1871.] 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



281 



torn with the courteous creatures, I have intro- 

 duced either straugers or young fertile princesses 

 to fill the throne of Beedom, and performed in 

 fact anj'thing desired, without ever having had 

 any bad results or discovering any deleterious 

 effects from the use of chloroform to the bees, 

 the hive, or the honey. "When the hive is a 

 movable comb one, the frames may be taken out, 

 examined, and returned at leisure. It is perhaps 

 true that the bees seem to remain for a day or 

 two only, after the operation, under the sooth- 

 ing and calming effects of the chloroform, being 

 less irascible, quite tame, subdued and tractable. 

 Never fear, however, their little temper will 

 soon return, and they will not feel the worse for 

 it. I have no doubt "that if the required number 

 of fertile queens can be obtained and kept in 

 readiness in the full, say from the middle of Sep- 

 tember to the middle of October, before it begins 

 to be too cold to operate, and there being then 

 little or no brood to endanger, when the drones 

 have made their exit, a whole apiary could thus 

 be safely and expeditiously Italianized, and the 

 whole household of the hive, drones and all, 

 would be Ligurian the next spring, following. 



"These, gaily briaht, their radiant scales unfold. 

 Spangled with equal spots, and dropt with gold, 

 These, the selected race, with grateful toil 

 Shall duly yield the sweetness of tlKjir spoil." 



Virgil Georg, IV. 



The old queen usually lodging near the top of 

 the hive, is often one of the last to fall, and can 

 easily be found and removed. I never protract 

 chloroforming beyond twenty minutes, by the 

 watch. I then look for the old queen, and being 

 removed, I keep her for contingencies in a wire 

 cage. I now replace the hive on its stand in the 

 yard. The swarm to have a new queen intro- 

 duced to, or the swarms to be united, are then 

 put and spread out in a box some two feet square 

 and seven inches deep, confining the bees therein 

 by covering it with a wire-cloth frame, meshed 

 seven or eight to the inch. Immerse the queen 

 to be introduced in honey, and being thrown 

 among the bees in the box, she soon acquires 

 the same chloroform perfume of the swarm she 

 is given to. The free circulation of air in the 

 box soon revives the bees, and they will clean 

 the new queen and cluster together in the box, 

 when they can be hived again on their stand in 

 the yard. Swarms, to be united, are proceeded 

 with in the same manner, hiving them in the hive 

 in the yard, where intended to be wintei-ed. This 

 hiving is done by merely spreading a sheet or 

 placing a large, wide board before the hive, rais- 

 ing the hive one inch in front, and shaking the 

 bees out of the box, before the entrance of the 

 hive. They will readily enter the hive, which is 

 then lowered again tight to the bottom board. 

 There is no further trouble, except perhaps the 

 watching of robbers for a day or two, until the 

 swarm is fully reorganized and returned to its 

 former habits. I must state, however, that if it 

 should happen that no queen could be found, I 

 believe that the young royal lady to be intro- 

 duced in the realm of beedom, being in the full 

 strength and vigor of youth, would promptly 

 master and overpower any competitor yet drowsy 



from the lingering paralyzing effects of the chlo- 

 roform, and the workers all too confused or too 

 glad to think they are alive, that it is some time 

 before they can muster any inspiration for fight- 

 ing. 



The foregoing detailed process is certainly 

 preferable, in my humble opinion, to the one 

 described, practised, and recommended by Mr. 

 H. C. Barnard, and which is said to be friend 

 Alley's plan. [See Amer. Bee Journal, Vol. V., 

 page 256.] Think of it, i)utting the queen to 

 be introduced in her cage, and laying it on the 

 top of the frames, &c. Then blowing tobacco 

 smoke into the entrance of the hive for three or 

 four minutes. Now stop awhile, and resume 

 llowing in smoke for five or ten minutes, or 

 until the bees commence to fall down and crav.-l 

 out of the hive. I have in former days practised, 

 some such things myself, and I have often won- 

 dered that any bees survived the operation, or 

 could remain alive in a hive that must have 

 been redolent after the process, and worse 

 scented than the tobacco Parliament chamber 

 of the father of Frederick the Great. 



I do not intend by the foregoing to convey the 

 idea that I would drive away entirely from the 

 bee-yard, smoking or the use of a little smoke. 

 For minor operations in handling and managing 

 bees in the apiary, it is sometimes found very 

 handy and accommodating, and especially so 

 where chloroform cannot conveniently be used. 

 But I must condemn the converting the hive 

 into a smoking room, rendering the combs and 

 the honey repulsive if not poisonous to the bees 

 for a long time thereafter. For such wholesale 

 purposes the use of chloroform is far preferable 

 and wholesome, in this, that it subdues equally 

 as well, but leaves no disgusting or offensive 

 smell behind. The chloroforming should not be 

 prolonged beyond twenty minutes, rather less 

 than more ; never be carried to the sweating 

 point, when you will lose many bees. A little 

 experience will soon teach you how far to proceed 

 for the purpose intended. Within my expe- 

 rience, I cannot agree, however, with the 

 Scotch experimenter, that all the bees leave the 

 combs and fall helpless on the table. A great 

 many may sometimes take refuge in the empty 

 cells, to get away perhaps from the fumes. The 

 larger the swarm, and the more the bees are 

 spread out after the operation, the quicker they 

 revive. John N. Rottiers. 



Lafargeville, N. T., Feb. l', 1871. 



[For the Amfricaa Bee Journal.] 



Arresting Absconding Swarms. 



Mr. Editor : —You cannot imagine how much 

 I value your paper. In my boyhood, my father 

 kept bees, and I then became so familiar with 

 them that I have so little dread of stings as to 

 neglect to a considerable extent the precautions 

 laid down in the books, and have always been 

 able to do as I pleased in handling bees. 



I have never had a swarm to leave a hive and 

 go off, without first alighting. My impression 

 is that the old-fashioned practice of tanging pro- 



