482 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



July 



haps hinder brood-rearing; therefore I would 

 endeavor to arrange the ventilation so as to 

 average as nearly right as we can conve- 

 niently. Of course, a powerful colony needs 

 a larger entrance tlian one of moderate 

 strength. There is no objection to an en- 

 trance both front and rear, so far as I know, 

 unless it is too much air during cool nights, 

 and the difficulty you speak of. As the bees, 

 sooner or later, settle down on either the 

 one or the other entrance, I do not believe 

 they thus ])refer two entrances. Adam 

 Grimm thought once he secured larger re- 

 sults in comb honey with hives where the 

 bottom-board was entirely removed, tlian he 

 did with the usual entrance. Now, this 

 may be the case during a very severe pro- 

 tracted term of hot days ; while other sea- 

 sons, as they average, it would have the op- 

 posite effect. Experiment for a locality, and 

 climate, and you will, in a few years, be able 

 to decide just about the size of entrance that 

 gives the best results. A hive made of single 

 boards, like tlie Simplicity, would need more 

 ventilation, to stand right in the sun, than 

 double-walled hives like the chaff hives. If 

 you will look in the A B C book you will see 

 that we train the grapevines so their broad 

 leaves extend pretty well over the whole top 

 of the hive, and I think the grapevines could 

 be trained, even in yoiu- locality, so as to 

 meet all requirements. 



HOW TO INTRODUCE A QUEEN 

 SAFELY. 



A CAGED FKAME OF BROOD. 



fHE safe introduction of queens Is a subject 

 upon which much has been wi-itten, and 

 many plans have been devised to accom- 

 plish that object, all of which sometimes fail 

 to bring about the desired results. After us- 

 ing all the plans known up to 1874, and failing with 

 them, I ne.\t adopted what is now known as the 

 Peet plan.orPeet introducing-eage ; and after using 

 it a year with entire success, I wrote to the bee- 

 papers regarding it, telling how to make the cages, 

 etc.; and the success of the plan in later years, has 

 proven that said plan was better than any previous- 

 ly adopted. But after a little I occasionally lost a 

 queen by this plan. Especially do I find that the 

 worker-bees which come with the queen (when pro- 

 curing a queen from a distance) add much to the 

 liability of a loss of the queen, for the bees of the 

 colony to Avhich the queen is to be introduced are 

 more hostile toward these bees than they arc toward 

 the queen, often causing a fight between them when 

 they first come together, thus endangering the 

 (jucen. When using said method of introduction, I 

 always disposed of the workers which came with 

 the queen, after which I was generally sure of suc- 

 cess, yet not always. AVhcn a loss did occur it was 

 (}uite apt to fall on a valuable queen coming a long 

 distance, so that the loss was more keenly felt. De- 

 siring a plan that I know would never fail, no mat- 

 ter whether the queen was worth $.50 or a virgin 

 queen not worth 10 cents, I began to look about for 

 such a plan. That a queen could be let loose on 

 frames of hatching brood with a certainty of suc- 

 cess, providing the brood did not get chilled, or 

 some hole was left so the queen could crawl out and 



die, set me to thinking that if a frame could be made 

 that would go in the hive, into which a frame of 

 hatching brood could be slipped, that I would have 

 the tluug complete, for the heat from the hive 

 would keep the brood from chilling. Accordingly I 

 got out two pieces of wood, ?a inch larger than my 

 frame was deep, by 3 inches wide, and 3-16 thick. 

 Onto these pieces I nailed a strip of wire cloth long 

 enough to go clear around, except the top. This 

 wire cloth was wide enough so that the space be- 

 tween the pieces was ^s inch moi-e than the outside 

 width or length to my frame. In the center of the 

 upper end of each of the two wooden pieces I made 

 a mortise the exact size of the top-bar to the frame, 

 while a cover was made attachable to the cage, 

 which would closely cover the top, when it could be 

 tightly secured. Into this cage I could slip a frame 

 of hatching brood, let out my queen and the few 

 bees that came with her, secure the cover, and hang 

 the whole in the center of a colony of bees, the cage 

 taking the place of two frames. Of course, the 

 frame of hatching brood should have a little honey 

 along the top-bar as feed for the bees while they are 

 thus confined, as the bees from the colony will sel- 

 dom feed them. I now leave the cage for 5 or 6 

 days, by which time the cage will be filled with bees, 

 if a right choice was made when secui-ing the frame 

 of hatching brood. The cage is now taken to a hive 

 standing where we wish our new colony to stand 

 (for a new colony it will soon become), when the 

 cage is to be hung in the hive, and the cover re- 

 moved. Next, lift out the frame of bees and brood, 

 upon which you will see the queen, for by this time 

 she has become the adopted mother of the little 

 colony, and filled the cells with eggs. Set the frame 

 in the hive together with one of honey, and move 

 up the division-board to suit their wants, and the 

 work is done without the least possible chance of a 

 loss. If you wish to build them up to a full colony, 

 give another frame of hatching-brood in a few days, 

 and in a week or so a second, when, by the end of a 

 month, you will have as good a colony as any in the 

 yard. I have now used the above plan for two 

 years, and can say that I have at last found one 

 plan to introduce a queen which will always prove a 

 success, even with those having but little experi- 

 ence. Those having a lamp nursery can hang the 

 cage in that instead of a hive of bees, if they pre- 

 fer, as the result will be the same if the heat in the 

 nursery can be fully controlled. 



G. M. D(JOLITTLE. 



Borodino, N. Y., July 2, 1884. 



Friend 1)., the above arrangement has 

 been used, off and on, for a good many 

 years. After your mention of it in the .1. i>. 

 /., some time ago, we had several orders for 

 them, and we have kept a few in stock, al- 

 though we have never a<lvertised them. As 

 you have called attention to the matter, I 

 think we will have an engraving made. 

 The only objection I should have to the 

 l)lan is, that it is a good deal of machinery 

 for introducing a queen. I have never suc- 

 ceeded in getting the queen to lay very 

 much, miless the workers that go out of tlie 

 hive every day could liave access to the cells 

 where she deposits her eggs. Although I 

 have never known a failure with this plan, 

 1 am a little inclined to think that cross hy- 

 brids might, during a dearth of honey, take 

 exceptions to a queen introduced even in 

 this way. 



