THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



59 



stock. If the obstacles in the way are 

 greater, because of the pectihar natural 

 history of the bee, then the triumpli, 

 >vhen it comes, will be greater, and tl;e 

 success more praiseworthy." 



Prof. A. J. Cook. 



rOIXTERS ON INTRODUCING 

 QUEENS. 

 A queen of extra value, as an imported 

 queen, deserves extra care in introduc- 

 ing. C. C. Miller. 



With my knife I cut into a frame of 

 honey, get plenty on the thumb and 

 first finger ; open the cage and as the 

 queen comes out grasp her with the hand 

 containing the honey and with the knife 

 put more of the same honey on the 

 wings, legs and head ; do not be afraid 

 of it but get all you can on the wings, 

 legs and head, then she cannot fly or 

 run ; drop her between tlie centre frames, 

 close the hive at once ; you can look 

 again in twenty-four hours. I have in- 

 troduced many queens in this way and 

 cannot recall a case of losing a queen. 

 H. D. Cutting. 



The first plan I ever tried, and tried 

 while in my novitiate, was the least suc- 

 cessful. This was to cage the queen 

 for from one to three days in the hive 

 and then release her. Some colonies 

 "I could never get to accept a queen in 

 that way. I regard it as the poorest 

 method I know. Success by that plan 

 is not impossible nor infrequent, but it 

 is neither the safe way, judging by exper- 

 ience, nor the correct way on general 

 principles. 



How then shall we get the right con- 

 ditions to introduce a queen? Allow 

 tiie bees to do the introducing them- 

 selves. Let them release the imprisoned 

 queen. There you have, in my opinion, 

 the great secret of successful introduc- 

 tion. G. F. ROBBINS. 



INTROnUCIXG XEW QUfcKXS. 



An almost infallible method of intro- 

 ducing laying queens is as follows : — 

 When the queen arrives, examine her 



cage and see that she and her attendants 

 are in good health, also see that they 

 have plenty of foocl in the cage. If all 

 is well with the new arrivals place them 

 over some strong colony to be cared 

 for at least twenty-four hours. Proceed 

 to the hive you wish the new queen to 

 occupy (which must be one known to 

 be in normal condition) and take away 

 its queen. Leave these bees without a 

 (lueen from furty- eight to seventy-two 

 hours, when the shipjiing cage, ctmtain- 

 ing your new queen, can be safely ar- 

 ranged so as to expose the food candy, 

 and" can be placed directly over the 

 frames, or slipped down into the hive, 

 in such a manner that the hive bees 

 can remove the candy, and thus intro- 

 duce the queen safely and with no 

 trouble at all. 



The secret of introducing a queen is 

 absolute queenlessness and perfect quiet 

 and harmony at the time the strange 

 queen is released. These conditions 

 are best brought about by the above 

 process. E. L. Pratt. 



HOW TO CAKE FOR QUEENS SHIPPED BY 

 MAIL. 



Owing to the ignorance of the recip- 

 ient and occasionally to the bad condi- 

 tion in which the bees and queens are 

 when received, a good many are lost. 

 We will try to lay down some simple 

 rules that may be the means, if fol- 

 lowed, of preserving the Ufe of many 

 valuable queens. 



If the bees are in good condition 

 when received, and the food not more 

 than one -half consumed, the cage may 

 be placed in any dry, warm and dark 

 place. The queen may, in this way, be 

 kept several days. On the other hand, 

 if the bees are daubed as is sometimes 

 the case, owing to damp or wet weather 

 which occurs after the bees are mailed, 

 the queen should be introduced imme- 

 diately ; or, if not convenient to do so 

 at once, remove the bees from the cage 

 and introduce about a dozen young 

 bees that are not over two hours old. 

 Those just hatched will do, but older 

 bees are better. When this is done, 



