1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



499 



Bees to Go with Queens in Shipping. 



. BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



A correspondent wishes me to tell something about the 

 bees which should be placed io the shipping-cages with queens 

 which are to be sent through the mails, as he is about to em- 

 bark in the queen-business, and wants to know whether there 

 is any difference as to the age of the bees, or whether an 

 indiscriminate taking of them will answer every purpose; and 

 ends his letter by saying, " Please tell about these things in 

 the American Bee Journal." 



As I have made the sending of queens by mail a study for 

 many years, sending queens to all parts of the United States 

 and Canada, as well as to many foreign countries, where they 

 were from 12 to 50 days enroute, I will say that there is a 

 difference in regard to the bees that go with the queen, as I 

 have proven by the reports coming back to me. 



I have used bees that were all old, with very poor results. 

 Why these old bees were used was because in certain cases 

 where a colony had been some time queenless, and the brood 

 from the then laying queen had not hatched out, I was obliged 

 to use such bees as were in the colony at the time of taking 

 away the queen. In almost every instance where bees that 

 were over 30 days old were used, a report of " both bees and 

 queen were all dead, or " queen came alive, but all of her at- 

 tendants were dead," was the result. 



With very young bees I have had very little better success 

 than with old ones, the reasons for using these young, white, 

 fuzzy things being that at the time of the shipment of the 

 queen, her bees had only just begun emerging from their cells, 

 and being afraid to take the few very old bees which remained 

 in the hive, I used those just hatching. 



To illustrate more fully : A bee-keeper ordered three 

 queens, and after believing I had found out where the trouble 

 of loss in shipment occurred, I placed in one of the cages all 

 old bees to go with the queen. This cage was marked with a 

 private mark. My circular stated that I guaranteed the safe 

 arrival of all queens, on the condition that when the cage ar- 

 rived, the bees were to be carefully examined through the 

 wire cloth, and if the queen was dead, the cage was to be re- 

 turned to me with contents unmolested, when I would send 

 another queen. I made it thus, partly to guard against fraud, 

 but mainly so I could look into any failure on my part in 

 meeting the right requirements for perfect shipment, as I 

 could often find the clew to the failure, in the returned cage. 

 The candy part was the main trouble in former years ; but 

 that has been pretty much overcome by the queen candy now 

 made by mixing honey and powdered sugar together until a 

 right consistency is reached, so that the candy will neither 

 harden nor become so soft that it will " run " in the cage. From 

 this digression, by way of explanation, let us return to the 

 three cages. 



One was reported as arriving dead, and was returned, 

 while the other two came " without a dead bee." When the 

 returned cage arrived it had the private mark on it. 



Again, in early spring, I often have to use old bees, as 

 there is no choice left me when sending queens soon after the 

 bees have been put from the cellar, unless 1 take bees to go 

 with queens from hives which were wintered on the summer 

 stands, they having bees of right age. As it is some trouble 



to get these bees from another hive, and as such bees some- 

 times have a desire to worry a strange queen, I have some- 

 times taken the bees which have wintered over from the cel- 

 lared hives and sent them along ; but the loss has been so 

 great that I have resolved never to do it again. 



In cases of forming a nucleus with only young bees to re- 

 ceive a queen (as such very young bees will nearly always 

 accept any queen given them), and having an order for a 

 queen at about the same time, I have taken these young bees 

 to go with the queen, as well as in cases spoken of above, and 

 cages so sent with young bees and marked, have gone with 

 many dead bees, where they were not returned as altogether 

 dead. In this way I have watched results until I have found 

 that bees from 6 to 15 days old are the ones which stand the 

 journey best, especially if a long one, like going to California, 

 Washington, Northwest Canada, the West Indies, Sweden, 

 New Zealand, Australia, etc. Having learned what bees to 

 select, I now rarely lose more queens in going to these dis- 

 tant points, unless I except New Zealand and Australia, than 

 I did when the distance was 500 miles or less. 



In selecting bees I take those which have flown once or 

 more, and which are small and slim, and not those whose 

 bodies are distended with excrement, as all young bees that 

 have never flown are extended to a greater or less extent, with 

 the pollen consumed in their larval state. By a little careful 

 watching of bees as the days go by, after they emerge from 

 their cells, it is not difficult to tell the age of a bee, very 

 nearly at least, by its movement and color ; and in addition to 

 this we can be guided in our selection, on account of the bees 

 of about the right age to use in sending queens being the first 

 to thrust their heads into the cells of unsealed honey when 

 the frame on which they stand is being removed from the 

 hive. Beside this helping us to know which bees to select, 

 bees in this position are very easily picked off the combs, as 

 the wings stand out from the body. 



The item of having queens reach their destination in good 

 order every time is quite an important one to all who ever 

 think of sending or receiving a queen. So far this year, out 

 of the hundreds sent, I have not had a single report of one 

 going dead. 



Cure for Robbing — Laying Workers, Etc. 



BY S. A. DEACON. 



I don't know who it was that suggested some time ago in 

 the Bee Journal, painting about the flight-board and front of 

 the hive to stop robbing ; but whoever he was, he has proved 

 himself a benefactor of his species, and deserves the thanks of 

 the fraternity. I have just tried it with marked success. Will 

 others please report results of the application of this cure for 

 one of our worst ills ? for — and it is unaccountably strange — 

 what seems to succeed with one often fails with another. 



Getting Rid of Laying Workers. — The circumvention 

 of that curse — the laying worker — has hitherto been consid- 

 ered — judging from bee books and journals^a consummation 

 so difficult of attainment as to lead us to believe that the 

 game is hardly worth the candle. She — the laying worker — is 

 said to be non-amenable to any of the arts, dodges and devices 

 of the most skillful apiarist. We are told that laying workers 

 determinedly refuse to accept either queens or ceils, once they 

 have seized the reins of government. Seddon — in his "Bee- 

 Culture" — tells us that he has found an easy way of disposing 

 of them, viz.: " Insert two combs of hatching bees. Two days 

 after, give a frame of eggs and larvaj, and on the following 

 day introduce a queen, or give a queen-cell." Now, I think I 

 may say I have discovered a slightly more easy and expedi- 

 tious method of restoring the monarchical system ; it is this : 

 Dredge the "republic" well with flour, scented with — well 



