452 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



be necessary to give ventilation above, 

 but we are novi' talking of shipping bees 

 in early Spring. 



When the hives are all secure at the 

 top, look at the entrances, and see how 

 a small amount of air can be admitted, 

 and at the same time not let the bees 

 escape. 



Our hives are the eight-frame Lang- 

 stroth with portico, and one Spring I 

 fastened them in this way: I fitted a 

 piece of pine board, so that it would ex- 

 actly tit in the entrance, and then cut 

 little grooves in it on the sides next to 

 the body and bottom of the hive. I 

 learned subsequently that the bees ar- 

 rived at their destination all right. 



Later in the season I fitted a block 

 into the entrance as before, using an 

 empty hive, as all the hives in the apiary 

 are of the same size, and placing a piece 

 of wire mesh over the entrance, drove in 

 the block, which molded it into the right 

 shape. When I wanted to fasten a col- 

 ony in, I slipped the mesh in, and nailed 

 over the edges little strips of wood. 



In shipping 4 colonies of bees at one 

 time to the same party, the report came 

 back that the smallest colonies were all 

 right, but a large one had many dead 

 bees, for the bees had crowded together 

 trying to get through the mesh, and 

 smothered. When bees are put into a 

 car for transit, the frames should run 

 the long way of the car. — Prairie Farmer. 



Rnles for Mm Bees al Fairs. 



GEO. F. ROBBINS. 



I wish to thank Mr. Hutchinson for 

 his commendation and criticisms of my 

 effort toward a code of rules for judging 

 bees and honey at fairs, on page 382. 

 The remarks on judging bees deserve 

 some attention. 



It was not designed that a nucleus of 

 bees should contain more than one 

 frame, as should, I think, be inferred 

 from the text of rules and remarks as 

 given, but there should, perhaps, be a 

 rule covering that ground. I suppose it 

 was not advisable, as he says, to have a 

 large quantity of bees thus caged up. 



The same may be said of brood ; and 

 if fairs were held at the height of the 

 breeding season, that item would, be 

 better left out. But, in fact, they gen- 

 erally come at a time when it is difficult 

 to find much or any brood in the hive, 

 hence all that one can find at that time 

 is of value. As brood in all stages 

 would add to the interest of such an 



article of exhibit, the best scoring should 

 be given the nucleus that comes nearest 

 that. 



As to markings of the bees, I am glad 

 Mr. Hutchinson has spoken. I hope 

 others will speak also. On that point, I 

 did not then, and do not now, know 

 what to say. If premiums are to be 

 awarded on nuclei of bees at all, there 

 should be some standard of judgment, 

 but what the standard or standards 

 shall be, is too hard a problem for me. 

 At the Sangamon Fair, of 1891, the 

 darkest Italians took the premium, while 

 the yellowest and most beautiful were 

 "left out in the cold." 



P. S. — At the time of writing the fore- 

 going, I had failed to notice the com- 

 munications of Messrs. Michael and 

 Kildow, on page 391. All these corres- 

 pondents pretty much agree. Well, let 

 them come. That is what I want. But 

 while tearing my rules, or standard, to 

 prices, can someone construct something 

 better ? 



Mechanicsburg, Ills. 



How lo Inlrolnce Vlrp Oneens. 



MRS. JENNIE ATCHLEY. 



I will try to tell how I introduce virgin 

 queens. 



First, take a cage without wire cloth, 

 that is, a tight cage except the side next 

 to the comb. Cage the queen over some 

 brood hatching, or nearly so, using a 

 cage large enough to cover 100 cells, or 

 more ; and, by no means, or under any 

 circumstances, allow the bees to see the 

 queen, or smell her through the cage. 

 If the colony is queenless, the virgin 

 will be as safely introduced as any fertile 

 queen. 



When I have a valuable queen of any 

 kind, I introduce in the above way. 



If I have lost a single queen in three 

 years, I do not remember it. It does 

 not matter what age, or how wild the 

 virgin is ; but if she is not received just 

 the same as if hatched there, why, your 

 bees do not act like mine. 



I find that one great cause of queens 

 of any kind being rejected, is on account 

 of the bees gnawing and throwing 

 "sting poison" at the queen through 

 the cage. You know that you can take 

 a queen from a colony of bees, and let 

 one strange bee sting at her, and get. 

 " sting poison" on her, then turn her 

 loose again in her own hive, and her 

 boes will "ball" her. The reader 

 doubtless sees the point. 



Floyd, Tex. 



