THE A3TERICAN APICULTURIST. 



215 



left in the hive. I now removed one of 

 their combs, and put in its phice a 

 comb containing eggs and larvae just 

 hatched, which I had taken fi-om my 

 te&ted Italian queen. On the seventh 

 day thereafter, I removed as many 

 black queens as I had cells in my cell- 

 rearing hive — save one for them — and 

 on the tenth day from the time I in- 

 serted the comb, I cut out as many 

 cells as I had removed queens, and 

 proceeded to insert one cell between 

 the top bars of the frames of each hive. 

 I placed the cells in such a position 

 that I could see if the queen cut out at 

 the fi/ifZof the cell, by simply raising the 

 quilt or honey board. If I found the 

 cell opened at the side, I knew at once 

 that was a failure, and proceeded to 

 give them another cell. In order to 

 have cells on hand, I set two or more 

 colonies to rearing cells at intervals 

 of three days apart. A novice can 

 hardly go wrong by this simple, tedi- 

 ous method. Of course, I now follow 

 the more modern methods. 



2. This is a question of deep interest 

 to me, especially as pertains to intro- 

 ducing virgin queens. The dangers 

 are that the bees will "ball" and kill, 

 or injure for lite, the queen before she 

 is accepted. The only way I know to 

 avoid it is to keep the queen caged 

 till the bees show by their actions that 

 they are reconciled to her. 



3. The hees seem to know that a 

 virgin queen is of no use till she is fer- 

 tilized, and they look on her as an in- 

 truder and disturber of the peace. 

 Perhaps her shy, unsteady ways pro- 

 voke an attack from the bees. I have 

 found that scary, fertile queens are 

 more likely to be " balled " than are 

 the gentle, steady ones. 



4 & 5 I have never discovered much 

 difference in the several races of bees 

 in this respect. 



I liave found that the black and hy- 

 brid queens are more fidgety as a gen- 

 eral rule than are the Italian queens, 

 and this trait is not favorable to quick 

 introducing. 



6. I proceed in the usual way, ex- 

 cept that I keep the queens caged a 

 greater length of time. I still insist 

 that the only safe and practicable way 

 to introduce queens is to cage them 

 on top of the frames, where the actions 

 of the bees can be seen by simply turn- 

 ing back the quilt. As long as the 

 bees " ball " and bite the cage, the only 

 safe place for the queen is in the cage. 

 When they walk about the cage gently 

 as they do in other parts of the hive, 



the queen can be safely released. 

 When I find this state of things, I re- 

 move the slide and stop the door in 

 the cage with a plug of soft candy, and 

 leave the bees to release the queen. 



Christiansburg, Ky. 



ANSWKKS BY A. J. COOK. 



1. Buy a good Italian queen early 

 in the season. Stimulate the colony 

 when she is introduced by feeding and 

 adding brood so as to get early drones. 

 Keep drones out of all other hives, 

 then rear and introduce Italian queens 

 into all other colonies. This is done 

 with ease, and is a very excellent ex- 

 perience to the young beekeepei'. 



2. Danger of the queens being killed 

 unless t^ery young. Caging for forty- 

 eight hours is an almost sure prevent- 

 ive. 



3. I do not know. 



4. I have had experience only with 

 German, Italian and Syrian. I find 

 no marked difference in these three 

 races. 



5. I cage longer, and watch care- 

 fully as I liberate the queen. If she 

 is not kindly received I cage her for 

 another twenty-four hours. 



ANSWEUS BY E. E. HASTY. 



1. The old bachelor's advice to young 

 people about to be married was simply 

 "Don't." If, however, the novice is 

 too deeply in love with Italians for 

 such advice as that let him buy three 

 or four dollar queens of different breed- 

 ers, test them thoroughly for honey 

 gathering qualities ; then from the one 

 that proves the best, rear young queens 

 by the Alley method. A second batch 

 of queens may be reared to supersede 

 those that prove impurely mated. 



2. The dangers of introducing may 

 be mainly reduced to two, the foreign 

 scent of the queen, and her prejudice 

 against her new subjects, leading her 

 to behave improperly. The foreign 

 scent is partly got rid of, and the scent 

 of the new colony partly acquired by 

 caging the queen for a day or so among 

 the bees to whom she is to be given. 

 To keep the queen from sulking, strik- 

 ing, and making noises, and other ex- 

 asperating capers, take away all her 

 own bees from the cage when it is im- 

 mersed in the bees of the new colony. 

 She thus finds absolute solitude unen- 

 durable and is obliged to make friends 



