520 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



CHINAMEN AND BEES. 



It is interesting to see Chinamen 

 picking berries vvlien they are thus 

 covered with bees. Tliey are terribly 

 afraid of bees, and of course the bees 

 are not in a stinging mood wlien in 

 quest of food. Chinamen do all the 

 berry-picking hereabiiuts, and though 

 tliey are always on the lookout for 

 bees, still they get hold of an occa- 

 sional one vvhich resents the pressure 

 of their fingers by giving the celestial 

 a gentle touch with their " business 

 end," which makes .John fairly howl 

 with pain. 



We did at one time expect the Can- 

 ning Company would institute pro- 

 ceedings against us for damage caused 

 by our bees in damaging its crop, but 

 it would no doubt have a hard time 

 to prove the ownership of the bees, 

 as so many other iiersons also keep 

 them in tliis vicinity. We are told 

 that at the cannery above named, 

 which is tlie largest in the State, mill- 

 ions of bees congregate about the 

 fruit when it is being pared and 

 placed in the cans, preparatory to 

 cooking; also, that the bees gather 

 around and under the tables, boxes, 

 barrels, etc. They are no doubt an- 

 noying to the help, many of whom 

 are girls and women. To get rid of 

 them, the employes turn on a Jet of 

 steam which soon kills them ; but 

 the dead bees sting all the same, and 

 many get " put up " with the fruit. 



This subject is an important one to 

 bee-keepers, and we shall be likely to 

 study it up and report later in the 

 season. One thing is certain, and 

 that is, bees do not trouble fruit when 

 they can gather nectar from tlowers. 

 In this State other insects are far 

 more damaging to the fruit crop than 

 bees are. 

 North Temescal,*o Calif. 



The illustration shows tlie arrange- 

 ment. The cage is represented at- 

 tached to a section of the top-bar of a 

 brood-frame. I use these cages for 

 hatchmg cells or for introducing 

 queens. I call them the "combina- 

 tion nursery and introducing cage." 

 A represents the aperttne in which a 

 queen-cell is placed. The food (sugar 

 and honey) is placed in apei ture B, 

 to prevent the bees from injuring a 

 cell when placed in the cage, or from 

 eatmg out the food, a tin slide C or 

 cap IS provided. When a queen is to 

 be introduced, the slide is removed 

 from the sug,ir, and in the course of a 

 tew hours the bees clean out the food, 

 and the queen is easily, quickly and 

 successfully introduced. The hive 

 should not be opened again for a 

 week at least after the queen is in- 

 troduced. When it is opened, remove 

 only the centre comb, and if eggs are 

 found in that one, you may be sure 

 that tlie queen is all right, even 

 should the queen not be seen. 



One point in this connection 1 wish 

 to speak about : JSlr. L. C. Root is 

 credited with the statement that a 

 shipping cage should not be used for 

 an introducing cage. I was much 



For the American Boo Journal. 



Introducing, Finding ftueens. etc. 



HENRY ALLEY. 



There are hundreds of inexperi- 

 enced bee-keepers who would pur- 

 chase queens were thev sure of in- 

 troducing them without loss. The 

 very nature of my queen-rearing busi- 

 ness has led me to experiment largely 

 in order to- discover some absolutely 

 safe method for introducing both fer- 

 tile and unfertile queens without loss 

 At last I have a plan by which I am 

 successful in every case. The condi- 

 tions are : First, the colony to be re- 

 queened should be queenless three 

 days, then have at hand a small 

 wooden cage 2"^ inches long, lU 

 inches wide, and >,; of an inch thick. 

 \V ith an inch bit make a iiole through 

 the cage so that the outer edge will 

 be % of an inch from the end of the 

 block. By so doing one end of the 

 latter will be left solid. Now, with a 

 % inch bit make two other apertures 

 ill the edge of the block ; one throuo-h 

 into the large hole, so that a queen- 

 cell can be inserted or a queen jilaced 

 in the cage, the other aperture should 

 be made nearly through the block 

 and connected (by cutting out a small 

 piece) with the large opening. 



