72 



THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



comb upon the blanket about a foot from 

 the trap and after examining the combs 

 place them in the empty hive. Con- 

 tinue to do so until all the combs have 

 been looked over. If the queen is not 

 found, cover the hive and with the use 

 of the smoker drive the bees in through 

 the trap and at the same time look sharp 

 for the queen. She will, most likely, 

 be found in a very few moments try- 

 ing to pass through the metal of the 

 trap. 



I believe the above is the surest, 

 quickest and easiest way for the novice 

 to find a queen. 



This work must not be done in the 

 middle of the day, unless the bees are 

 gathering honey, or robbing may be in- 

 duced. Do it late in the day. If too 

 late to find the queen, she will be found 

 on the trap the next morning if she was 

 shaken from the combs. 



One other method for finding a queen 

 is to remove the honey-board, place the 

 cap on the hive and drive the bees up 

 into it by gradually blowing smoke in at 

 the entrance and drumming on the hive 

 five or more minutes. Turn the cap 

 over and look for the queen. If not 

 found, place another cap on and repeat 

 the operation. 



An old queen is rather slow about 

 leaving the brood-nest, even when the 

 bees are well-smoked, and sometimes it 

 is necessary to drive nearly all the bees 

 out of the hive and then afterwards re- 

 move the combs to get her. 



The expert is not obliged to use the 

 above method to find a queen. He 

 merely blows smoke in at the entrance 

 of the hive to alarm the bees and in a 

 few moments uncovers the frames, takes 

 the combs out and examines each one 

 until the queen is found. It usually 

 requires about as much time for an 

 expert to find a queen as it does for one 

 to read these few lines descriptive of the 

 method. 



The beekeeper who is bound to suc- 

 ceed will soon find plenty of methods 

 to do all the required work about the 

 apiary. If one method fails, he tries 

 another. 



Another way to find a queen and one 

 which I think is a good idea is given by 

 R. L. Taylor of Lapeer, Mich. This 

 plan is somewhat similar to the one given 

 above, though it may be an easier 

 method when a large colony is to be 

 looked over for a virgin queen. Mr. 

 Taylor's method is as follows : 



"If the colony to be operated on is not 

 already provided with a queen-exclud- 

 ing honey-board, or a cap of some kind, 

 provide it Avith one, and in every case 

 see that they fit loosely, so that they may 

 be quickly removed. Now, with the 

 smoker in one hand, and a small stone 

 in the other, thump on the rear end of 

 the brood chamber, for about two or 

 three minutes, puffing occasionally six or 

 eight strong blasts of smoke directly into 

 the entrance of the hive ; then quickly 

 remove the super or the honey-board, 

 turning the latter bottom side up on the 

 ground in front of the hive, when you 

 will most likely find the queen among 

 the bees. 



If you are not successful in finding 

 the queen the first time, be assured that 

 either your eyes are not trained to rec- 

 ognize the queen readily, or that you 

 have not carefully followed the direc- 

 tions." 



Years ago and a long time before the 

 plan of Mr. Taylor's appeared in the 

 bee-papers, I gave nearly the same 

 method for finding a queen as now rec- 

 ommended by Mr. T. We had no 

 metallic honey-boards in those days. 

 Wood-caps were used on all Lang- 

 stroth hives. Our plan was to use smoke 

 at the entrance and drum on the hives 

 to alarm the bees. Then the honey- 

 board was removed and the queen was 

 found on it ; if not, the cap of the 

 hive was placed on and the bees driven 

 from the combs into it. The cap is 

 then removed and examined for the 

 queen which is usually found therein ; 

 if not, another cap is used and the bees 

 drummed again, and so on till the queen 

 is found. After the queen is found the 

 bees are left to return to the hive at their 

 pleasure. 



The best way to find a queen is to go 



