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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE 



April 10. On looking through the united colony, I 

 found one dead queen and two live ones. All were last 

 year's queens. One queen was taken from them; and 

 on looking over the colony a little later I discovered 

 that they had balled and killed the other one. At 

 this time they had no larvae. The queens had just 

 commenced laying. I also noticed on the same day 

 that my golden Italians had sealed brood ; and, from 

 the looks of it, it was about ready to hatch. 



March 29 the second swarm issued. It was finally 

 persuaded to return to the old hive, where it still 

 remains. At this time there was nothing for them 

 to gather except pollen from elm-trees and a little 

 dandelion. Well, this was the limit, and I decided 

 right then to get rid of all Carniolans as soon as 

 goldens could be reared to replace them. Life is 

 too short to be fooling with such a breed of bees. 

 The only desirable feature about them is that they 

 are possibly a little more gentle than other races of 

 bees. However, I find but little difference in gen- 

 tleness between them and my goldens ; and when 

 the honey-flow starts, the goldens get fairly crazy 

 bringing it in, while the Carniolans get just as crazy 

 at swarming; and when the season is over you have 

 a lot of colonies to be fed for the winter. No, thank 

 yoxi, I don't want any more Carnolians. 



Kansas City, Mo. A. T. Rodman. 



The Origin of the Cage Method of Introduc- 

 ing Queens. 



Writing in 1814, after 64 years of beekeeping, 

 .Jonas DeGelieu, of Neuchatel, Switzerland, describes 

 a cage of wood covered with wire cloth (wire grat- 

 ing) from which the queen is released at the end of 

 two days. He gives the credit to Schirach ; and as 

 the latter was familiar with many very ancient meth- 

 ods it may have originated long before his time. 



Reaumur, about 1740, introduced direct by giving 

 a queen to a small cluster of confined bees. Huber, 

 about 1790, introduced direct to a colony, 24 hours 

 after removal of old queen, and this practice became 

 rather common among early English beekeepers. 

 Many since have introduced direct after certain 

 intervals. So far as I can find, it is only by the 

 smoke plan that we can introduce any queen to any 

 colony or lot of bees at any time. But one never 

 can tell. The plan may be found in some old book 

 or magazine one of these days. But it is good, any 

 way. Arthur C. Miller. 



Providence, R. I., July 11. 



Introducing from a Cage on the Alighting- 

 board. 



I have succeeded with the smoke method of in- 

 troducing, and also the starvation and smoke plan 

 combined. I have also had failures with them all. 

 Just lately I have discovered a plan, new to me, 

 that works best of all so far. I have not tried it 

 extensively as yet, introducing only five queens, all 

 of which were accepted. 



I will explain the condition of the first colony, and 

 I he method. I caged the queen, without food or 

 escorts. After about fifteen minutes I placed the 

 cage on the alighting-board close to a cluster of bees. 

 The colony had ripe cells, and I did this just after 

 sundown. The bees collected all over the top or wire 

 cloth of the cage, and seemed friendly. I had closed 

 the hole in the end of the cage with a small stick 

 that was smaller than the hole, and could be re- 

 moved without disturbing the bees. After about ten 

 minutes I removed the stick, and some worker-bees 

 went in. I left her to her fate. The next day she 

 was busy laying, and had cut the ripe cells down. 



The next queen was introduced in the same way 

 to a colony that had no show whatever of rearing a 

 queen. This one was introduced before sundown. 



The next one was introduced early in the morning 

 before six o'clock. The colony in this case had 

 sealed brood but no larvie nor queen-cells. 



The last one I introduced was to a colony that 

 had been queenless 24 hours. I introduced her di- 

 rect from her own colony, and in ten minutes she 

 was in the other hive being fed by the bees and 

 crawling around on the frames. This last introduc- 

 tion took place in the middle of the afternoon. All 

 were treated in the same manner except the last one, 

 which was not allowed to get hungry before placing 

 her on the alighting-board. 



I should like to have others try this plan, and 

 report their success or failure. 



Kansas City, Mo., Aug. 9. A. T. Rodman. 



Winter Caoe Used as a Super 



I recently secured a winter case, and altered it as 

 shown by the sketches herewith, to use it as a super. 

 I put in ten frames between the two division-boards 

 in which the horizontal slots are closed. At the ends 

 the bee-spaces are closed by the cleats / (see sketch). 

 The bees glue the small cracks, and make the super 

 tight. 



iiiii,iiifij//!iiin/ x 



a, hiverbody ; b, bottom-board; c, winter-casing; 

 d, telescoping cover; e, boards %x8%xl6, nailed in- 

 side of winter casing to carry frames; f, cleats %x% 

 x8%, nailed inside of casing to hold division-boards 

 in place and close bee-space; g, division-boards with 

 bee-slot closed with a strip % x % ; h, inner corner 

 with side cleats Vi x %, resting on g and raising it 

 above the frames to give bee-space. 



