420 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



bottom of the hive so as to injure her by the 

 fall, when I picked her up off the bottom and 

 examined her closely. This revealed that she 

 not only had the middle leg in the vulva, but 

 that both of the sharp claws of the front foot 

 on the same side were caught under the fourth 

 segment, or horny scale, of the abdomen. I 

 had no difficulty in liberating the foot from the 

 vulva, as the queen was now, so far as I could 

 see, lifeless, not moving or stirring any part of 

 the body, leaving legs, wings, etc., just where I 

 placed them; but when I came to try to get 

 those claws, or nails, of ihe foot, out of their 

 place under the segment of the atdomen, it was 

 a very difficult undertaking, for they were 

 about as fast as in a vise. With great care I 

 finally liberated them, straightened the queen 

 out in the palm of my hand, and pronounced 

 her dead. All who have lost a valuable queen 

 can imagine about how I felt at that time, as 

 this queen was one I had lotted on for the pres- 

 ent season's use. I laid her down on a part of 

 the hive, wondering what I should do about 

 the queenless colony, when she opened her 

 vulva and ejected several eggs in rapid succes- 

 sion. I now placed her where the bees could 

 have access to her, and, after ridding herself of 

 some twenty or thirty eggs, she put out her 

 tongue to the bees, and was fed, still lying on 

 her side. After being fed she got up, took some 

 more food from the bees, walked feebly, at first, 

 over on top of the frames, then across the tops 

 of several of them, and finally down into the 

 hive, coming out all right. She was apparently 

 dead for at least fifteen minutes, and from three 

 to five minutes in recovering after she showed 

 signs of life. Was this a spasm or cramp? and 

 have any others had a like experience? But it 

 is nut necessary to catch queens to clip them, 

 although I generally do so. With a pair of A. 

 I. Root's scissors, for this purpose, and the hand 

 holding them kept very close to the back of the 

 queen as she travels over the comb, waiting till 

 she puts her head in a cell for the final move- 

 ment, the wings can be clipped without the 

 queen even knowing she has been touched. 

 Keep the scissors open, and very close to her, or 

 you will lose the opportunity while her head is 

 in the cell in making ready. A little practice 

 will make perfect. 



REMOVINO BEES FROM SHIPPING CAGE. 



(^)we.sfio?i.— Is it better to n-move the accom- 

 panying bees from the shipping-cage before 

 trying to introduce the queen, where the Ben- 

 ton cage is used ? 



^nsioer.— Dr. Miller like, I feel like saying, 

 " I don't know " to this question. Years ago I 

 should have said yes, and very many of our 

 best bee-keepers say, '• Never try to introduce 

 the accompanying bees with the queen; for if 

 you do, the life of the queen is endangered in 

 the slaughter of these bees, which happens in 

 nearly every instance." This is jusi as I used 



to feel; but after having gotten the queen, and 

 apparently all the bees with her, introduced 

 safely scores of times. I have about come to the 

 conclusion that the old ideas along this line 

 were faulty. HDwever, the trouble of remov- 

 ing these bees is all there is against doing so, 

 as the queen will be received by the colony 

 equally well without them. It is far easier to 

 place the cage, just as it comes from the mails, 

 on top of the frames, than it is to open it, get 

 the bees out, and the queen back in again. 



INTRODUCING IN SWARMING SEASON. 



Question. — Which is preferable at time of 

 swarming — to introduce a queen to the swarm, 

 after having removed the queen going with the 

 swarm, or to introduce her to the parent colony, 

 after having cut the queen-cells? 



Answer. — I should say neither; for in the 

 first case the bees will be almost sure not to be 

 satisfied with the queen given them in place of 

 their own, when a general going-back to the 

 old hive will be the result; while if given to the 

 parent colony without removing it to a new 

 stand, so as to make them feel very poor 

 through great loss of field-bees, they will be 

 almost sure to kill the introduced queen and 

 hold to the brood they have which is still con- 

 vertible into queens. Bees having the swarm- 

 ing fever accept a queen far less readily than at 

 any other time during the season, or under any 

 other circumstances. At least, this has been 

 my experipnce. 



WHEN TO INTRODUCE. 



Question. — Which is preferable in requeening 

 — the swarming season, after the main honey- 

 flow, or in the fall when there is but little brood? 



Answer. — Just after the main honey-flow, 

 other conditions being the same. From years 

 of experience I have found that more queens 

 are superseded just after the basswood yield of 

 honey than at any other time of the year; and 

 at times when the bees seem willing to super- 

 sede queens they seem equally willing to accept 

 a new queen in place of their own. Three- 

 fourths of the exchanging of queens which I do 

 is done at this time. 



[We never supposed that the feet had any 

 thing to do in causing the cramps, though it is 

 possible. At all events, we have never observed 

 that the feet were caught in any way while the 

 abdomen was curved up. At first we concluded 

 that such cramped queens would never recover; 

 but later observation has convinced u^ that, if 

 not put back in the hive, they will generally, if 

 not always, straighten out if given time enough 

 — say four or five minutes. We had about come 

 to the conclusion that the extraordinary curva- 

 ture of the queen's abdomen when picked up 

 by the wings caused the segments to become 

 temporarily stuck by being folded in against 

 each other. This is only a surmise, however. 



As to whether the accompanying bees shall be 

 removed from the queen before introducing, we 

 have also come to the conclusion that it makes 

 no difl'erence whether they are or not. and hence 

 we-always leave the bees with her. — Ed.] 



