96 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[Oct., 



if the bees had been younger, I should have suc- 

 ceeded ; but I have been headed off so many 

 times by the bees, and in so many ways, that I 

 begin to despair of being sure of anything in 

 bee-culture. 



July nth, I set hive No. 19, containing brood 

 but no bees, in place of No. 20. Three days 

 later, I gave them, without caging, a fertile 

 queen. On the next day I found her imprisoned — 

 one party of the bees fighting for her, and 

 another against her. I then took an empty hive. 

 No. 33, put in the queen, leaving room at the en- 

 trance for positively only one bee at a time to 

 pass, and set No. 38 in place of No. 19. The result 

 was a dead queen. I then gave No. 33 a frame 

 of brood to start queen cells ; and after they had 

 them started, I gave them a crippled queen that 

 I did not care to save, to see what they would do 

 with her. She was promptly imprisoned, and 

 I left her to her fate. A few days later, on 

 going to cut out the queen cells, I found them 

 destroyed and the crippled queen laying eggs. 



On the whole, I am inclined to think that I can 

 succeed better in this way than in any other, 

 with the same amount of trouble. 



August 1st, I received a queen from Adam 

 Grimm, and desiring to run no risk, I took a 

 plan that I think is s^ire. But "there is many a 

 slip" tfcc. I bored a two inch auger hole in the 

 bottom of a Langstroth hive ; tacked a piece of 

 wire cloth over the hole on the inside of the hive 

 and another piece over it on the outside ; took 

 from a second stoi-y of another hive a couple of 

 frames containing no brood except such as were 

 ready to gnaw their way out of the cells ; put 

 this brood in the empty hive with the hole in the 

 bottom, being sure that not a single bee remained 

 on the comb ; then put in my queen with her 

 half dozen attendants, closed up the hive bee- 

 tight and placed it over a full colony, with no 

 intervening honey-board, so that the heat could 

 ascend through the wire cloth to the hatching- 

 bees. If this works well, I think I shall try the 

 same plan for making an artificial swarm. 



C. C. Miller. 



Marengo, Ills., Aug. 4, 1870. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



Introducing Queens, 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Fertile Queen whose Eggs do not Hatch. 



I have a very fine looking Italian queen in one 

 of my hives, that has been laying for a month or 

 more, yet none of her eggs have hatched. She 

 was reared in a full swarm, under the swarming 

 impulse, and is remarkably large and handsome. 

 That she mated with a drone I am sure, having 

 observed the visible signs of connection on her 

 return from her bridal tour. 



Is this common? I have reared several 

 hvmdrcd queens during the last three years, but 

 never had a case of the kind before to my knowl- 

 edge. 



G. W. P. Jerrakd. 



Levant, Me., Aug. 10, 1871. 



[3:^ The above was marked for insertion last month, 

 to accompany Dr. Hamlin's communication respect- 

 ing two similar cases, but was accidentally misplaced. 



Mr. Editor : — I give below my mode of in- 

 troducing- queens the present season, which if 

 you think worthy of a place in the Journal, 

 please insert. 



In introducing queens this season I have' pro- 

 ceeded as follows : Removed the old queen, 

 several hours after which I smoked the bees in 

 the hive from which the queen was removed, 

 and also the one from which the queen to be in- 

 troduced is to be taken, quite thoroughly with 

 tobacco smoke, till some few became giddy. I 

 then took out the frame on which the queen is 

 and held it to the entrance of the hive desired, 

 brushed off a few of the workers, which set up a 

 lively humming ; then brushed the queen from 

 the comb and saw her well in the hive. As soon 

 as she was upon the comb, I gave them more 

 smoke. 



I found this process very simple, and have 

 thus far succeeded in every instance. At the 

 time honey was very abundant, or about June 

 13th. Others who have tried this plan under 

 more unfavorable circumstances, would do me a 

 favor by reporting result. I am a little fearful 

 that if the yield of honey was light, this plan 

 might not succeed. Let others give us their ex- 

 perience. I, for one, want more light on the 

 subject. 



F. A. Snell. 



Milledgeville, Ills., Aug. 12, 1871. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Wax Extractor. 



Mr. Editor : — I have invented a wax extrac- 

 tor, which I will describe without charge, as fol- 

 lows : 



Get a i^iece of fine wire cloth, three feet square. . 

 Bend it in the form of a square box. The bottom 

 is made of board, with a hole in it large enough 

 through which to insert the comb, and fitted 

 with a movable wooden cover. Take a large 

 kettle, fill it with water, and put in your wire 

 cloth box containing the combs, loading it with 

 a stone or .stones, heavy enough to keep it under 

 water. Boil one hour. Then let it stand till it 

 gets cold. The wax rises to the surface of the 

 water, and can be taken off when cold. 



If it is desired to have the wax in one mass or 

 a nice cake, put it in a skillet, remelt it, pour it 

 in a vessel, and let it get cold, and you will have 

 as nice wax as anybody wants. 



In the summer this should be done after dark, 

 or you will be annoyed by crowds of bees from 

 the apiary. I boil mine after dark, and let it 

 stand till morning. Then I put it in a small 

 skillet, remelt it, and pour it into cups, leaving 

 it stand till cold. 



I hope 1 have given a sufficiently clear descrip- 

 tion. 



C. E. Widener. 



Ifew Cumberland, Md., Sept. 2, 1871. 



