124 



THE AMFAUCAN APICULTURIST. 



mail, coniparativel3% but the plan 

 I biivc adopted is simply to set 

 them one side in the shade till 1 

 wish to introduce them, if the 

 weather is warm ; if cold I put the 

 cage on top the frames of the hive 

 the queen is to be introduced to, 

 and leave her there. I have kept 

 queens in confinement in cages with 

 "Good Candy" for from two to 

 three weeks without trouble. My 

 method of introducing is to re- 

 move the old queen about noon of 

 a warm day when the bees are all 

 flying, leave the colony alone till 

 dusk when the bees have all re- 

 turned ; then I either allow the new 

 queen to run in at the entrance, or 

 drop her on top the frames and let 

 her run down. This is done of 

 course only when honey is being 

 gathered freel}'. When no honey 

 is being gathered I usual h' re- 

 move the old queen, put the new 

 one, cage and all, between the 

 frames ; the cages usually used now 

 have a hole in the side plugged 

 with "Good's candy, and the bees 

 in the last mentioned way will lib- 

 erate the queen b}' eating out this 

 candy-plugged hole. 

 Foxboro, Mass. 



ANSWKK BY WILL M. KELLOGG. 



I have had but little loss in 

 queens received. When honey is 

 coming in plentifully, nearly all 

 stocks will feed caged queens, and 

 queenless stocks do not fail to do 

 so. On receipt of the package, if 

 I have a stock that is ready to have 

 a queen introduced, 1 simply place 

 the cage on top of the brood- 

 frames and cover wai'm with quilts ; 

 then introduce as required. Other- 

 wise, 1 place the cage under the 

 quilt of some strong stock till I 

 can use the queen. In casetiie bees 

 are daul)ed with the food. 1 change 

 into a clean cage and proceed as 

 before. I sometimes feed tiie 

 (piecn first, if she k)oks dumpish. 



with a drop of warm honey, which 

 enlivens her. 

 Oneida, III. 



ANSWER HY 11. ALLEY. 



When 1 have received (j[ueens in 

 bad condition, the bees accompa- 

 nying her are removed, and if the 

 cage is not badly daubed with 

 honey, I introduce about a dozen 

 young bees, not just-hatching bees, 

 but those that are a few days old, 

 as the latter are much better for 

 nursing a queen than younger bees. 



If the bees have not a good sup- 

 ply of food, a fresh lot is inserted, 

 and then the cage is placed under 

 the cushion that covers a good 

 strong colony of bees. If possi- 

 ble, so place the cage that the bees 

 in the hive can feed the queen 

 through the wire-cloth, yet cannot 

 have access to the food in the 

 caoe. 



ANSWKRS UV C. W. DAYTON. 



I know of no better place to keep a 

 caged queen thiui in the centre of a 

 strong and queenless colony. When 

 the attendant bees arrive, mostly dead, 

 I substitute very young bees in their 

 places. If the queen was daubed by 

 the food they would remove it as their 

 contact with the queen woultl have a 

 tendency to better her condition. In 

 no case wou'd I allow an old bee in 

 the cage before it had remained in the 

 colony thirty-six or forty-eight hours. 



Anything that would cause the cen- 

 tra of the colony to be very warm 

 would be advisable, and I can recom- 

 mend nothing better for this than to 

 feed the colony gradualiy so as to cause 

 the bees to be good-natured and busy. 

 When it was time to release the queen 

 I would aim to do it slyly, unknown to 

 the bees or her majesty. Tliis can be 

 accomplished by arranging a block of 

 honey in the opening of tlu; cage to be 

 removed by the bees. In feeding, great 

 caution should be exercised not to ex- 

 cite robbing as it would make trouble 

 and the chance for safe introduction 

 worse than it would have been had no 

 food been given. 



If the shipping cage is daubed, a clean 

 one should be used. 



Bradford, loica. 



