SEPTEMBER 1, 1913 



595 



cage, some of them actually doing so, being 

 caught in the air, and some too old to be 

 readily accepted by the ordinary methods 

 of introducing. These were introduced by 

 the use of smoke, and in fifteen minutes the 

 grass was removed from the entrances as 

 has been described. Out of the twenty-three 

 virgins, twenty-three were safely introduc- 

 ed. The fact that the queens were virgins, 

 and old virgins at that, makes the test all 

 fhe more severe. Twentj'-one out of the 

 twenty-three virgins have been cheeked up 

 laying. These virgins evidently went out to 

 mate the day after being introduced. They 

 were checked up laying six days after be- 

 ing introduced. 



The advantage of the plan is in the sav- 

 ing of time and the elimination of the mail- 

 ing-cage — always a source of danger from 

 disease. In the case of laying queens in- 

 troduced by that method we have had them 

 laying in a few hours. Those same queens, 

 if introduced by the cage plan, could not 

 have been laying under 48 hours at least. 



Mr, Marchant believes that there is one 

 drawback in the plan; and that is in case 

 of, say, a four-frame nucleus in a full-size 

 hive. The great amount of space outside 

 the division-board furnishes a retreating- 

 place for the virgin if she is scared; and 

 when the hive clears of smoke the bees may 

 ball the virgin if she is sneaking around in 

 one of the remote corners of the empty 

 space. In a hive no larger than an ordinary 

 nucleus, so that the virgin must keep be- 

 tween the combs, there is little chance for 

 failure. 



Mr. Marchant says that he and his father 

 have used the plan enough in the South in 

 years past so that he can absolutely guar- 

 antee that the young queen is not injured 

 by the smoke. If a queen is rolled in hon- 

 ey, and then allowed to run in to be cleaned 

 off by the bees, she has a sleek gi'easy ap- 

 ])earance like an old queen, owing to the 

 fact that she has been literally licked by 

 the bees. Mr. Marchant thinks that nine 

 ciueens out of ten so introduced are likely 

 to be superseded in the fall. 



It might be well to suggest caution in 

 the use of the smoke method. Don't overdo 

 it. Too much smoke may permanently in- 

 jure the bees and the queen. 



WATER FOR BEES IN MAILING-CAGES AND FOR 



SHIPMENT BY EXPRESS; A BIG STRIDE 



IN ADVANCE. 



Our readers will remember that late last 

 summer we made the discovery that bees 

 could not be shipped without combs during 

 hot weather unless they were supplied with 

 water. When this was done the pound 



packages of bees would go through with the 

 loss of hardly a single bee. This year we 

 continued our experiments, and later on 

 will publish some hundred reiJorts showing 

 how we have sent bees from coast to coast, 

 from Maine to British Columbia, to extreme 

 points in the South, with the loss of only 

 about a dozen bees in three-i^ound pack- 

 ages. We recently shipped some 20 lbs. of 

 bees to British Columbia, with the loss of 

 only a few dozen bees. When it is remem- 

 bered that there are about 4500 bees to the 

 pound, and that the entire shipment aggi'e- 

 gated 135,000 bees, the ratio of loss is prac- 

 tically nil. 



In some shipments of pound packages 

 the water-bottles broke; and in other in- 

 stances, where the supply of water gave 

 out before arrival the bees either arrived all 

 dead or with only a few survivors. The use 

 of water in the shipment of bees by express 

 without combs has been so satisfactory that 

 we have been reviving the idea of using the 

 small water-bottle in mailing-cages for 

 queen-bees. Some of our older subscribers 

 will remember how over thirty years ago 

 A. I, Root was enthusiastic over the result 

 of his experiments in giving bees water in 

 the mailing-cages. We asked him to look up 

 his early article on the subject, and in Our 

 Homes for this issue is a reproduction of it. 



We have just begun the use of water in 

 mailing-cages for long distances. If it is 

 good for long express shipments, why 

 should it not be equally satisfactory for a 

 few bees sent by mail? 



Veiy recently we have been putting some 

 homeopathic glass vials, containing water, 

 over cages of bees in our office. The bottles 

 were first filled with water, after which a 

 small slit was made in the side of the cork, 

 when it was pushed down level with the 

 top of the bottle. This bottle was then in- 

 verted over the wire cloth of an ordinary 

 mailing-cage of bees. The bees were thus 

 enabled to run their tongues up in the slit 

 in the cork and drink to their fill. We found 

 that an ordinary cage of bees would use up 

 a little vial of water (about a tablespoon- 

 ful) every two weeks. So far we have been 

 able to keep bees thus watered for a whole 

 month, and at this writing they are as lively 

 as when we first put them up. We have 

 recently perfected a little tin box for hold- 

 ing water in a mailing-cage. This box is 

 circular, and just neatly fills one of the 

 candy holes. In the center is a small per- 

 foration through which bees can drink. 

 While we would not advocate the use of 

 water for short distances, yet for long dis- 

 tances we believe it will save the lives of a 

 good many hundreds and even thousands of 

 queens. 



