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693 



^ 



Keepings the Queen in a Cage 

 After Having Been mailed. 



Written Jor tlie American Bee Journal 



Qiiorjr 664.— 1. Can a queen received by 

 mail, that cannot be ueed at once, be kept 

 with safety in a cage by herself, on top of a 

 colony, above the feeder hole, shut up with 

 wire-cloth, with only a paste of honey and 

 sugar for food ? 2. How lonjr could a queen 

 be kept safely in such a position, on such 

 paste, strictly by herself, i. e., without any 

 other bees for feeding her ?— J. 15. W. 



1. Yes. 2. I ilo uot know.— H. D. 

 Cutting. 



1. Yes. 2. I do not know. I shonld 

 not like to risk it very long, if she was 

 worth anything. —A. B. Mason. 



1. Yes. 2. If she has plenty to eat, 

 and is warm, slie can remain for 

 weeks, or as long as needed. — Uadant 

 it Son. 



I should not like to keep her so at 

 all. Why not arrange the cage so that 

 other bees can feed her ? — A. J. Cook. 



1. I think that she might, if the food 

 is wet enough. 2. Perhaps for weeks, 

 in warm weather. — C. C. Milleh. 



The queen-breeders will answer this 

 i|uery to the satisfaction, no doubt, of 

 the enquirer. — Eugene Secor. 



1. Yes. 2. I have kept them thus 

 for 13 days. The queen, however, 

 should be placed as soou as possible. — 

 J. M. Shuok. 



I lost one in trying to keep her over 

 night, in this waj-. I do not know — 

 not long, at best. — J. M. Hambaugh, 



1. Yes. 2. For any length of time, 

 if the conditions are all right. I pre- 

 fer to put in 1 or 2 bees witli her. — P. 



L. VlALLON. 



1. Yes. 2. For a considerable time. 

 It is better to have other bees with her 

 in the cage, if she is to remain con- 

 fined very long. — C. H. Dibbekn. 



I. Not with any certainty, if the 

 weather is very hot or very cold. 2. 

 If tlie weather were favorable, she 

 could generally be kept a considerable 

 lengtli of time, but much depends upon 

 the colon}-. — R. L. Taylor. 



1. Not for any considerable time. 2. 

 I cannot say ; if situated .so as to re- 

 leive the heat of the colony, [irobably 

 two or three days. I have had tliera 

 die .sooner than that. — Mrs. L. H.vr- 



HISON. 



Possibly, The more I think over 

 this question, the more I am led to be- 

 lieve that tliere is '-danger" in thus 

 conlining a queen — danger of impair- 

 ing her future n.sefulness. I should 

 not wish to thus treat a valuable queen. 

 — Wii-L M. Haknim. 



ing queens, I have found to be risky 

 business — the ants, or something eat 

 them. If ^ I had a valuable (pn-cn, and 

 the colony where I wanteil to put her 

 was not ready, I would take a queen 

 that I did not care for, from another 

 colon)-, and introduce tlu; good, new 

 queen there, and let all the risk be 

 witli the common (jueen. — Maiiai.a B. 

 Chaddock. 



A queen can be kept in a cage, ami 

 placed over the frames of a hiv(! for 

 several days, if she is accompanied with 

 some lices, and has suUicienl food ; or 

 better, she may be so placed that the 

 bees of the colony can feed her. Of 

 course, the best waj-is to make nucleus 

 colony for her, if she is of any particu- 

 lar value. — The Editor. 



In warm weather, when honey is 

 being gatliered, a fertile queen may be 

 kept in a cage over a colony of bees 

 that have a laying (jueen, indetinitely, 

 provided that the bees do not close the 

 meshes of the cage with projiolis. A 

 gf)od way to feed a queen in a cage, is 

 to cut a thin slice from the outside of 

 a comb of sealed lioney, and lay it on 

 the upperside of the cage — M. Mahin. 



1. Yes. I have kept them for sev- 

 eral days in this way. 2. A week at 

 least. 1 should prefer, however, to 

 let the bees have access to the outside 

 of the cage .J. E. Pond, 



1. She can be so kept, but "how 

 long," very much depends. It is al- 

 \vays the' Ijest uot to resort to such 

 plans of preservation, but to give the 

 queen to a nucleus, in case you cannot 

 do better. — J. P. H. Brown. 



If the colony is ijueenless, a queen 

 can be kept caged on the frames safely 

 for 80 days or more, without any food 

 in the cage. But if the bees of the 

 colony could not reach the queen to 

 feed her, she would live but a few 

 days, even with the food in the cage. 

 — G. L. Tinker. 



If you will make the food of granu- 

 lated sugar and honey, she can be 

 safely kept from two to four weeks. 

 At least I have so kept them for that 

 length of lime, but I much prefer to 

 introduce them as speedily as possible. 



— (1. M. DOOHTTLE. 



Yes, a queen can be kept in that 

 way for a time — sometimes for several 

 days. Much depends upon minor con- 

 ditions, wliich you do not mention. I 

 should not want to risk a very choice 

 iiueeu in that waj' a great while. — 

 James Heddon. 



1. I do not think it advisable to 

 keep a queen by herself in a cage, ex- 

 cept when intioducing her ; therefore 

 I would say that she cannot be srifeli/ 

 kept in that waj-. 2. I cannot answer 

 the (jueslion, as I do not know what 

 you mean by, "on top of a colony 

 above the feeder hole " — there are so 

 luanj' .sorts of feeders, some having 

 holes, and some not. In fact, I know 

 of no such a place as "on top of a 

 colony above the feeder hole " that 

 would be a tit i)lace to confine a queen 

 in a cage. — G. W. De.maeee. 



1. A caged queen can be kc])! for 

 some days, laid on the frames above 

 the brood-nest, or hung, with a wire 

 between the frames. If she is a queen 

 that has been sent by mail, she can 

 live for a week, perhaps, on the 

 "Good "candy that the queen-cages 

 are supplied with. 2. Why shonld she 

 be " strictly by herself?" If she has 

 been shipped, there are always bees 

 with her. If yon catch her and cage 

 lier \'ourself, put in some bees. Keep- 



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Now, in order to pay our friends to work 

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Xlie Farin Journal, Philadelphia, 

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