THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



163 



(^oxxj^sjfiomUxiu. 



For tiie American Bee Journal. 



Corn Blossoms and Honey. 



Mr. Editor:— In the April number of 

 your very valuable Journal, W. B. Rush 

 says "Corn gives much honey and plenty of 

 the very best pollen." With the latter 

 statement of this quotation I have no con- 

 troversy. Corn tassels afford an abundance 

 of pollen, and are doubtless of great benefit 

 to bees in that respect; but friend Rush is 

 certainly mistaken in regard to the yield of 

 honey from that source. I have inany a 

 time watched the bees as they were work- 

 ing on the corn, and I could never see one 

 pause for an instant and?use its proboscis. I 

 think if your correspondent will go into the 

 corn fields, and observe closely, he will be 

 convinced of his mistake. His bees have 

 been gathering pollen from corn, and honey 

 from something else. I should like to visit 

 Mr. Rush when orange blossoms are plenty, 

 and try some of his orange-blossom honey. 



New Castle, Ind. M. Mahin. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



How to Introduce Queens. 



There seems to be many ways this may 

 be done, if all is true we see in our bee 

 papers. No doubt each one who succeeds, 

 thinks his plan the best. This may be true 

 in my own case; however, for fear I may 

 be tedious, 1 will proceed to give my 

 method, hoping that all who try it will re- 

 port either to myself or through our much- 

 esteemed American Bee Journal. 



Take the queen desired to be introduced, 

 cage her with a few young bees, a day or 

 two old, taken from the hive into which 

 you wish to introduce her, these give her 

 the scent, by being in the cage with her, of 

 this hive. Next take a frame of comb and 

 bees from the same hive, containing, hatch- 

 ing brood and young bees, place it in a hive 

 a few yards away from the hive from which 

 the frame was taken; suspend the cage 

 containing the queen by this frame. In an 

 hour or two nearly all, if not all, the old 

 bees on this frame will leave and return to 

 their old stand. Tlie queen can then be 

 cautiously released on this frame contain- 

 ing mostly young bees; watch them and see 

 if they attack her, if not, let the Jiive con- 

 taining her and one frame remain where 

 they are until night. However, before 

 night, go to your old stand— the one from 

 which your frame was taken— hunt up the 

 queen, cage or destroy her as you wish, 

 take all the frames except one or two, 

 brushing off the bees, and place them in the 

 hive where your new queen is. At night 

 put the hive containing the new queen on 

 the old stand, removing the old hive con- 

 taining the bees, away some ten yards. 



Next day most, if not all, the old bees on 

 going out will return to the old stand and 

 enter, ladened, the hive containing the new 

 queen. About 12 o'clock on that day go to 

 your old hive, open the entire top, and if 

 the bees do not in a half hour leave this 

 hive and return to the old stand, take the 

 remaining frames and hive and brush off 

 all the bees in front of the stand or hive 



containing the new queen, they will enter 

 and not disturb the new queen. Be certain 

 and do not open the hive containing the 

 new queen during that day. Take the 

 frames left and put them in some other hive. 



This plan consists first in giving the 

 queen the scent of the hive into which you 

 wish to introduce her, by caging j'oung 

 bees with her from that hive. Secondly, by 

 releasing the queen among young bee's 

 which seem never to attack a queen. Third- 

 ly, by causing the old bees, the day after, to 

 enter, ladened, the hive where the new 

 queen is, in which condition bees seem 

 never to attack a queen. And lastly, by 

 forcing the bees to enter the same hive in a 

 queenless and completely demoralized con- 

 dition, in which bees seem glad to find a 

 queen. I have no controversy with others 

 about their plans, mine has been successful 

 in my own case. I am willing others shall 

 have it. J. W. McNeil. 



Crystal Springs, Miss., March 14, 1S77. 



For the American Bee Journal. 



American Institute and the National. 



I am in receipt of a letter from Mr. J. S. 

 Coe, in which he says: " After several in- 

 terviews with the officers of the American 

 Institute, I have received from them the 

 following proposition: They agree to ad- 

 mit the American Bee-Keepers' Association 

 including all its members, as one indivi- 

 dual, for the purpose of exhibiting their 

 products and implements, and to allow 

 table space up to 100 feet in length and also 

 space for the exhibition of hives, extractors, 

 etc.; to allow each individual member of 

 the association or their agents to sell and 

 deliver their products and implements, or 

 sell by sample and take orders. 



"They agree to issue to each regularly- 

 appointed delegate three free admission 

 tickets to the number of two hundred dele- 

 gates, and probably up to five hundred. For 

 this space and these privileges the fee will 

 be 37.00, and tliey give me to understand 

 that if we make a j^ermanent arrangement 

 with them they will remit this fee and deal 

 liberally with us in every way." 



I fully agree with Mr. Coe, when further 

 in his letter he says: "It seems to me that 

 this is a golden opportunity for bringing 

 our Society into public notice and favor and 

 to establish it as a permanent institution." 



Brother bee-keepers let us hear from you 

 on the subject. Shall brother Coe effect 

 the arrangement ? How many of you will 

 be on hand with samples of your honey, 

 hives, extractors and other implements of 

 the apiary? I hope there will be a good at- 

 tendance and a fair display, one that will 

 reflect credit upon our pursuit and be an 

 honor to American apiarists. Let me urge, 

 too, upon all bee-keepers to assemble in 

 their counties and organize county societies 

 and elect a delegate to the next meeting of 

 the National Society; this delegate can act 

 as your agent also in seeing that any article 

 you may send is properly displayed. 



Mr. Coe further writes : "Wehaveto the 

 middle of June to decide the matter." I 

 therefore urgently appeal to all bee-keepers 

 to give an expression in the June number of 

 the Bee papers, or address Brother Coe or 

 myself on the subject. 



Wm. J. Andrews, 



Pres. National B. K. Assu. 



