146 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



Aug^ist 



the sixties held tiie position of State 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

 He was also a prominent banker for 

 some time in Denver ; and today he en- 

 joys the further distinction of being the 

 only exclusive honey merchant. In that 

 city. Mr. Frisbee now anticipates the 

 j)leasure of attending a family reunion, 

 which is to be held at Roxbury, N.Y., in 

 September, and also a visit to his old 

 plantation in Virginia. Taken in con- 

 nection with the fact that Mr. Frisbee 

 has been a successful farmer and apiar- 

 ist in Colorado, and is, we believe, 

 associated with the publication of a 

 Christian Endeayor journal, these 

 things show creditably indeed as the 

 accomplishments of a life which he is 

 yet hopeful may be prolonged for 

 another score of years. 



Mrs. Flora E. Frisbee is the wife of 

 J. Charles Frisbee, who founded the 

 busines's in 1883. He is a son of the 

 senior member of the firm, Hon. R. K. 

 Frisbee. Their portraits appear in this 

 number. (See frontispiece.) 



INTRODUCING VIRGIN QUEENS. 



Something in Regard to This and Other 

 Matters of Interest to Those who 

 Handle Nuclei. 



BY W. H. PKIBGEX. 



THE only thing new that Brother 

 Doolittle will draw out on the in- 

 troduction of just-hatched queens 

 to colonies from which laying queens 

 have been taken from one to three 

 days, is my astonishment that any one 

 should meet with the dismal failure he 

 reports. I am slad I have Dr. Miller as 

 a support, inasmuch as Doolittle faih^d; 

 and I am not sure but that I got the 

 idea from him. 



The next morning, after reading the 

 July Kee-keepkk, I caged some queens 

 and in ten minutes gave to one of the 

 neuclei from which a queen was taken, 

 a virgin that was left in the nursery 

 when distributing those that had 

 hatched during the night among tin* 



nuclei that had been queenless from 

 one to three days, and two days later I 

 found her as lively as a cricket. 



Usually I open the hive, give a puff 

 or two of smoke, let the queen crawl 

 down between the combs, give another 

 puff and close the hive; and especially 

 if the weather be at all cool; but it is 

 not uncommon to give the puff or two 

 of smoke at the entrance, allow the 

 queen to crawl in and then give another 

 puff behind her. at a safe distance, not 

 to burn her. 



For three seasons virgins have been 

 given instead of cells almost exclusively, 

 and I do not have enough of them reject- 

 ed to justify looking through the nuclei 

 until they are expected to be found lay- 

 ing. In fact. I have learned from ex- 

 perience that the greatest loss occurs 

 by disturbing the nuclei just before 

 and after the mating period. 



It must be that Bro. Doolittle tried 

 giving "downy misses" at a very unfa- 

 vorable time, or else allowed them to 

 get too old. They should not be old 

 enough to be very active: they should 

 be removed from the nursery at least 

 three times a day; and I do not find any 

 too old that emerge during the night, 

 though I usually assort them and give 

 those that show by their color and 

 activity that they are the oldest to colo- 

 nies that have been queenless the 

 longest. 



It is not uncommon to give queens 

 an hour or two old to colonies that have 

 been queenless two or three days with- 

 out using smoke ; but it is safer to use 

 it, and especially if there is no field 

 work for the bees. When the bees are 

 actively engaged I consider one day of 

 queenlessness sufficient and often risk 

 them the same day the laying queen is 

 removed, to be looked after a day or 

 two later; but at other times I prefer 

 waiting at least two days and then 

 cause the bees to set up quite a roar 

 before allowing them to crawl in. 

 I may be mistaken, but I am of the 

 opinion that the sooner they are given 