.surprised when I read the statement 

 in the Ammcan AffHculturist, and 

 could not believe that it was made by 

 Mr. Root. In theory that statement 

 is important, but in practice it is of 

 no value. JNIany of our breeders are 

 shipping hundreds of queens in the 

 cages intended to be used to introduce 

 the queen in— in which she is shipped. 

 Very few queens are lost in this way, 

 if the statements are correct that 

 come to us. Queens are lost in in- 

 troducing because the proper time is 

 not allowed a colony to remain queen- 

 less before introducing a strange 

 queen. Three days is about right. I 

 see that Mr. James lleddon is of the 

 same opinion. It has been my prac- 

 tice for 20 years to introduce no 

 queens except as above. As to the 

 scent, it will require but a moment to 

 scent the new cage, queen, and the 

 whole colony. 



It will be seen that the cage de- 

 scribed will, according to Mr. Root, 

 be just the thing, and the difficulty he 

 speaks of in introducing (pieenswill 

 be obviated entirely, as these cages 

 remain permanently in the hive, and 

 while the strange queen is confined in 

 the cage, she would become thoroughly 

 scented with the same odor that 

 permeates the colony. If this cage is 

 to be used to hatch queen-cells in, it 



may be placed near the top-bar. and 

 apertures made in the bar to corres- 

 pond with .those in the cage. 



Formerly in introducing qeeens we 

 placed the cage in one of the bottom 

 corners of the frame. The work of 

 introducing a queen requires but a 

 few moments. Of the hundreds of 

 queens we introduce every month, of 

 both fertile and virgins (many of the 

 later are two weeks old wheii intro- 

 duced), none are lost where the col- 

 ony is left queenless three days. If 

 introduced within 48 hours, about 2-5 

 per cent, will be lost, whether fertile 

 or virgin queens are used. 



HOW TO FIND A QUEEN IN A FULL 

 COLONY. 



Another thing deters many bee- 

 keepers from procuring queens. It is 

 very dilficult for an inexperienced 

 hand to find a queen in a large colony. 

 I will give one or two methods that 

 may please the novice. First, blow 

 smoke in at the entrance, and drum 

 lightly on the sides of the hive ; this 

 will alarm the bees when they will 

 fill with honey. In the course of 8 or 

 10 minutes raise the honey-board or 

 mat and examine it to see if the 

 queen is there. I can usually find 

 them in that way. If not found, re- 

 move the comb that can be drawn out 

 the easiest, and examine that, and if 

 the queen is not found, place the 

 comb in an empty hive, and do so 

 until all have been examined or the 

 queen found. If not found on the 

 combs, examine the bees in the hive. 

 If not found there, look the combs 

 over again, and replace them in the 

 original hive. If after all that trouble 

 the queen is not found, place one of 

 Jones' bee-guards or a drone-trap at 

 the entrance of an empty hive, and 

 shake the bees from all the combs in 

 front of it. The bees will all pass 

 through the perforations in the zinc 

 while the queen and drones will be 

 left outside, when the queen may be 

 easily found and caged. 



The above is intended for the novice 

 and inexperienced bee-keeper. The 

 expert is not obliged to resort to such 

 methods to find a queen. 



In case the colony has a virgin 

 queen (and by tlie way when this is 

 the case, the expert has considerable 

 trouble to find a queen, and the novice 

 would experience more trouble and 

 vexation than he would to find a 

 dozen fertile queens), the best way to 

 find her would be to go to some hive 

 having a fertile queen and get about 

 a pint of bees, and place them in the 

 hive having the virgin queen. 



In the course of an hour the virgin 

 queen will be found (balled) with 

 about 100 bees trying to sting her 

 She may then be removed, and the 

 fertile queen introduced immediately. 

 While 41 fertile queen may be intro- 

 duced at once to a colony from whicli 

 a virgin queen was just removed, a, 

 virgin or a fertile queen cannot be 

 introduced to a colony from which a 

 fertile queen was just taken, except 

 by tlie method above given. 



If one will follow the directions and 

 method given for introducing queens, 

 less queens will be lost, and the cry, 

 "My queen was introduced, but has 



