VIK(ilN (QUEENS. 



You have pcM'sistcutly tabrKjcd tlicsf. saying 

 th»n" could not he safely sent a distaiicc aiitl 

 then safi'ly inirodui'cd. For three yeais I have 

 been sending out very hirtre numbers all ov(>r 

 the Hiitish Ish>s: and when' the instructitjns I 

 sent wei'e followed, not one failure litis reNiilled. 

 How fai' I atn boastinsi can be judged liy the 

 fact tluit every virgin (|ueen I sent to America 

 the past season, that landed alive, was safely 

 introduced: and though Dr. Miller and Mr. 

 Newman lost them sulise(juenth . in a nuinner 

 unaccountable to me. that fact, itiat. though 

 they were sir days ohl irhen in(iUe<1. and at 

 least one mated and got to laying, should be 

 proof that buying and selling vii'gin queens is a 

 solved problem: anyhow, it is here, and I guess 

 that friend Pratt has fdund it so too. What is 

 now \\ante<l is to let, peoph; undei'stand there 

 are parties willing and anxious to guarantee 

 safe introduction for a slated price. 



Theri' is no jugglei-y in the matter. I [lointcd 

 out in an article in the .Iniirnal af Hurticulture 

 foi' April :.'(5. lt<S8, scientilically, both the cause 

 of past failures and how to be successful. Vii'- 

 gin queens will atiout rexolutionize bee-keejjing; 

 as. when qniK^ undeislood. most will buy all 

 their queens as viigins. Here in England I 

 sell them at IR) cents, delivered free, guaranteed 

 agaiii-t loss in delivery, introduction, mating, 

 or winter dysentery. 1 guarantee the latter, 

 because I clain' that this disease is solely the 

 result of tlie way qui'eiis are rean^d. Each 

 queen is si.x days old when .sent out, so may 

 mate in two days, and be equal to a laying 

 (pieen. A II ai.i.a.mshikk Hke-keei'eh. 



.Shetlield, Eng.. Dec. l.'. ISUl. 



[^Ve do not know thai any of the ad\«)cutes of 

 Tunics stated positively that such bees would 

 not sting: but the impression lefl upon oui' 

 minds from the reading of (heir articles was 

 such. In fact, others seem to have understood 

 it as we did. In regard to the Jonriuil of Hor- 

 ticulture, it would be (|uite im|)ossible f(ir us to 

 nuike an extract from ii. inasmuch as tliere an; 

 very few of the foreign exchanges thai we can 

 I'ead. and those are all in the bee-journal line. 

 It is utterly impossible for us to cover even all 

 the agricultural papeis in this country. 



We do not think the iraflic in virgin queens is 

 proliial)le. either to the queen breedi-r or to the 

 leceiver of such (jueens. iliongh there maybe 

 exceptions in ca^es of new races of bees, when; 

 it is desii-able to te<t a cross, as you say the 

 crossof the Punic with any othi )• lace is superior 

 to the original stock. As some of our readers 

 may not know tiie method by which Hallam- 

 shire I{ee-ki'eper accomplishes virgin-ipieen in- 



itio 



truduction. we inaUe :ih evtracl from one (d' Ids 

 I'irculars: 



On receiiil (.1 iIOn. pirpMic ciilonics to rei-ci\-e 

 lheliia> fiillow>.: Tukc llircc oi- mote coiiihs wil h 

 some food in, l)iit no k/cki/i d brood of ejrtrs. :ind put 

 them ilia lii\c; then shiike iiiln t licse coinlis the 

 liees oH Iwo coiiihs a( lc,i>l, from ;i Kood stroiiji' 

 slock, liikiiifi' r;iie that the ipieeii is liol anionfr 

 llicni. Now iciiioxe tliis slroiif stock lo a fresh 

 Nt.'iiid. ami set 1 his new one in its phice. wiiich will 

 receive most of llie tlyiiiff bees iijso. 



I do not :i(l\isc iisiiij; any of tlie combs fi'oiii the 

 strong slock, on jic<-ountof the risk of jfcttinR one 

 wil h :iii ftij! or iwo in it. 



^'oii ina.\ prepare :i colonj- for tiie queens in other 

 ways as loiifr as no (lucen oi' means of rearing one is 

 lefl; bill I tind I he above I III' most convenient and 

 salisl'acioiy wa>()f any. 'I'lie l)ees must lie (pieeii- 

 less, and iiave no means of rearing- ont;. forty hours 

 al leasl. or you will fail to introduce tlie queens wi- 

 aic seiidiiif;' \()n. 



As soon as ydu receive the iiueens drop Ilieml)e- 

 tween the combs anioiiff the bees a/Yo- diuA, alone. 

 On no account must tlie,\- bo cajred. scented, or 

 daubed with honey. In two days, sealed l)rood may 

 be Kiveii tliein; but unseak'd "bi-ood or < gjrs must 

 not l)e triven tliem until the quiH'ns bi'^in to lay. 

 or tiiey will be almost certainly " balled" at tlie en- 

 trance on retui'inng- fi-om tlie l)ridal ti'ip. 



It is no doubt the method used by Dr. Miller 

 with success, on the (pleens which he received 

 from Hallamshiri! Bee-kee[)er.] 



MORE GLUCOSING. 



BVHOX WAI.KKK TEI.I..S AX AI..\K.\ll.NO STOIJV 



From the comments made on the article of 

 Mr. Tweed, page 32, Jan. 1. I see that you. in 

 common with several othei- editors of papers 

 devoted to our pursuit, ard inclined to discredit 

 the testimony given by Mr. T. As I had al- 

 ready I'epeatedly given evidence on this point 

 at length, when this subject was ttp for discus- 

 sion last year in the EevlcH'. and also in the 

 Ainericdu Bee Jour nnl. I have hesitated to say 

 any thing fnrtbei' until others had had their say. 

 As you evidei.'.iy have not accepted tlie state- 

 ments made byniy.self at the time referred to 

 as true, perhaps it is hardly worth while to re- 

 peat them now. 



I will simply say here, that, aftei' spending 

 several months on the Chicago market, I fully 

 agree with Mr. T.'s vicnvs. There are in this 

 city alone about a dozen establishments who 

 put up glucose honey for sale. Among them 

 are three of the largest wholesale grocery 

 houses in the country, one of which, whose 

 salesman has charge of that dei)artmeiit. in- 

 formed me they sold last year :i(M).(HM) llis. of 

 honey. You can judge of the charactei' of the 

 goods sent out w hen I tell you that they deliver 

 at till' doors of retail groceries, in any part of 

 the city, these goods in glass packages holding 

 over tliree-fourths of a pound of the mixture, 

 at 87'.j cts. per dozen in single-dozen lots. I 

 know what I am talking about svhen I say that 

 a large majority of the grocer> of this city han- 

 dl(^ such goods, and that not one grociM' in a 

 hundred keeps pure extracterl lioney for sale, or 

 can be induced to buy such at a price not much 

 higher than he is jiaying for tlie adulterated 

 goods. All hough tiie past season has been such 

 a poor oiii' for Western bee-keepei's. the city 

 markets are overstocked with extracted honey 

 at present low prices. We may will ask." What 

 will the result be when there is a full crojj to 

 market".'" 'I'here is no doubt in my mind that, 

 had we siu'li a law as you suggest, with proper 

 provisions for its enforcement, the demand for 

 extracted honey for table use and for medicinal 

 purposes would be tiiifold greater than it now 

 is in city markets, and prices would h(! much 



