THE AMERICAN APIGULTURIST. 



Ill 



was as follows : I went to a colony 

 ■which has a virgin queen, and toolc 

 away the virgin, and immediatel}^ let 

 the laying queen loose upon the combs 

 right among the bees; they received 

 her kindly and at once commenced to 

 caress her, and she appeared just as 

 contented and happy as though that 

 had been her native liome. 81ie com- 

 menced laying in a very fevv hours, 

 and in just twenty-one days from the 

 time she was put into the hive her 

 young bees began to hatch quite free- 



I would not recommend this method 

 of introduction only in cases where 

 the queen to be removed is a virgin 

 queen, and when such is the case tliis 

 is the most simple and easy way im- 

 aginable, and I believe it to be well 

 nigh inrallil)le. I have practised it 

 for several years with perfect success 

 in every instance. 



The ap[)earance of a la3Mng queen 

 in their midst, in place of a vii-gin, is 

 in such perfect harmony with tlie nat- 

 ural course of events tliat it does not 

 seem to arouse an}' suspicion among 

 the bees. Although tlie odor of a fer- 

 tilized queen may be different from 

 that of a virgin, nevertheless tliat 

 change of odor is just what their in- 

 stinct teaches them to expect as the 

 next development of their virgin 

 queen, and therefore insures the favor- 

 able reception of the strange queen ; 

 being greeted as the sovereign of the 

 colony she at once feels at home and 

 contented, and will usually proceed 

 forthwith to the fulfilment of her 

 queenlj' duties. 



There may not be anything in this 

 that will be new to the readers of the 

 Api, but I do not remember of ever 

 having seen this mode of introduction 

 recommended, except in an article 

 written by myself several years ago, 

 which was published in the Canadian 

 Bee JournaU vol. 2, pages 908-909. 

 I prefer this method when circum- 

 stances will admit of it ; partly because 

 of its simplicity and certainty of suc- 

 cess, but principally because I believe 



that queens introduced in this way 

 are invariably more cordiall}' received, 

 and consequently they prosper better. 

 On the other hand, it sometimes hap- 

 pens that queens introduced by other 

 metho Is, and under diff"erent condi- 

 tions, altliough their presence is toler- 

 ated, yet they are looked upon with 

 suspicion and treated with cold indif- 

 ference if not actually tortured by the 

 bees; and if anything goes wrong, or 

 the hive is disturlied, tliey appear to 

 hold the queen ac(;ountal)le for all of 

 their trouble, and she lives in jeopardy 

 of her life all the time, and therefore 

 la3's but sparingly if at all. I have 

 known instances where the bees would 

 ball their queen every time the brood 

 nest was disturbed for a month or 

 more after being introduced. 



I believe that if the facts were fully 

 known, that many of the com[)laints 

 that we hear of about queens being 

 injured by confinement in the mails, 

 would be found chargeable to the 

 above named cause and nothing else. 



Seymour, Wis. 



Small hives and their management. 



Z. S. Hawk. 



Isn't the editor of the Apicultur- 

 iST getting to be a little bit radical in 

 his views regarding the proper size 

 of hives? Here he is, now, advocat- 

 ing an 8-frame hive with a capacity 

 of about 7 L frames. According to 

 all theory that is about 3 L frames 

 too small, and our editor, this veter- 

 an of thirty years in the apiary, ought 

 to find himself going into the harvest 

 with nucleus colonies and meeting 

 dire disaster for want of the proper 

 number of bees. But no such ill luck 

 attends him and after due trial of 

 such hives he has the courage to pro- 

 claim his faith. That's right, friend 

 Alley, and I am with you in your be- 

 lief in hives that do not take in all 

 out-doors. And right here I will tell 

 you a little of my experience the past 

 season. 



