THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



I'erfect quiet on tJie iastilng of tJie queen. 



The best ineLliod for introducing a 

 fertile queen is to place her in a cage 

 that will allow a large ping of candy 

 for the bees to eat avvay before they 

 can get at her. The improved ship- 

 ping cages are provided with this so 

 the purchaser of a queen is not com- 

 pelled to putter over special introduc- 

 ing cages. With ordinary untested 

 queens, we would recommend taking 

 away the old queen and at once plac- 

 ing the new one, as received, directly 

 over the cluster, wire cloth down, or 

 inserting the cage in a frame having 

 brood in it in such a manner that the 

 hive bees can get at the pbig of candy, 

 or hanging the cage between twocombs 

 containing brood, and leaving them 

 strictly alone for one week. 



With valuable queens we generally 

 leave the colony queeidess for seventy- 

 two hours before placing the cage in 

 the hive. Then we do it just before 

 dark. 



To make a dead sure thing with vir- 

 gin queens we follow the seventy-two 

 hour plan and plug of candy. 



To introduce a queen with the Pratt 

 cage : remove one-third of the thin lid 

 with a pocket knife, so as to expose the 

 wire cloth, draw the cloth at the sealed 

 end and insert the cage between two 

 combs of brood, directly over the clus- 

 ter, wire down ; or, better, slip it into 

 the corner of one of the frames contain- 

 ing brood. Do not remove any of the 

 candy ; let the bees do that. 



You will find when you examine the 

 colony a week after the cage was put 

 in, that your new queen is safel}' and 

 soundly installed in her new home. 



Do not remove the thin boai'd from 

 over the candy. If you should hap- 

 pen to split it off it should be tacked 

 on again before putting into the 

 strange hive. If there is not enough 

 candy left in the cage, sturt" in a wad 

 of common newspaper before giving 

 the cage to the queenless colony. 



When I am asked how to find the old 

 queen without taking out the frames, 

 I answer : drum them out in the old 



wa}' and hive them back again after ad- 

 justing a piece of perforated zinc or a 

 trap before the entrance to exclude the 

 queen. New queens can be introduced 

 to offensive neighboring box- hives in 

 this way. 



3farlboro, 3fass. 



Number Four. 



GEORGE F. KOBBINS. 



Good itlens on introducing qtieenx — The <<e- 



cret of introdueint/ queens successfully — 



Several iyfactieiii methods given for 



introducing. 



I have no new methods to offer 

 for introducing queens. 1 think it 

 would be diflicult to produce any- 

 thing new in that line. Methods 

 enough have been tried, with success 

 or failure, to stock a volume with 

 their recital. I can do little more 

 than give those which I have tried 

 with most and least success, point 

 out that which I regard as safest, and 

 the reasons therefor. 



The first plan I ever tried, and tried 

 while in my novitiate, was the least 

 successful. That was to cage the queen 

 for from one to three days in the 

 hive and then release her. Some col- 

 onies I could never get to accept a 

 queen in that way. I regard it as 

 the poorest method I know. Suc- 

 cess by that plan is not impossible 

 nor infrequent, but it is neither the 

 safe way, judging by experience, nor 

 the correct vva^' on general principles. 

 I think it is safe to say that, all 

 things considered, the less the natu- 

 ral order of things in the economy 

 of the bee-hive can be disturbed, the 

 better. We should not interfere 

 with its internal condition unless we 

 are certain its interests demand it. 

 This is es[)ecially true where the re- 

 lations of the queen to her family are 

 involved. Bees are more sensitive on 

 that point than upon any other. One 

 certain queen and one only, is the 

 family law. Bees are perhaps not 

 less disposed to allow a strange 

 worker than a strange queen in 



