner." 

 Perhaps as time goes on we may modify our 

 opinion. We are always open to conviction. 

 But the sentence in question was not based 

 on theory nor prejudice, as you surmise. 

 We referred the matter at the time to the 

 experienced men in our yards who had tried 

 it faithfully. It would work with them, and 

 we u.sed it to a considerable extent ; but we 

 have lost queens by it, and yet we followed 

 Mr. Simmins' directions to the letter; nor 

 did we close tlie entrance, as 5'ou imply, 

 for 48 hours. Further experience with the 

 method might modify the change in the 

 language, although it has stood thus through 

 two different editions. 



You have, perhaps, overlooked the fact 

 that we do a busine.«s of introducing queens, 

 day in and day out, on a larger scale, per- 



J 



