132 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



young bees by giving capped brood from 

 other colouies? California. 



Reply. 



1. Tiiere can be uo possible objection 

 to giving capped brood to a colony that is 

 rearing qneens; in fact, if all capped and 

 hatching brood can be given, it would be 

 some advantage, though bees so young as 

 two or tliree days old would do but little 

 towards uursiug aud feeding the royal 

 larva. 



Unless the frame containing brood had 

 for ten days been from a colony having a 

 queen, there would be more or less un- 

 capped brood in the comb, and in such a 

 case there would be objection to placing 

 it in a hive wliei-e cell-building is going on. 

 The more queen cells begun by a colony,' 

 the more the forces of the l)ees are divid- 

 ed. I never place l)rood in any hive in 

 which the bees are buiUling cells. 



2. No; a colony under such circum- 

 stances will not rear flrst-class queens. 

 Such a colony would build several cells, 

 but in my opinion there would not be one 

 valuable queen in the lot. There is not 

 vigor enough in the old bees for cell-build- 

 ing and the young bees born in a hive that 

 has no queen would not feel the necessity 

 of one, as bees do that once had a queen ; 

 and the excitement attending the loss of a 

 queen in a colony would not he present in 

 the case here cited. The bees need such 

 excitement to stimulate and properly lit 

 them for cell-building. 



brood-rearing was commenced, drones 

 will appear late, yet if there are drone cells 

 in the central comb, drones would be seen 

 flying early in May and several weeks be- 

 fore any swarms are likely to issue. 



Use the traps, my friend, and thus take 

 ease and comfort in keeping bees. 



Mating Queens — How Bees preserve 

 Honey. 



Lehmaster, Pa. 

 Mr. H. Alley: 



How do you manage to mate Italian queens 

 witli desirable drones to prevent in-breedinjc? 

 If you have a way, please let nie know by letter or 

 throii-rh the Apl I liave read al)oiit the sugar 

 barrel being tried with a hole at the top end cov- 

 ered with glass. Tlie queen and drone would 

 mate iu confinemeiit or ratlier fall together in the 

 embrace, but not one was fertilized. At a rei'cnt 

 meeting of learned men in Berlin, it was saiil as 

 a fai-t tliat when a l)ee has filled her cell with 

 honey and lias completed the lid she adds a drop 

 of formic acid wliicli sliegets from the poison bag 

 connected with the sting. To do this she perfor- 

 ates the lid with the sting. This acid preserves 

 the honey. Have you ever observed ni your 

 apiary that such is the case ? 



L. H. LiXDKlMUTH. 



See answer to Mr. Eberly. There is 

 not a well authenticated case on record 

 where a queen was fertilized iu close 

 confinement. I am of the opinion that 

 the bees use no aciil to preserve honey in 

 the hive. It is a well-known fact that honey 

 is a preservative and that when well ri- 

 pened it will keep for years without arti- 

 ticiar means to preserve it. 



Pure Fertilization. 



Strasburg, Va. 

 H. Allev: 



How do you secure pure Italian mating when 

 one's apiary contains black and Italian bees? I 

 know, of coui-se, it is not possible to secure it 

 every time. What I mean to say is, is there no 

 way to increase the chances of pure mating? 

 Will it do to push the Italian colonies ahead and 

 get early Italian drones? 



G. W. Eberly. 



I secure pure fertilization l)y using the 

 drone-trap on all hives that do not con- 

 tain pure Italian queens, and do it every 

 time, too. If the traps are so used it will 

 be impossible to have even one queen im- 

 purely fertilized. The idea of rearing Ital- 

 ian drones, before black drones can appear, 

 would do very well; but how can it be 

 done? The black bees would swarm as 

 early as the Italian, and I fail to see how 

 anything can be gained by having Italian 

 drones ahead of the black ones. Drones ap- 

 pear early or late in the season according 

 to the situation of the drone comb in a 

 hive. If there is no drone comb iu the 

 centre of the brood-nest or near where 



HCW TO INTRODUCE A QUEBTyT. 



The safest and best method tested in the 

 Bay State Apiary for introducing qneens is 

 as follows ; 



Tlie colony to which a strange queen is to 

 be introduced should flr^t remain queenless 

 three days (7-2 hours). Then tlie bees should 

 be thoroughly smoked and the queen allowed 

 to run in over the comlis during tlie excite- 

 ment; or the cage in which the queen is 

 shipped, may be so placed that the bees of 

 the colony can remove the food and release 

 the queen. To do this with our cage, turn 

 back the wire-cloth that covers the lbo<i, just 

 enough to allow the queen to pass out when 

 the food is removed. 



If one of our fumigatorsisused to fumigate 

 the bees with tobacco smoke, not one (jiieen 

 in one hundred will be lost in introducing, 

 whether the queen be a fertile or an unfertile 

 one. We spend about five minutes in smok- 

 ing the bees and blow in only a small amount 

 at a time. Introduce queensjust atsnnclown, 

 as the bees will not ilien rob, and everything 

 will be all right in the morning. 



In no case place the new queen near the col- 

 ony to which she is to be introduced, until tlie 

 bees have been (lueenless the time stated. 

 Cells will lie started during the time the bees 

 are queenless, but as soon as the ^i&w queen 

 is introduced tlioy will be destroyed. Do not 

 open the hive for, at least, one week alter the 

 queen is introduced, as there is danger that 

 the bees will kill her. 



