1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



789 



his dollar each year. We must stop this haggling over minor 

 differences and go to work upon the main question. With the 

 old societies amalgamated upon a new and desirable basis, and 

 the right kind of a manager right on the spot ready for busi- 

 ness, success will be assured. The journals will take up the 

 matter and do all in their power to make it a success. As the 

 rank and file see that the leaders mean business, they will be 

 eager to join, and everything will go with a yo to it. 



And now comes a phase that is not exactly pleasant. 

 Gleanings suggests that it may be necessary to elect a new 

 Manager, as Mr. Newman is now so far from the base of 

 operations. With the old constitution, and headquarters in 

 Chicago, there is no question but what Mr. Newman was most 

 decidedly the right man in the right place. It is doubtful if 

 there is another man in the United States that could have 

 done so well as he did. Let us not forget that. But with Mr. 

 Newman in California it is a case of the right man in the 

 wrong place. The great center of bee-keeping and honey 

 dealing is in Chicago, and it is in or near Chicago that the 

 Manager should live. He should certainly be near enough to 

 reach Chicago quickly and cheaply. 



But I have said enough. If any one thinks that the course 

 that I have mapped out is not desirable, let him give his rea- 

 sons fairly and courteously, but fearlessly, and they will be 

 considered in the same manner. Genesee Co., Mich. 



Introducing Queens with Tobacco Smoke. 



BY DR. E. GALLUP. 



I have received five letters requesting me to be more com- 

 prehensive in my plan of introducing queens with tobacco 

 smoke, etc. 



I received a queen Oct. 20, just at night, too late to hunt 

 up the queen where I was to introduce her, and I had to be 

 away the following afternoon, and robber-bees would be on 

 hand if I introduced in the forenoon. I am pestered con- 

 stantly with black bees from somewhere, either in a tree or 

 some building. They are evidently in a starving condition, 

 judging by their actions. When I go out with the smoke they 

 are on a watch for a chance for mischief, and when I open a 

 hive they are ready to pounce in. So I cut out a strip of board 

 the length of the width of the hive, and 2 inches wide, then 

 cut out % of au inch from one side the length of the entrance ; 

 tack on a strip of wire-netting, so that when this ventilating 

 strip was placed over the entrance the wire would come down 

 tight on the bottom-board, so that bees could neither get in 

 nor out of the hive. 



With a gimlet I bored a hole in each end of the strip for 

 the nails, so I could quickly fasten it over the entrance. I 

 cut out this notch in the strip %, so it would be larger and 

 deeper, and then the bees could not choke up the entrance and 

 smother. A wider ventilating strip for a powerful colony, 

 so that one could cut out one or two inches to cover with the 

 wire screen, might be advisable. But the colony that I was 

 operating on was only in medium strength. 



I went to town for tobacco stems in the evening, but the 

 cigar-factory was closed. But in front of the hatch I picked 

 up a pocketful of cigar-stubs. Now I was ready for business. 

 Early in the morning I picked the old queen out of the 

 hive without disturbing the bees but a mere trifle; closed the 

 hive, and tacked on the ventilator, and only had three bees on 

 the outside. Previous to this, and before daylight, I had 

 taken the queen out of the shipping-cage and placed her in a 

 little round wire-cage. I cut up some of the cigar-stubs quite 

 fine, and rolled them in a piece of cotton-cloth ready for light- 

 ing. I had my teacup of honey and a spoon on hand ready to 

 drop the queen in when wanted. 



I placed the old queen in the shipping-cage, with five or 

 six of the workers that came with the new queen (as I was to 

 give her to a neighbor) ; lighted the tobacco, placed it in the 

 smoker, and when I had it well going I puffed about /our good 

 puffs in through the screen at the entrance in four different 

 places, so as to have the smoke thoroughly penetrate between 

 each comb. I waited about one minute, took the queen out 

 of my pocket, dropped her into the teacup of honey, by hold- 

 ing the mouth of the cage close to the honey, then suddenly 

 jarring with the other hand so as to have her drop into the 

 honey without a chance to fly. I rolled her over, removed the 

 cover of the hive, and dropped the queen and spoonful of 

 honey into the center of the hive, replaced the cover, and 

 placed a large blanket over the hive so as to make all dark, 

 and so the robbers could not congregate on the outside of the 

 ventilator. 



