1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



237 



many ways of successfully introduc- 

 ing queen bees ; but I think the one 

 method most commonly used is to al- 

 low the bees to release the queen by 

 eating out the queen candy. But to 

 accomplish this or use this method it 

 will not be necessary to get your queen 

 in any certain kind of a cage, as 

 many people think, but any kind of 

 a queen cage used by any good queen 

 breeder can be so placed that the bees 

 may release the queen. In the first 

 place you should be sure that the col- 

 ony is certainly queenless, this colony 

 should be queenless at least two days. 

 When you receive your queen, go to 

 some tight and closed window, pry off 

 the cover, release all the bees with the 

 queen, then place the cage with queen 

 in the hive in such a position to ex- 

 pose the candy so that only one or two 

 bees at a time can eat out the 

 candy, don't touch the hive for at 

 least four or five days thereafter. If 

 this method be followed correctly no 

 queen need be lost in introducing. 

 Another method, which I would use 

 only in very rare cases, such as intro- 

 ducing very valuable queens, or any 

 kind of queens in unfavorable seasons 

 of the year. Make a cage of wire 

 cloth, (such as is used for window- 

 screens) about 4x6 in. turn the edges 

 over about f of an inch all around, 

 see that the corners are all made bee 

 proof, then go to your colony and pick 

 out a frame of brood from which the 

 bees are just hatching, one that also 

 contains some honey. If you can't 

 find a frame of this kind in the hive 

 to which you wish to introduce the 

 queen, you can in some other hive if 

 you have more. On this frame place 

 the wire cage so as to take in both 

 honey and brood, put the queen in 



this cage, press down so the edges 

 sink down a little into the comb. 

 This cage should be held in place with 

 tAvo wires w^ound clear around the 

 frame and hive, in a day or two most 

 of the brood will have hatched. 

 When the queen will also have depos- 

 ited eggs in most of the cells. You 

 may now open one of the lower coi'- 

 ners of the cage a little so the queen 

 may go out if she chooses, also other 

 bees can get in. When the queen is 

 out this cage should be removed. 

 Always remember that a colony to 

 which to introduce a queen should 

 have some young bee. If by careless- 

 ness they become queenless and all of 

 the bees have gotten old you should 

 first give a frame or two of hatching 

 brood, Avhich gives them new life and 

 vigor. By these two methods any 

 kind of a queen should be successful- 

 ly introduced. Although there are 

 many more methods. 

 Steeleville, 111. 



An Experience with Bees. 



BY MRS. OLIVER COLE. 



"Id a multitude of counsellors 

 there is safety." Pro v. 11 ; 14 I 

 was reading this in the " American 

 Bee Journal " in the question box, 

 and it reminds me of my school days 

 writing from a copy like this : " Many 

 men of many minds, many birds of 

 many kinds," and we can truly say 

 many minds and kinds of bees. The 

 The question was : ' ' What are the 

 best bees for comb honey and for ex- 

 tracted honey ?" About two thirds of 

 some of our leading bee keepers gave 

 it as their opinion that the hybrids 

 were the best for comb honey. I 

 found this so in my experience. Hy- 

 brid bees are superior to the yellow 



