AMERICAN BEEl JOURNAL. 



209 



No one should attempt to introduce a 

 queen to any colony, unless they take 

 away the reigning queen at the time 

 they put in the new one, without first 

 trying the colony with unsealed brood to 

 see if they are really queenless. If 

 they build queen-cells on this brood, 

 they can know that they have no queen; 

 if not, then they may know that if they 

 tried to introduce a queen to that col- 

 ony without first finding and taking out 

 that which the bees are reverencing as a 

 queen, they will be certain of losing the 

 one they would have preside over the 

 colony. 



How shall we get the bees ofif the 

 queen-cells if we cannot shake the comb 

 to dislodge them? The way I manage 

 is as follows : 



If the day is warm, and robbers are 

 not bothersome, I take the frame from 

 the hive and set it near the entrance to 

 the hive, the same side up as it was when 

 in the hive. By the side of the frame I 

 set a basket or pail having two or three 

 thicknesses of soft cloth in the bottom 

 of it, when the bees are driven from the 

 cells by directing a stream of smoke on 

 the individual cell I wish to take first. 

 As soon as the bees have run off this 

 cell, it is cut off and carefully laid on 

 the cloth in the basket. Smoke is di- 

 rected to the next cell, when this is 

 treated as the first, and so on until all 

 are off. The bees are now shaken from 

 the comb, if the comb is to be used in 

 some other hive than the one from which 

 it came, but otherwise, the comb, bees 

 and all are set back in the hive. The 

 basket of cells are now carried where we 

 wish, with no injury to the cells in the 

 least. If too cool for this way of work- 

 ing, or robbers annoy, then proceed like 

 this: 



After taking the frame from the hive, 

 and setting it down in front of the en- 

 trance to the hive right side up, blow 

 smoke on the bees which are on the 

 comb, in such volumes that it will cause 

 them to fill themselves with honey, and 

 while they are doing so, close the hive. 

 When the hive is closed, smoke is again 

 poured upon them to such an extent 

 that the most of the bees will run into 

 the hive, when the remainder are brush- 

 ed off with a large quill taken from a 

 turkey's wing, the same having the 

 feather on the wide part of it trimmed 

 down half way, so that it will take the 

 bees off easily without irritating them, 

 as is the case where the untriramed quill 

 s used ; for then the bees will get in the 

 same and sing and sting until a general 

 uproar is often caused. 



If the bees are loth to leave the comb. 



and run into the hive from smoking, the 

 whole of them can be brushed off, but be 

 sure they have filled themselves with 

 honey before you undertake to brush off 

 so many bees, unless you are willing to 

 stand many stings, for the bees around 

 queen-cells will fight with a vengeance 

 equal to a tiger's when being robbed of 

 her cubs, unless the precaution is taken 

 to coax them to fill themselves with 

 honey. 



If the weather is cool, and the cells 

 are to be placed at once in different 

 hives, it is a good plan to take the bees 

 along with the cells, so as to keep them 

 warm, when, with a little smoke, drive 

 the bees off the cell you wish, so that 

 they will be out of the way while you 

 take it off the comb. 



After the cells are all off, then the 

 bees can be shaken off the comb at the- 

 entrance of the hive, the same as fromi 

 any other frame. 



This latter way of not trying to get. 

 the bees off until after the cells are re- 

 moved, is good at any time where the 

 cells are to be placed in different hives 

 about the apiary at once, but where you 

 use a queen-nursery, or for any reason 

 wish to keep the whole away from the 

 bees for an indefinite period of time, 

 then the bees must be gotten off the 

 comb. 



I have written this out at length so 

 that even a novice could understand, as 

 the secret of honey-production lies very 

 largely in good queens ; while it is very 

 easy to spoil the good qualities of queens 

 by an injudicious handling of the cells 

 in taking them away from the bees. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



A Few Motes anJ Comineiils. 



Written lor tlwAvierlcan Bee Journal 



BY DR. C. C. MILLER. 



Speaking of Rev. Anderson with his 

 35 colonies (page 135) reminds me that 

 in Germany the ranks of bee-keepers are 

 largely filled by the clergy. Teachers, 

 however, abound. In a list of 89 Ger- 

 man bee-keepers before me, 13 are 

 teachers. 



TRANSLATIN& ITALIAN. 



So Dr. Peiro translates Italian (page 

 135). Good. Good queens come from 

 Italy, and some good ideas. It always 

 aggravates me to be able to make out 

 just enough of Italian to know there's 

 something in L'ApicoUore I think I'd 

 like to read, and can't. That paper 