The whole performance from the time I opened the hive 

 to find the queen and introduce the new one, did not occupy 



over 1.5 minutes. You must remember that cigar-stubs are 

 very strong, therefore we must use only in proportion to 

 the strength of the tobiioco. I usually use tobacco stems. 

 Then we have to smoke a little longer. All the bees must be 

 stupefied. It is not necessary to smoke the queen. I roll her 

 in the honey to prevent her from flying. 



Before I left home in the afternoon I removed the blanket 

 and the ventilator at the entrance of the hive, and the bees 

 went to work as though nothing had happened. And I am 

 inclined to think that the bees do not even discover that their 

 queen has been changed, while they were on their drunk, for 

 the fumigation makes them act very much like a drunken 

 man, and the change is made so quickly that they have had 

 no chance to discover the loss of their former queen. But this 

 I do know, that I never have lost a queen by introducing with 

 tobacco smoke, and by this last performance I have solved 

 the problem, so that I can beat the robbers every time. 



In extremely hot weather it might be advisable to place 

 screening over a part or all of the top of the hive. Always 

 use a little common sense, and then you are all right. 



I think I have made the above so plain that the merest 

 novice can comprehend it. It might be well enough for a 

 novice to roll the queen in the honey inside of some room. 



Orange Co., Calif. 



The Importation of Apis Dorsata Encouraged. 



BV PROF. A. J. COOK. 



It was with much surprise that I noted the discussion at 

 the Lincoln convention, the resolution there adopted, and the 

 replies in a late number of the American Bee Journal as to 

 the advisability of the importation by the United States Gov- 

 ernment of Apis dorsata into our country. It seems to me 

 that there is a lack of enterprise shown in this matter by a 

 large number who have recently spoken. I have wondered 

 whether a prejudice against one of the employees of the Agri- 

 cultural Department at Washington might not be at the foun- 

 dation of this prejudice. I believe that every bee-keeper of 

 our country would say that the early action of our Government 

 in securing the Italian bee was a piece of undoubted wisdom. 

 The officials of California, in conjunction with the Department 

 of Agriculture at Washington, went to Australia and imported 

 some little beetles, and thus secured untold benefit to our 

 State. Such enterprises are very little likely to be under- 

 taken by private individuals ; and it seems to me that if Gov- 

 ernment is ever warranted in coming to the assistance of the 

 people it is in just such projects as these. I have always been 

 of the opinion that it would be excellent policy for the Gov- 

 ernment to introduce Apis dorsata. I have read very care- 

 fully all the comments I have seen upon this enterprise, and 

 as yet I have seen nothing that changes my mind regarding 

 the matter. 



The late Dr. C. V. Riley came to me some years ago, at 

 Lansing, Mich., where I was then residing, and asked me 

 what I thought the Government could best do to further the 

 interest of bee-keepers. The first thing I stated in answer to 

 his question was regarding the importation of Apis dorsata. I 

 told him that a good many of our people believed that we 

 might secure valuable results if this bee were brought to our 

 country ; that the enterprise was too gigantic for individual 

 effort ; and that it seemed to me that this was just the work 

 that the Government ought to undertake. 



He next questioned me as to the method to be pursued in 

 its accomplishment. I suggested that Prank Benton had 

 already made an effort to secure these bees, and had almost 

 succeeded ; that he was now in Europe engaged in bee-culture, 

 especially the rearing and shipping of queen-bees; that he 

 had invented the most successful shipping-cage ; and that if 

 there was anything in experience and long study, he certainly 

 must be admirably fitted for just such work. Mr. Benton was 

 very soon employed by the Agricultural Department, where he 

 has been working ever since, I understood from Dr. Riley 

 that through some technical ruling, this project of the intro- 

 duction of these bees was held in obeyance. 



In an article which I wrote on this subject for the bee- 

 periodicals some time ago, I considered this matter very much 

 in the same light as that presented to Dr. Riley in the conver- 

 sation mentioned above. I again said that it seemed to me 

 that Mr. Benton should be the proper man to send if any such 

 quest was attempted. I think no one will doubt that Mr. 

 Benton's experience should be very valuable in case any such 

 attempt was made- 

 It is greatly to be regretted that since the St. Joseph 

 North American Bee-Keepers' convention there has been a 

 serious rupture between Mr. Benton and the leading bee- 

 keepers of our country, which has led ^many of the latter to 



