208 



THE BEE KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



ter should then change its constitution so 

 that it would hold annual meetings at which 

 all questions pertaining to bee culture conld 

 be discussed. We would then have the con- 

 dition of things at which I am aiming. This 

 may not be the best way to bring it about, 

 and the suggestion is made more as an illus 

 tration than anything else. 



Personally, I have no interest in this mat- 

 ter ; that is, I have no selfish, personal ends 

 in view. It seemed to me that the proposed 

 union would be advantageous to the members 

 of both organizations, and I have brought it 

 up for discussion. It is quite likely that the 

 question will be brought up at the coming 

 meeting of the North American, and it would 

 be well that it be most thoroughly discussed 

 in the journals before that meeting takes 

 place. The Review will be glad to receive 

 communications on the subject— especially 

 would it like to hear from members of the 

 Union. 



Keeping Bees in Large Box Hives as 

 Breeders. 



The idea has been advanced that ewarms 

 might be hived in shallow boxes and worked 

 for comb honey — worked in such a manner 

 as to get the greatest possible quantity of 

 surplus, regardless of the condition in which 

 the colonies might be left. If they were not 

 fit for wintering, why, kill them and appro- 

 priate their little store of honey and wax. 

 Now comes Mr. Jno. F. Gates in the Am. 

 Bee-Keeper advising us to have an acre or 

 two of great, big, tall box hives as breeders. 

 Well, here is what he says : — 



" Now suppose you had an acre, or say 

 even 200 tall hives of bees, 2H inches high, 

 just for breeders. They would live sure, with 

 all that white honey in them, that is the 

 point they would live, and out doors too. 

 You would bore two holes, about inch holes, 

 in or on top the hives and put a loose box 

 over them. This must be done sure, leave 

 the entrance open as in summer. Mine 

 don't rob, they are all so powerful. I say if 

 you had them you would not need to look at 

 them during the whole year, only to catch 

 their swarms and juit them in small hives, 

 say seven or eight inches high, and worked 

 for comb honey for all there is in them un- 

 til fall, and then take them up, or have an 

 auction and sell them, or do what you please 

 with them, I say yon would not call me 

 cranky when you saw your thousjinds of 

 pounds of, — oti such wJiile honey, for you 

 put the swarms from your l)reeders into 



empty hives to work them each year, and 

 how can your honey be travel stained ? It 

 can't, it is beauty itself. Managed in this 

 way the thing goes right on each year, same 

 as your dairy, and with not much more loss 

 of colonies than cows. Now please don't 

 commence to worry, for when we all get at 

 it in this way, there will be 100 colonies 

 where only one is now. Every farmer will 

 have as big a patch of bees as he now has 

 ' taters.'" 



Introdacing Queens. 



Introducing queens in such a way as to 

 leave the colony queenless several days is 

 usually wholly unnecessary and not advisa- 

 ble. Unless a colony is kept queenless long 

 enough to build and seal over cells, the 

 chances of the queen's acceptance decreases 

 as the time of queenlessness lengthens. The 

 sooner the new queen can be released after 

 the old one is removed the better. Here 

 is something on this subject from the Ameri- 

 can Bee Journal. It was written by E. T. 

 Abbott. 



" I put the new queen in the cage on the 

 colony to which she is to be introduced and 

 leave her there for two or three days, paying 

 no attention to the old queen. At the end of 

 that time I huntouttheold queen, pinch her 

 head off, turn back the wire so the bees can 

 get at the candy and release the new queen, 

 and then close up the hive as quickly as pos- 

 sible, and let it alone for two or three hours. 

 Presto ! the old queen is out, the new one is 

 in, and very little time has been lost. After 

 I think sufficient time has elapsed for the 

 bees to release the queen and get quiet, wise 

 or otherwise, I invariably examine the col- 

 ony and see that everything is all right. Tn 

 years of experience of this kind I have never 

 had a colony ' ball ' a queen because the hive 

 was opened. If 1 find on examination that 

 they are disposed to mistreat her majesty, I 

 put her back into the cage, close the en- 

 trance with a chunk of honey, give the bees 

 a good smoking, and let them eat h'-r out 

 again, which gent^rally ends all trouble." 



I agree with Bro. Abbott in all the above 

 except as to the desirability of an early ex- 

 amination after the queen has been released. 

 I think that the disposition to mistreat her 

 majesty frequently results from opening the 

 hive l>efore she is really settled down and at 

 home. She is easily frightened and runs, 

 perhaps " squeals," in her fright, and this is 

 a signal for a ball of excited bees to gather 

 about her — in short, to "ball" her. Had 

 the hive been left undisturbed until she was 

 fairly installed as its mistress, such pro- 

 ceedings would never have been commenced. 

 In my earlier bee-keeping days I had con- 

 siderable trouble in this line until I learned 

 better. 



