212 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



I introduced some queens before 

 fruit bloom, some during^ the time that 

 fruit trees were in bloom, anO some 

 after that season had passed, and be- 

 fore clover had commenced. I have 

 also been introducing them since the 

 advent of the clover harvest. In short, 

 not a week has passed, since it was 

 warm enoug'h to handle bees, when I 

 have not introduced queens. I have 

 often caught the old queen and rt-moved 

 her at noon, caged the new queen in 

 the hive until dusk, then released her. 

 When no honey was coming- in, I have 

 usually fed the colony to which I was 

 introducing the queen, but I have not 

 always done this. I never attempt to 

 introduce a queen with her escort of 

 bees. I think it easier to introduce 

 a queen without having an}' bees with 

 her, but an important reason why I 

 destroy the escort and the accompany- 

 ing cage, is to be certain that no foul 

 brood gets into the apiary from this 

 source. A queen alone does not com- 

 municate foul brood. When a queen 

 comes, I open the cage before a win- 

 dow, let out the occupants, catch the 

 queen and put her into a wire cloth, 

 cylindrical cage, and consign the mail- 

 ing cage and the bees to the flames. I 

 get my queens, when I get them awaj' 

 from home, from men who would not 

 knowingly send out queens from an 

 infected aviiary; at least, that is my 

 opinion of them, but, all the same, I 

 consider m}' practice a safe one to 

 follow. 



I know of no reason why queens can 

 not be as easily introduced in the fall 

 as in the spring, unless it might be 

 that the colonies are stronger in the 

 fall, and it is more difficult to intro- 

 duce a queen to a populous colony than 

 to a weak one. If I should find much 

 difficulty in introducing queens to full 

 colonies, I would start a two-frame 

 nucleus from the colony, and first in- 

 troduce the queen to this, then unite 

 the nucleus with the full colony'. I 

 never have lost a queen by this method. 



A weak nucleus of j'oung bees will 

 almost certainly accept a queen, and a 

 laying queen surrounded by her own 

 bees is almost as certain to be accept- 

 ed by a queenless colon}'. 



^n^'.MMM^'mff 



A Red Hot Letter Upon Some Burning 

 Questions of the Day. 



A short time ago I received a private 

 letter from a subscriber in a Western 

 State, and it contained so many sharp 

 and pithy points that I would like to 

 have my readers see it. As it is a 

 private letter, and I have no permission 

 to publish it, I do not feel at liberty to 

 give the name of the writer. I have 

 neither space, nor inclination, to night, 

 to comment upon it (I have been work- 

 ing hard all day in tlie apiarj', and I 

 am tired) but, after reading it, if any 

 of my readers feel like answering some 

 of the questions asked, the columns of 

 the Review will be open. Here is the 

 main part of the letter: — 

 W. Z. Hutchinson, 



Flint, Mich. 



Dear Sir: — I am minded this morn- 

 ing, having a little leisure, to write 

 3'ou a few lines. (?) 



I just read 3'esterda\', your article in 

 Wallaces' P^armer, vvitii the views of 

 which I quite agree. (The article told 

 how to secure the best bees. — Ed. 

 Rkvirw. ) 



But, it is not of that subject I wish 

 to speak; the knowledge of bees and 

 honey production is spreading- taster, 

 in my estimation, than is the consump- 

 tion of honey. For instance, two years 

 ago I produced about 10,000 lbs. honey, 

 and sold all at a fair price and could 

 have sold more; last year I had only 

 about one-half as much, yet didn't get 

 as much per lb., while I did a great 

 deal more peddling, and still have a 

 little left over. 



I remember, a few 3'ears ago, it was 

 the exception for the farmer, witli his 

 few hives, to get any honey; while now 

 farmers are reporting more honey per 

 colony than I can average. (Perhaps 

 yonr location is overstocked more than 

 theirs. — Ed. Rkvirw.) And, as you 

 aptly stated some time ag^o in the Re- 

 view, it is like competition with a 

 bankrupt man to compete with the 



