THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



125 



FKItriLIZATIOX OF QUEK.XS IX 

 COXFIXKMEXT. 



Query No. 24. In Vol. II, p. 05. 

 will he found a st:iteineiit by J. R- 

 Caldwell, Hoop(;ston, 111., saying- he 

 coiikl mate his stock as he wished in 

 conlinenient. Has lie followed up the 

 plan there described? llow many 

 queens can he thus "et mated in a sea- 

 son? Has any other of your many 

 readers tried tlie same and with what 

 results? Judniiiii- by my own experi- 

 ments in this line, ext(>iidinji' over a 

 numlxn- of years, we have much yet to 

 learn before the matter is reduced to a 

 practical certainty. 



S. SiMMOXS. 

 ANSWER BY J. R. CALDWELL. 



Sicknes.s has prevented us from 

 rurlhcr experiments. Oiu' humble 

 opinion is, tliat there are too many 

 (contingencies to warrant a general 

 succiessof fertilizing queens in con- 

 finement. 



Iloojyeston, III. 



ANSWER r.Y J. E. POND. 



I have not seen any reports 

 from Mr. Caldwell in relation to 

 his success in the matter. The 

 question of mating queens in con- 

 finement has been a matter of 

 study and labor for many years by 

 some of our most scientific bee- 

 keepers, but not one of them has 

 as yet met with success. A few 

 reports have been made of indi- 

 vidual cases where queens were 

 mated in confinement, but the tests 

 us given are not considered strong 

 enough to warrant the conclusion 

 that any real practical or beneficial 

 results will grow out therefrom. 



There are so tnany chances for 

 mistakes in the matter, that unless 

 successful mating in every instance 

 follows, or in a sufiflcient number 

 of cases to warrant the finding, 

 that no possible error has been 

 fallen into, that we must go slow 

 in our belief and call for positive 

 proof of the strongest, possible 

 (character before we accept the; 

 conclusion thai queens can be 



mated as we choose to have them 

 and in confinement. 



He who matures a i)lan by which 

 such inating can be accomplished, 

 will be doing beekeepers an im- 

 mense benefit and place his own 

 name high up on the roll of apia- 

 rian princes. 



Foxboro, Masfi. 



ANSWER BY WILL 31. KELLOGG. 



I can't say anything as to Mr. 

 Caldwell's work as 1 know nothing 

 of it. I have tried several of the 

 plans for mating queens in confine- 

 ment, but with no practical success. 

 I have had good success by raising 

 early drones from a favorite queen, 

 by placing drone comb in the centre 

 earl}^ and stimulating, raising young 

 queens to be of similar right age 

 (drones about two weeks, 3'oung 

 queens four or five days old) then 

 inciting both young queens and 

 drones to fly early in the da}' b}' 

 sprinkling both stocks with sweet- 

 ened water. In this way I get a 

 large per cent mated with the de- 

 sired drones. 



ANSWER IJY C. W. DAYTON. 



I think the plan mentioned must not 

 have been very advantageous or more 

 wouUl have been said about it. It 

 would have been adopted and advised 

 more. 



HOW TO INTRODUCE A QUEEN. 



The safest and best metliod ever tested in 

 the Bay State Apiary lor introducing queens, 

 is as follows : 



The colony to which a strange queen is to 

 be introduced sliould remain f|ueenless tln-ee 

 days (72 hours). Then the colony should be 

 thoroughly smoked and the queeii allowed to 

 run in over the combs during the excitement; 

 or the cage, in which the queen is shipped, may 

 be so placed that the queenless bees can re- 

 move the food and rc^lease the (luecn. To do 

 this, t'irn back the wire-cloth that covers the 

 foo(l, just enough to allow the queen to pass 

 out when the food is removed. 



If one of our ftimigators, such as we have 

 used for thirty years, is used to fumigate the 

 bees with tobacco smoke, not one queen in 

 one hundred will be lost in introducing, 

 whether the queen be a fertile or an unfertile 

 one. Wc si)enil about five minutes in smok- 

 ing the bees and lilow in only a small amount 

 at each pulV. lntrodn<'e <iueeiis just at sun- 

 down, as the bees will not rob then, and 

 I'verything will bo all right in the moi-ning. 



