82 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



Willi my knife I cut into a frtinie 

 of lionej, 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 Jcnife put more of the same honey 

 on the wings, legs and head ; do not 

 be afraid of it hut get all yon can 

 on the wings, legs and head, then she 

 cannot fly or run ; drop her between 

 the centre frames, close the hive at 

 once ; 3'ou can look again in twenty- 

 four hours. J have introduced many 

 queens in this way and cannot recall 

 a case of losing a queen. 



Now, do not handle a queen with 

 the bare fingers, but have them well 

 covered with honey from the same 

 hive into which you put the queen. 



To test this matter, 1 have taken 

 queens in my hand and held them 

 about ten minutes, then put them in 

 the hive and lost them every time. If 

 the queen is contaminated with any 

 foreign scent the bees aie sure to no- 

 tice it and know it is not their queen, 

 but if she is covered with honey fi-om 

 the same hive introduced at once be- 

 fore they are aware that their queen 

 is gone, by the time they get her all 

 clean she is quiet and they suppose 

 she is the old queen. 



I have been veiy successful with 

 virgin queens in this vvay. I got my 

 first idea of this method from II. A. 

 Burch. 



Now, I do not say this is the only 

 and best way to do, but you will save 

 at least twenty-four hours' time, and 

 it has been successful with me for 

 about ten or twelve years. 



Clinton, Mich. 



Number Eight. 



MRS. H. HILLS. 



The weather. 



March went out yesterday, quite 

 " like a lion," the glass indicating, in 

 the morning, 12° above zero. Though 

 the winter has been exceptionally 

 mild, with A'ery little snow, bees have 



had but few i)erfect flights ; hardly 

 one each month, during which more or 

 less of the little adventurers were not 

 chilled. 



On March twenty -fourth of last year 

 bees brought pollen, as in June ; thus 

 far, no load of pollen has come in this 

 season. 



To-day, there is a huge snowbank 

 at the east door, the result of last 

 week's " blizzard," while the apiary 

 is entirely bare. 



Condition of colonies. 



What a pleasure it is to have every 

 colony in such absolutely good condi- 

 tion that not the slightest anxiety is 

 felt for their safet}'. Mine have been 

 thus this winter : not a hive has been 

 opened for nearly five months, they 

 being all on summer stands, so com- 

 fortably packed and with so abundant 

 and excellent stores that they could 

 not fail to do well. Their appear- 

 ance, at times of flight, indicates al- 

 most entire uniformity in strength of 

 colonies. It is indeed a pleasure to 

 find, at the opening of si)ring, not a 

 single weak colony in the apiary. In 

 the matter of stores, they will liardly 

 need examination before new honey 

 from the clover arrives. 



Conditions of snccess. 



1 would certainly say to novices in 

 beekeeping, do not tolerate weak col- 

 onies. You cannot afford the time and 

 strength necessary to doctor them ; 

 and it also appears to me, that there 

 is no necessity for having weak colo- 

 nies at any time. Most certainly, my 

 time of disaster may come, but 1 have 

 never yet found it necessary to lose a 

 single colony. However, for this 

 measure of success, the very closest 

 attention to every possible detail has 

 been necessary ; and certainly, "eter- 

 nal vigilance has been the price of 

 freedom." I do not believe that one 

 pel son in a thousand would be willing 

 to bestow the care upon the apiary 

 which I give merely as a labor of 

 love. 



