5RICAN BE 



EDITED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL WAGNER, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



AT TWO DOLLARS PER ANNUM, PAYABLE IN ADVANCE. 



Vol. VII. 



jxjLTT, isn. 



No. 1. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



On the Introduction of Young Queens to Colonies 

 that are Queenless. 



Some ten years ago, I was led to suspect that 

 the ordinary statements of Huber and other emi- 

 nent apiarians, with regard to the antii)athy of 

 bees, under all circumstances, to change queens, 

 was incorrect. Eminent writers have supposed 

 that it would not be safe to introduce even a 

 queen cell to a colony until twenty-four hours 

 had elapsed after the old queen had been re- 

 moved. 



In experimenting with Italian bees, shortly 

 after their introduction to this country, I soon as- 

 certained that this was an entire mistake, and 

 that queen cells could be safely introduced, under 

 ordinary circumstances, immediately after the 

 removal of the queen.* This led me to experiment 

 further in the same direction. Supposing that 

 perhaps the hatching of a young queen iu the 

 colony might reconcile them at once to her pres- 

 ' ence, I introduced to queenless colonies cells, 

 the lids of which were being gnawed open by 

 the young queen. In some instances these 

 queens hatched in less than five minutes after 

 the cells were inserted, and I found them to be 

 unmolested, although the hive had been un- 

 queened but a few moments before their intro- 

 duction. 



I now began to suspect that there might be 

 something in the young queens themselves, either 

 in their actions, or in their odor, or their voice, 

 or want of voice, which made the bees indisposed 

 to disturb them. Therefore, after unqueeuing the 

 hive, I introduced just hatched queens at once, 

 and found them almost invariably well received. 

 The bees would occasionally seem to manifest 

 some surprise at their presence, and probably, if 

 they could have spoken their feelings iu words, 

 would have said inquiringly — "does your mother 

 know you are out?" 



If the queens were too young, they were some- 

 times dragged out of the hive, just as imperfect 

 bees are removed by workers. I next discovered 

 that, in many instances, these young queens could 



* Instead of the circumlocution of saying — removing a 

 queen from a hive, or giving a queen to a iiive — I propose to 

 use as more definite terms, the words, un'iueening a hive, 

 or queening a lave. 



be put upon the very comb where the old mother 

 was, and yet be undisturbed by the bees. In 

 order to test this matter more thoroughly, after 

 introducing a just hatched queen and finding 

 her well received, I would place upon the same 

 comb an unfertile queen several days old. The 

 bees would at once attack- her furiously, confine, 

 and speedily destroy her. It would seem, there- 

 fore, that under ordinary circumstances, young 

 queens which have not yet attained their prope^^r 

 color, and perhaps the power of piping, may be 

 introduced at once to queenless colonies. I have 

 availed myself of this discovery largely, in breed- 

 ing Italian queens : it being a common practice 

 with me as soon as the queen of a nucleus has 

 laid a suitable number of eggs to test her purity, 

 to cage her, and at once introduce a queen not 

 more than five or six hours old. It may be that 

 it would be safe to introduce queens even a day 

 old, but my practice has been to select for this 

 purpose such as had very recently hatched. 

 When the young queen thus introduced becomes 

 fertile, and has laid a proper number of eggs, I 

 cage her in turn and introduce still another. 

 And thus I am able, with one nucleus, to accom- 

 plish in queen raising, as much as is ordinarily 

 done with two or three. 



Occasionally I have known the workers to de- 

 stroy these young queens, if not immediately, 

 still within a few hours after their introduction. 

 I do not, therefore, recommend the practice 

 above described to those who have very few 

 queens, nor would I risk a young queen which I 

 valued very highly. But, as under ordinary 

 circumstances, the breeder has often more queens 

 than he knows what to do with, he can easily 

 dispose of them in the way above described. 



In order, at times, to secure a suitable number 

 of queens for this purpose, I have been accustomed 

 to condense into one colony a very lai-ge number 

 of queen cells of about the same age, inspecting 

 the colony about every hour in the day, and re- 

 moving queejis as fast as they hatched, and be- 

 fore they had an opportunity to destroy each 

 other or the other queen cells. These same 

 combs may be returned at night to their proper 

 nuclei. 



The expert will know how to avail himself of 

 the plans which I have suggested, and how to 

 modifj' them to suit his circumstances. 



L. L. Langstroth. 



Oxford, OMo, June, 1871. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S71, by Samuel Wagner, in the of 



Washington. 



I of the Librarian of Congress, 



