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QUEENS. 



A Safe method of Introdtiein; 

 Queen. Bees. 



Written for the American Bee Jmunial 

 BY DR. G. L. TINKER. 



The traffic iu queen-bees would un- 

 doubtedly be greater than it is, if bee- 

 keepers had a perfectly safe method 

 of introducing. At the present time 

 we have in this countrj- many expert 

 queen-breeders who have for years 

 spared no end of pains and trouble to 

 improve their bees. The stock is the 

 very best of the strains of bees they 

 advertise, and its inti'odnction into 

 other apiaries is certain to be followed 

 by good results from new crosses, and 

 the infusion of new blood. 



The great drawback with many' bee- 

 keepers from investing in the much- 

 coveted stock is the fear that they may 

 lose the queens in introducing. Many 

 have already ventured and lost fine 

 queens, and if they decide to try it 

 again, it is with a feeling of great un- 

 certainty that they may lose others, if 

 purchased. 



Now is the best time of the season — 

 August and September — to introduce 

 queens, according to my experience, 

 but more care is required than during 

 a honey-flow. Still, I can see no rea- 

 son why any one cannot introduce 

 queens now with perfect safety, to 

 strong colonies. My method is this : 



If I send away for a queen, I make 

 no preparation to introduce her until 

 she arrives. Then I select a strong 

 colony, and remove the queen and 

 close the hive. In from two to three 

 hours afterwards, the bees will miss 

 their queen and begin to look for her. 

 They become greatly agitated, and are 

 often in a condition to receive any 

 strange queen that might be given 

 direct. Now this is the proper time to 

 give the new queen, but if we are to 

 make a sure thing of it, she must be 

 caged. 



The cage in which the queen is re- 

 ceived by mail is just as good as any — 

 simply let out the worker-bees with 

 her, and put back the wire-cloth. If 

 the candy in the cage is exposed, tack 

 a piece of wood over it, and arrange 

 so that the bees of the hive cannot get 

 at the queen except through the wire- 

 cloth. Then lay the cage, wire-cloth 

 side down, bee-space from the tops of 

 the brood-frames. This may require a 

 shallow rim and cover to fit, or if the 

 hive is a two-story one, the rim is put 

 between the two stories, and the caged 

 queen on the lower set of frames. 



The hive is then closed, and left for 

 five days, at which time the bee-keeper 

 will open the hive, take out the caged 

 queen, and smoke the bees. Remove 

 each of the brood-combs and shake oft" 

 the bees so that every queen-cell can 

 be seen and destroyed. There will 

 seldom be found more than two or 

 three cells, and often none. The cells 

 are, moreover, easy to find, but where 

 a queen is removed from a colony, and 

 none were given back in her place, the 

 bees will build a great number of cells, 

 and some of them may be hard to find 

 — if the bee-keeper waits for nine 

 days, as has been recommended, in 

 order to make the colony absolutely 

 queenless by cutting out all cells be- 

 fore trying to introduce the new queen. 

 It is therefore far better to give the 

 new queen at once, as above advised, 

 after removing the old one. 



There is no danger to the caged 

 queen if there is not a particle of food 

 in the cage. The bees will care for 

 her. I have left them thus for two and 

 three weeks — in fact, until the colony 

 had laying workers, when they would 

 no longer accept the queen. 



The cells being all removed, the 

 combs are re-arranged in place, and 

 the queen allowed to pass down be- 

 tween the combs, the point at which 

 she went down being noted. Then 

 close the hive, and wait 20 minutes, 

 and re-open it. Remove a comb at 

 the point where the queen disappeared. 

 If she is found running about all right, 

 she is safely introduced. Should she 

 be not found on either of the two 

 combs at the point she entered, or on 

 the bottom of the hive "balled," she 

 is safe, for if the bees decide to "ball " 

 her, she is never allowed to get far 

 from the place she entered, and she 

 will there be found, or at the bottom 

 of the hive " balled ;" in which case, 

 the ball of bees is to be lifted out on 

 the ground — no need to be in a hurry, 

 as the bees will not sting the queen, 

 nor let her get away. 



Have a smoker at hand ready to 

 light, smoke the ball of bees, and re- 

 cage the queen and leave her on the 

 frames for another two days, when the 

 hive is to be re-opened and the same 

 plan gone over again. 



I have had to re-cage some queens 

 three or four times, but the bees will 

 finally accept them. Where I have 

 had this trouble it was from taking all 

 of the brood away, and then trying to 

 introduce. It is not a good way. The 

 bees must first be allowed to build 

 cells, if they will ; but they often do 

 not, showing the unanimous accepts 

 ance of the queen from the first. After 

 building cells, bees are satisfied to 

 take any queen given as above ad- 

 vised, and I have never yet had one 

 " balled " where so introduced. But 



if there is any deviation from the 

 above plan, it will not always work as 

 stated, and re-oaging of the queen will 

 be required. 



I do not know why some queens are 

 harder to introduce than others, but 

 all go in about the same when the 

 above plan is followed. In my new 

 book I recommended to let the bees 

 liberate the queen by eating out a plug 

 of candy, and this plan seems best for 

 the novice ; but for myself I want to 

 see that the queen is all right, and 

 trust to no chance about it whatever. 



New Philadelphia, Ohio. 



BEES-POULTRY. 



An Entliusiastie Texasi Woman's 

 Experienee and Advice. 



Written for the Texas Farm and Rancli 



BY MRS. SALLIE E. SHERMAN. 



Bees and poultry — what a theme for 

 the women of our vast State with its 

 vast resources. The possibilities are 

 far beyond my ken. It is thought by 

 some that these are too insignificant 

 to have more than a passing thought ; 

 but I beg leave to difler from all who 

 think so. I tell you that if these two 

 industries alone properly combined 

 were to receive thoughtful considera- 

 tion, there would be more attention 

 paid to these little side-issues, our peo- 

 ple would live better, and would be 

 more healthy and happy than at present. 



If our women would take hold of 

 these vocations and get out of the 

 house into the pure air and genial sun- 

 shine, we would have fewer dyspeptics 

 and more healthy women, who would 

 enjoy life much better than they do at 

 present. Suppose you do get sun- 

 burnt, and a few stings occasionally, 

 what of that ? Do you find roses with- 

 out thorns ? Could we expect to get 

 delicious honey without getting stung 

 occasionally ? Or eat the nice broilers 

 and excellent eggs without looking 

 after the wants of our fowls ? Then 

 my advice is for the sickly " house- 

 plants" to engage in something that 

 will call them outside, into the bright 

 sunshine. 



I know of nothing better calculated 

 to interest and instruct us, and at the 

 same time to remunerate us for the 

 labor bestowed, than bee-keeping and 

 pouUrj^-raising combined. In doing 

 this, I think it is better to keep only 

 one kind of chickens, but as many 

 other kinds of fowls as you like or can 

 care for. The utmost cleanliness is 

 necessary in order to keep your fowls 

 healthy and in good condition. It 

 takes but a few minutes to sweep and 

 clean out their house daily, when, if 

 put oft' longer, it is more difficult, and 



