THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



87 



(JTorvespondeuce* 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Introducing Queens. 



Your correspondents (Dadant and Nellis) 

 seem to have some conti'ovesy witli regard 

 to the best plan for introducing queens. I 

 consider the plan of one just as good as tlie 

 other, but in my opinion neither of them 

 are vvortli Ivuowing, as it taijes too mucli 

 time to introduce a queen in eitlier case. 

 There is no necessity of being over 10 

 minutes in introducing any queen after the 

 hive has been made queeniess, and it should 

 not require over 20 minutes to " unqueen 

 and requeen" any stock of bees. As a 

 general thing, a queen can be " drunnned" 

 out in 5 or 10 minutes, but a hive that has 

 an old queen will bother much longer some- 

 times. 



No colony should be allowed to go queen- 

 less for even one day, for the sake of intro- 

 ducing another queen, when it can be done 

 in 15 or 20 minutes with perfect safety. I 

 would rather "drum" a queen out of any 

 kind of a hive, if the colony is strong, than 

 to open it and search the combs over. I can 

 usually "drum" one out in half the time 

 that it takes to remove the combs. In a 

 Langstroth hive I remove the honey-board 

 and force the bees up into the cap, and if 

 the weather is warm, I turn them down in 

 front of the hive and let them run in. I 

 will not give' my method of introducing 

 here, as I think most of your readers, who 

 have read the Jouknai. the past few years, 

 know how it is done. My plan is success- 

 ful 99 times out of 100. 



While I am criticising to some extent, I 

 would like to say a few words more. Mr. 

 Wni. H. Kirk gives his plan for wintering 

 his bees, and has been successful, and con- 

 considers "wintering and springing very 

 simple— long-winded orations, to tlie con- 

 trary notwithstanding !" Let those who 

 write essays on wintering take the above 

 hint. By the time one gets through reading 

 one of those long " orations," he does not 

 know where to find himself. 



Directions for wintering bees should not 

 occupy over one column in the A. B. J. Mr. 

 K. meant business when he threw out that 

 hint. I will wind off before this gets to be 

 one of those long orations. H. Alley. 



Wenham, Mass. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



Ventilation. 



In answer to a request, I will tell you 

 what I know about ventilation. I use most- 

 ly Langstroth hives, and prefer the double 

 ?ortico; frame 173^ in. long by 9 in. deep, 

 t'^hen I hive a swarm 1 ventilate according 

 to the weather and size of swarm. If the 

 weather is very warm and the swarm large, 

 I may ventilate at both back and front en- 

 trances, which are each %xl^ in. Some- 

 times I hive two or more swarms together, 

 and place on the surplus boxes at once, 

 which gives additional ventilation, for the \ 

 honey-board and boxes are not air tight. 

 When two or more are hived together and 

 you fear them leaving, cover the entrances 

 with wire screens— a frame the size of the 



portico with wire-cloth tacked on— and im- 

 mediately place in cellar and darken for 1 

 or 2 days; don't leave in the hot sun, as I 

 did one, for they will suffocate. For one 

 swarm one entrance may be sufficient. The 

 hive from which the swarm came may need 

 a part of the entrance closed, especially if 

 the weather should turn cool. 



For spring and fall I close all back en- 

 trances and all of the front except 1 inch. 

 When I place in the cellar for winter, I 

 leave front entrance 1 in. open, and a little 

 ventilation at top of hive for dampness to 

 pass off, by raising honey-board or leaving 

 some of the holes in it open. I have tried 

 all grades of ventilation in cellar for win- 

 tering, but with little difference; only leave 

 some open place at top. Where many are 

 stored in a repository, they need some ven- 

 tilation from without, and this needs to be 

 regulated according to weather. I had a 

 glass hive made 14 in. in diameter and 18 in. 

 high, the top was dome-shaped, there being 

 no open space except whole size of bottom, 

 which I sat on a cheese-cover. I tried to 

 hive 3 different swarms, one of which was 

 quite small, but they would all rush out for 

 air. I put combs in it, but it was of no use. 



New Boston, 111. D. D. Palmer. 



For tlie American Bee Journal. 



Thoughts on Insurance and the 

 National Association. 



Mr. Editor:- We are having a cold, dry 

 winter in Southern Kentucky. The morn- 

 ing of Jan. 8th, the mercury stood 28 deg. 

 below zero. I fear we shall have great loss 

 of bees, as but few are protected; they have 

 unhealthy food, for the greater part of the 

 stores were gathered from honey-dew, and 

 not capped over. 



By the Journal, I learn that President 

 Andrews recommends bee-keepers to form 

 county associations for the promotion of 

 bee-culture. This is certainly a good idea, 

 and if carried out, would be the means of 

 disseminating a correct knowledge of bee- 

 culture. We have a society here that has 

 done much good; a gi-eat manj^ bee owners, 

 who knew nothing of the recent discoveries 

 have become bee-keepers since the know- 

 ledge they obtained at the meetings of our 

 society. 



The beneficiary society, or mutual life in- 

 surance, that Pres. Andrews speaks of, is 

 a move in the right direction, for if you 

 want to make a man useful and successful in 

 any business you must place a reward be- 

 fore him. Many who are engaged in bee- 

 culture would be encouraged to prosecute it 

 with more industry and hope, if they were 

 assured that those depending on them 

 would have a support when they are called 

 from labor to refreshment. Here in Ken- 

 tucky we have the Masonic Life Insurance 

 Co., organized in 1808, with a president 

 (who is also treasurer) with a salary of 

 31,000 per annum; a secretary with a salary 

 of .'81,500; a state agent, who gets 25 per 

 cent on amount of policies taken; with sub- 

 agents in every Congi-essional District in 

 the State; and 14 directors who get no 

 salary. The first 3 years the otficers got no 

 pay, as the company Avas not able to pay 

 them, but it has now 3,900 members, and 

 each member pays to the local agent and he 

 to the society ^LUu when notified of the 

 death of a member. Tiic local agent gets 



