American Bee Journal 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



AT TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. 



Vol. V. 



]>X^VY, 18 'TO. 



No. 11. 



Introducing Queen Bees. 



Translated for the American Bee Journal. 



At the late general couvention of German bee- [ 

 keepers at Nuremberg, the sixth quesliou pro- 

 posed for discussion was — " What is the safest \ 

 and best method of introducing a stranger | 

 queen-?" j 



The debate was opened by Major Von Hru- j 

 SCHKA, the inventor of the honey extracting i 

 machine. He said: — "The speediest, simplest 

 and safest process of introducing a stranger ' 

 queen, whether fertilized or not, or a queen cell i 

 from another hive, into a queenless colony, is the ; 

 following : The implement which plays the prin- 

 cipal part iu the operation, is one used by ladies 

 in perfuming their dresses, called a ' rafruichis- 

 seur ' by the French, and which can be procured 

 trom any perfumer or druggist. The purpose is \ 

 to produce alight stream of moist vapor or spraj"-, j 

 by blowing through the instrument when pro- I 

 perly charged, so that it would moisten but not 

 wet a hand held in it. The charge used is a mix- 

 ture of water and essence of peppermint in the pro- 

 portion of a thimbleful of the latter to a gill of the 

 former. This mixture must be well shaken when 

 to be used, and should not be so strong as to 

 produce any great excitement among the bees 

 when they are exposed to it. 



When a stranger cpieen is to be introduced 

 in a colony in a movable comb hive, comb after 

 comb should be gently lifted out till the native 

 queen is found and removed. Then the combs 

 still remaining iu the hive, the sides and ends 

 of the hive, and the bees (the hive having been 

 closed) are to be gently but thoroughly fumigated 

 or perfumed by blowing the vajior of the mix- 

 ture through the entrance, and through a small 

 opening made in the rear of the hive, repeating 

 the fumigation in about half a minute, to set the 

 bees in gentle commotion, so that each individ- 

 ual may be duly perfumed. The combs and bees 

 that were lifted out are next to be treated in like 

 manner, as each comb is replaced in the hive 

 after repeating the vaporing operation two or 

 three times. Immediately thereupon the queen 

 to be introduced, Avhether fertilized or not, must 

 be subjected to similar fumigation and perfuming, 



11 



repeating it two or three times at intervals of 

 half a minute. She is then to be set free on one 

 of the brood combs, and the hive again closed. 



This is the whole process ; it can be performed 

 n less time than is required to describe it, and out 

 of seventy or eighty queens thus introduced by 

 me, not one instance of failure occurred. Ex- 

 cept in the case of some very precious queen, or 

 when the colony is known to contain a fertile 

 woiker, I never deem any subsequent examina- 

 tion necessary. Where a fertile worker is known 

 or is suspec:ted to be present, I repeat the per- 

 fuming fumigation again in two or three hours, 

 or on the following morning, blowing in the 

 vapor through the entrance and the rear of the 

 hive. 



If after this process a queen should be de- 

 stroj^ed, it will be found that the colony, though 

 supposed to be queenless, yet contained a ciueen 

 which escaped detection and removal ; or that the 

 mixture of peppermint and water was not pro- 

 perly prepared or sufficiently shaken, and was 

 consequently too weak for the purpose intended. 

 If the mixture be too strong the bees will be- 

 come highly excited, leaving the interior of the 

 liive and clustering on the outside above the en- 

 trance. But in such case I have never observed 

 any ill results, the commotion soon subsiding. 

 The bees return to the interior, and next morn- 

 ing all Avill be found iu order, the queen having 

 been accepted. 



The quantity of the mixture to be used on 

 each occasion is from 1| to 3 tablespoonfuls, 

 according to the size of the colon}'. 



For greater safety, till some skill in preparing 

 the mixture and performing the operation has 

 been attained, preliminary experiments may be 

 made with supernumerary, worthless or common 

 queens. 



From box or straw hives, with fixed combs, 

 a swarm is to be drummed out, and the native 

 queen removed ; then tJie combs and the interior 

 of the hive must be well fumigated with the per- 

 fumed vapor or spray, after which the expelled 

 bees are likewise so treated, and finally the new 

 queen, perfumed in like manner, placed among 

 and allowed to pass into the hive with the re- 

 turning bees. 



If, when two or more colonies are to be 



