PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W. T FALCONER MANPG CD 



VOL. II. 



Mf\Y, 1892. 



NO. 5. 



Finding Queens. 



BY J. A. GREEN. 



One of the most important and 

 necessary operations of bee-keeping is 

 that of rinding the queen. While it is 

 quite possible to keep bees — and suc- 

 cessfully, too — without ever seeing a 

 queen, yet as the queen 'is the main- 

 spring of a colony, so the possession 

 of the queen is the pivotal point on 

 which much of modern bee-keeping 

 turns, and to find queens quickly and 

 easily is a very great desideration. 

 To the beginner, though, it is usually 

 very difficult. Well do I remember 

 the number of times I overhauled my 

 first colonies before I could get sight 

 of a queen. I am reminded that others 

 find the same difficulty by the number 

 of times I am asked, " How do you 

 go to work to find a queen ? " I used 

 to reply that the only way to find a 

 queen is to look for her. 



While in one sense this is true, so 

 much depends on the way the looking 

 is done, that for the benefit of the 

 novice I will detail some of the prin- 

 cipal methods of finding queens. 



The first is the ordinary method of 

 looking them up on the combs of the 

 hive. The best time of day is about 

 ten or eleven o'clock, when the great- 



est number of bees ore away from the 

 hive. Open the hive carefully and 

 quietly, not jarring the hive, and us- 

 ing just as little smoke as possible, so 

 that the bees may not be unnecessarily 

 alarmed. 



Beginning at the side of the hive 

 nearest you, take out about the second 

 frame from you, as the queen will not 

 often be found on the outside combs 

 at the start. Look over this frame 

 quickly and then set it in an empty 

 hive placed within convenient reach. 

 As you remove the next frame, look 

 first over the surface of the nest comb 

 in the hive. If you do not see her 

 there, look over the side of the frame 

 in your hands that is fartherest from 

 you. The queen has a tendency to 

 run from the side that is exposed to 

 the light, so if you glance at the side 

 of the comb nearest you as soon as it 

 is exposed to view, it will be unneces- 

 sary to closely examine that side 

 agiin. Look over the frames rapidly 

 in this way, setting each frame into 

 the empty hive by your side as soon 

 as examined. If you have not found 

 her by the time all the frames have 

 been gone over, look carefully on the 

 sides and bottom of the hive. If there 

 are any bunches of bees, make them 



