HONEY METHOD 117 



hives were opened and the colonies were somewhat disorganized 

 by the removal of the frames to find the old queens, but in every 

 case the new queen was accepted without accident. A few were 

 run in at the entrance after the hive had been closed again and 

 were followed by a puff of smoke, but the entrances were not 

 closed or even contracted, yet the results were as above stated. 

 Such results could not be obtained except under the most favor- 

 able conditions. The bees were simply too busy to attend to 

 anything but the storing of honey and the new queens attracted 

 no attention apparently. 



The value of a method can never be demonstrated until it 

 has been tried under many and varying conditions and especially 

 under adverse conditions. The smoke method is, as yet, not fully 

 vindicated, under general conditions. 



Water Method. — The American Bee Journal for March, 

 1915, contained the following method as practised by the South- 

 western Bee Co. : 



The procedure is as follows : Kill the old queen ; remove all frames 

 from the hive and shake into the bottom of the box with a sharp jar all the 

 bees possible. Sprinkle the mass of bees on the hive floor with water until 

 they are soaking wet. The secret of success is in the use of plenty of water ; 

 there is no danger of overdoing this part. Wet the new queen thoroughly 

 and put her on the pile of wet bees. Put back the combs into the hive and 

 the job is finished. We have been using this method for several seasons 

 and have found the method successful with virgins, with laying queens, and 

 with queens received in cages by mail. 



When honey is coming in, any time of the day will do for the work of 

 introducing, but in times of dearth it is better to wait until about an hour 

 before dark. 



The chief value of this method is that there is no time whatever lost 

 and the new queen is immediately accepted and ready to go to work. 



Honey Method. — Another plan based somewhat on the same 

 general principle is to drop the queen into a little dish of honey, 

 pushing her clear under. She will be so messed up that the bees 

 will immediately begin cleaning her up when she is placed in 

 the hive, apparently never dreaming that she is an alien. This 

 is anything but an attractive way to treat a valuable queen but 

 good reports are given by those who have tried it. It is hardly 



