Will a Virgin Queen, if She Meets no Drone 

 within Ten Says, Prove Fertile ? 



J. F. Hershey had queens that did not 

 meet drones within eight days and became 

 fertile afterwards. He thought even four- 

 teen days was no bar to fertility, although 

 six days was the usual period for the queen 

 to emerge, but bad weather may retard the 

 flight. 



Henry Huber quoted Langstroth, who 

 was rather against the above theory. He 

 has had experience that makes him believe 

 fifteen days are not too long. 



I. G. Martin had a queen two years ago 

 which had a defective wing, and could not 

 go out. She began to lay at the end of 

 twenty days, and the brood were all drones. 



Do Queens Become Fertile Except on the 

 Wing? 



Mr. Davis had a queen that could not fly. 

 She came out several times and became fer- 

 tile. The general theory, however, is that 

 they cannot become fertile unless they take 

 flight to meet the drones. 



Introducing Queens. 



Mr. Hershey gave his method as follows : 

 I first remove the queen from the colony 

 where 1 want to put the Italian queen. I 

 put the Italian queen in a wire cage, and 

 put a stopper made of comb that the bees 

 did not breed in yet, in one end of the cage, 

 the other end 1 pinch together. Now hang 

 the cage with the queen between the combs 

 near the brood, so that the bees will cluster 

 on it. If the stopper is not made too large 

 and pressed too tight together, the bees will 

 liberate the queen in 24 to 36 hours. If the 

 honey is plenty in the fields and the bees 

 store pretty fast I take the cage out the third 

 day after 1 have put the queen and cage in. 

 If the honey is scarce the bees store very 

 little, I wait one week before I take out the 

 cage. I don't disturb the colony at all for 

 one week. The bees will liberate the queen 

 in a few days and she will lay just as well 

 with the cage between the combs as if the 

 cage is out. If the cage is taken out as 

 soon as the bees have liberated the queen, 

 then she has not commenced to lay yet, is 

 light and wild, and will run over the combs. 

 The bees will pursue her, and then she tries 

 to get loose ; will be surrounded, and the 

 bees will smother her. As soon as a queen 

 moves fast over the comb, the bees go after 

 her. If it is their own reared queen, they 

 want her to move slowly over the combs. 

 If a colony is not disturbed in one week af- 

 ter the queen is introduced with the cage, 

 then she will be out and laying ; she is 

 heavy with eggs, feels at home, and will 

 move slowly over the combs. A great many 

 of the qneens that are killed when intro- 

 duced, are killed on account of the colony 

 being disturbed betore the queen has com- 

 menced to lay. Queens that are shipped 

 and have stopped laying for three or four 

 days, are harder to introduce than queens 

 that are just changed from one colony to 

 another in the same apiary. The best time 

 in the day to introduce queens when honey 

 is scarce is in the evening, just before the 

 sunsets; then nearly all the bees in the oth- 

 er colonies are at home, and if they would 

 try to rob, night would soon, overtake them. 



The next morning bees that were disturbed 

 by the introduction of the queen will be 

 ready for a fight if strange bees should 

 come. If the honey is plenty in the field a 

 colony can be opened at any time in the day 

 with safety, to introduce a queen. 



I. G. Martin reported a failure by this 

 plan — the first he ever had. His method 

 was the same as that of Mr. Hershey. 



Mr. Davis said it was a difficult matter to 

 introduce a queen in the fall. At other 

 times there is no trouble. He thought it 

 was not so difficult to introduce a queen to 

 black or Italian bees as to a hybrid colony. 



Marketing Honey. 



I. G. Martin read the following : Market" 

 ing honey is of great importance to the 

 bee-keeper. If we have but a small number 

 of colonies we can find ready sale for our 

 honey at home, and it is not of much im- 

 portance in what shape it is put up. But if 

 we have a large number of colonies and get 

 thousands of pounds of honey, we must 

 have some other than the home market. 

 Honey to be sent to the city market, must 

 be put up in neat and attractive shape, and 

 so arranged as not to give the dealer any 

 trouble. One leaky box or can may do 

 great injury. Comb honey should be chiefly 

 in small sections of one and two pounds 

 each, for such packages are sure to sell. 

 They should be clean and white ; the honey 

 should be taken from the bees as soon as it 

 is capped, for if it is on the hives long, after 

 it is capped, it will get dark-looking by the 

 bees traveling over it. By having it in sec- 

 tions which only contains a single comb, 

 the consumer can see what he buys. These 

 sections can be glassed if the market de- 

 mands it ; but I think it will sell better 

 without glass, because if the consumer 

 wants to buy a few pounds of honey, he 

 does not want to pay for one-fourth weight 

 of glass, which he cannot eat. I think the 

 two-pound sections are preferable for the 

 following reasons : the bee will store more 

 honey in them than in the one-pound sec- 

 tions, for by using the one-pound sections 

 the hive is too much divided into small 

 compartments. Besides, we can afford to 

 sell them cheaper, and the consumer will 

 not have so much tare as when he buys 

 them in the one-pound sections. But if the 

 market demands the one-pound sections, 

 then we must furnish them. 



If separators have been used (and every 

 progressive bee-keeper should use them), 

 these sections will be in good condition to 

 be glassed, if glass is demanded ; and they 

 will also be [in nice shape to be shipped 

 without glass, as they may stand side by 

 side without marring the comb. These 

 should be packed in crates of one dozen of 

 the two pounds, or two dozen of one-pound 

 sections; and the crates should have glass 

 on two sides, so that the honey may be seen. 



Extracted honey has all the flavor and is 

 in every way equal if not superior to comb 

 honey. When the people once know what 

 it is, and know that it is not strained honey, 

 the demand for this article will largely in- 

 crease, to the advantage of both the con- 

 sumer and the producer. Extracted honey 

 is the pure honey removed from the combs 

 and is free from all impurities. It is not 



