762 



Gleanin);s in Bee Culture 



in two of the cells enclosed by the cage. After a 

 lapse of 48 hours the queen may be set free among 

 the bees provided they are not clustering closely 

 around the cage. The bees should be disturbed as 

 little as possible during this operation. The hive 

 should not be examined again for some days. 



If the queen be found dead on arrival, and is sent 

 back in the unopened box by return post, another 

 queen of the same description will be forwarded 

 free of charge. Safe introduction is not insured. 



I have found the method of introducing a 

 queen in a cage, pressed into the comb as 

 described, to be, on the whole, safer than 

 the ordinary method of introducing in the 

 maiUng-cage; and, as the editor points out, 

 it is especially useful as a safeguard against 

 the introduction of disease. At the same 

 time, it requires more work and skill on the 

 part of the bee-keeper; and its greatest draw- 

 back is the necessity of disturbing the bees 

 to release the queen. Possibly some device 

 might be invented to remove the necessity 

 for this. Meanwhile it seems best to give 

 the customer the option of employing either 

 method of introduction, as you will see is 

 done with the cage illustrated. Directions 

 are given for both methods. 



The wire-cloth introducing-cages are much 

 appreciated by customers, as they can be 

 used over and over; yet they cost very little 

 to make, and I believe that the queen-breed- 

 er who has the generosity to supjily them 

 will be well paid. 



Ripple Court Apiary, Dover, Eng. 



[There are two excellent features in the 

 cage here illustrated. First, it will allow 

 the use of a regular Benton mailing-cage 

 without modification. Second, the push- 

 in-the-comb-cage plan may be used, or the 

 candy plan of introducing. Some beginners 

 are very timid, and possibly might lose a 

 queen in transferring her from the cage to 

 the comb. The more expert bee-keepers 

 can use the push-in-the-comb-cage plan. 



Mr. Sladen uses the two schemes of intro- 

 ducing only in the spring. If it is a good 

 thing then, why should it not be good dur- 

 ing the entire season? The cost of the extra 

 feature is merely nominal. 



The directions that Mr. Sladen sends out 

 make it necessary for the owner of the bees 

 to release the bees in from 24 to 48 hours. 

 This we consider decidedly objectionable. 

 The very act of opening the hive disturbs 

 the normal condition of the colony. Ex- 

 perience shows that, when the queen is re- 

 leased without this disturbance, the chances 

 of her acceptance are much better. From 

 the experiments that we have conducted 

 here at Medina, it would seem to us that, 

 unless the push-in-the-comb-cage plan is 

 arranged so that the bees can tunnel under 

 and release the queen themselves, we should 

 lose half of the advantage secured by this 

 plan. To our way of thinking, the push- 

 in-the-comb-cage plan allows the queen to 

 come into direct contact with the comb and 

 the cells of honey. This very contact with 

 the comb itself gives her more nearly the 

 colony odor than if she is kept in a cage on 

 top of the frames for 24 hours away from 

 the brood-comb. 



Mr. Sladen recommends pushing the cage 



into a tough part of the comb. Why do 

 this? Why not recommend pushing the 

 cage into comparatively soft comb, and only 

 just deep enough so that the cage will not 

 fall away by its own gravity? When so 

 placed, bees will release the queen in from 

 24 to 48 hours themselves. We introduced 

 hundreds of queens this way the past sea- 

 son, without the loss of one. We believe it 

 is an advantage to have the cage a little 

 larger than the one here shown so that it 

 can cover a little hatching brood if possible, 

 and some empty cells as well as a few cells 

 of honey. If any young bees should ha;tch, 

 she will come in direct contact with her own 

 subjects; and, of course, they would be kind- 

 ly disposed toward her. But suppose the 

 bees did not release her in 48 hours, no 

 harm would be done, because she would 

 have the range of enough comb to begin 

 laying before she were released, and a fresh 

 laying queen will be well received if any 

 queen will. 



We see no reason why our plan of having 

 a large cage telescope over the top of a reg- 

 ular Benton cage as illustrated on page 554 

 of our Sept. 15th issue could not be used 

 and still allow the feature of introducing by 

 the candy plan also, if the recipient feels 

 hardly competent to make the transfer of 

 her majesty from the cage to the comb. In 

 any case, if the work is done in a room, be- 

 fore a window, the queen can not possibly 

 get away. The only difficulty then that 

 arises is whether the beginner, if the queen 

 should fly to the window, would be able to 

 catch her without killing or maiming her. 

 On account of this possibility we have about 

 come to the conclusion that the two plans 

 of introducing, giving the recipient the op- 

 tion of using one or the other, should be 

 adopted. 



We should say at least ten per cent of the 

 queens introduced by the public by the 

 candy method are lost in introducing. The 

 results the past season showed that there 

 was not even one per cent lost when the 

 push-in-the-comb-cage plan was used. 



Mr. Sladen prefers to have a hive queen- 

 less 24 hours before introducing another. 

 Present ])ractice in this country seems ta 

 favor removing the old queen and giving 

 the new one at the same opening of the 

 hive. This is the practice in our apiaries. 



We shall be glad to get further sugges- 

 tions from any of our friends who may have 

 tried this wire-cloth-cage method of intro- 

 ducing. We omitted to mention that Mr. 

 Geo. H. Rea, of Reynoldsville, Pa., suggest- 

 ed pushing a leadpencil through the comb 

 from the side opposite where the cage is lo- 

 cal ed, at the end of 48 hours. This leaves a 

 hole through which the queen can pass, 

 even if the bees do not release her. If the 

 comb with the cage is now put back care- 

 fully in the hive she may not and probably 

 will not emerge till long after the hive has 

 settled down to its normal condition again. 

 If Mr. Sladen were to add this suggestion tO' 

 his directions he would eliminate the dis- 

 turbing feature. — Ed.] 



