694 



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QUEENS. 



Tbe Introduction of Queen.Bees 

 in the Fall. 



Written for the American Bee Jounuil 

 BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



Many seem to think that it is next to 

 impossible to introduce queens in the 

 fall, after brood-rearing has ceased for 

 the season, as my correspondence has 

 shown during this season of the year, 

 for years past, as I am often asked if 

 it would be wisdom to purchase queens 

 in September and October to replace 

 old and worn out queens ; for. saj' 

 they. "Thei-e will be much risk to 

 lake in trying to introduce queens at 

 this time of the year." 



Now all of my experience goes to 

 prove that queens can be introduced 

 more easily in the months named above 

 than at any other season of the year. 

 When it comes to finding the old 

 queen, this is more easily done when 

 she is laying, but after she is found, 

 the new queen can be introduced with 

 a certainty uof always apparent at 

 other seasons of the year. 



At this season of the year there is no 

 hurry, from the desire to have tlie 

 queen go to laying as soon as possible, 

 as is the case during the spi'ing and 

 summer months, for we do not expect 

 that she will lay any for the next three 

 months, no matter how soon she may 

 be accepted ; hence she can stay caged 

 for an indefinite period without harm 

 to either herself or the colony she is to 

 preside over. For this I'eason. I most 

 generally use the following plan : 



Take a piece of wire-cloth having 14 

 meshes to the inch, cutting the same 

 so that it is 4J inches wide by 7i long. 

 From each of the four corners, cut out 

 a little square which shall be J-inch on 

 all sides. Next get out a block 3 

 inches wide by 6 long, and after hav- 

 ing placed it in the right position on 

 the wire-cloth, bend up each of the 

 four sides around the bloCk so that you 

 will have a box, as it were, of the 

 wire-cloth which will be 6 inches long, 

 3 inches wide, and f inches deep. 

 Now unravel four wires from each of 

 the four sides, when j'ou will have a 

 cage that is the most handy in intro- 

 ducing queens of anything which I 

 know of. 



Having removed the old queen, and 

 having the one to be introduced, in a 

 small, round wire-cloth cage, shake the 

 bees all oft' from one of the central 

 combs in the hive, when the new 

 queen is allowed to An on this comb 

 and the introducing-cage placed over 



her in such a position that a part of it 

 will be over some unsealed honey. If 

 the queen's wing is not clipped, take 

 the comb into a room in letting her on 

 the comb. 



Now press the points of the wire- 

 cloth, which were made by unraveling 

 the sides, into the comb till the hori- 

 zontal wires touch the surface of the 

 comb, seeing that the corners so come 

 together that the queen cannot get out, 

 nor anj' outside bees get in, when the 

 frame is to be put back into the hive, 

 leaving the frame next to it oil' far 

 enough so that tliere wtll then be a 

 bee-space between the cage and this 

 last-named comb. 



The hive is to be closed now, and 

 left from a week to two weeks, accord- 

 ing to the weather, as there is no need 

 of opening the hive on any certain day. 



On some moderately warm day when 

 the hive can be opened without danger 

 of chilling the bees, and when it is not 

 so warm that robbers will be trouble- 

 some, remove the frame having the 

 cage on it, and lift the cage from over 

 the queen, allowing her to go where 

 she pleases. . As the bees have no 

 material from which to rear a queen, 

 they must accept the one given them, 

 and under such circumstances 1 have 

 known one to be killed, and I have 

 practiced this plan more or less for 

 the past ten years. 



UNITING WHEN INTRODUCING. 



If the queens to be introduced are 

 in your own yard, and you wish to 

 unite two or more colonies at the same 

 time, I find there is no trouble in put- 

 ting the colonies together on anj' cool, 

 cloudy day, when the bees are not 

 flying. In uniting in this way. the in- 

 ferior queens should be disposed of a 

 few days previous to the uniting, and 

 all the combs taken away from each 

 which are not wanted in the hive 

 where the united colon}' is to remain. 

 In other words, allow only as many 

 combs in the difterent hives as will go 

 into one hive. The combs having the 

 queen with them, should be placed 

 close to one side of the hive, while 

 those that are to be carried to this 

 hive when uniting, should be left in 

 the middle of the hive, and somewhat 

 spread apart so that when you come to 

 carry these latter combs, the bees may 

 all be clustered on them, rather than 

 on the sides of the hive. 



Now by means of all of the fingers, 

 or some other device, raise all the 

 combs at once, so as not to break the 

 elu.ster of bees, and put them in the 

 other hive, right by the side of those 

 already there, and so on until 3-ou have 

 all in you wish. After closing the 

 hive, remove the hives and bottom- 

 boards which have been emptied, 

 piling them away for the time being, 



so that the -old home" will not be- 

 there when the bees fly the next time, 

 and you will have no trouble about the- 

 bees going back to their former loca- 

 tion. To be sure, some will fly about 

 over the place, but so far as my ob- 

 servation goes, these all return to the 

 united colony, upon not finding any- 

 hive on their old stand, 



I consider this the easiest and best 

 plan of fall introduction of queens, and 

 the uniting of colonies at the same 

 time, of anything I have ever tried. 



ANOTHER WAY OF INTRODUCING. 



There is another plan of introducing- 

 queens which I have practiced with 

 good results, which is as follows - 

 When a queen is expected to arrive ia 

 two or three days. 1 go to the hive 

 which is to receive her, and remove 

 the old queen, keeping her so that she 

 may be used in any case of emergency, 

 until I am sure she will not be needed^ 

 when she is killed. 



When the new queen arrives. I take 

 out the central frame, or the one hav- 

 ing the most bees upon it, and set it 

 down outside of the hive, and place 

 the queen among the bees, keeping- 

 watch of her. If the bees treat her 

 kindly, I take another frame from the 

 hive, and put it bee-space from the 

 first, so that the queen is betweeo 

 them, leaving them thus for about avk 

 hour, and going to them occasionally 

 and opening the frames to see that the 

 queen is not balled, wliich thing doe* 

 not happen one time in ten. The 

 frames are now lifted together and set 

 in the hive, when all is well. 



Should the queen be balled, she 

 must be liberated and caged as in the 

 first plan. In times of robbing, do 

 this work just at night, so as to avoid it. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



INTERNATIONAL. 



Shall It Meet at Lake George, 



W. Y., in 1891 ? 



WrittaiJor the American Bee Journal 



BY J. H. LARRABEE. 



I was much pleased to notice, on 

 page 647, the suggestions by Mr. 

 Ernest R. Root, as to the location of 

 the International Bee-Association for 

 1891. I might perhaps be accused of 

 having a personal interest in advocat- 

 ing Lake George as a place of meet- 

 ing, but as Mr. Root has introduced 

 the subject, and, as he as a "for- 

 eigner " was so well pleased with the 

 place, perhaps I may be excused for 

 supplementing his suggestions with 

 some others which occur to me as re;v- 

 sons why a grand meeting of our 

 greatest bee-association could be held 

 on the shores of this lake. 



