GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



queen, when in reality the queen had not 

 been on the hand for a minute or more. 



In requeening last year I had a number 

 of bees continually alighting upon my right 

 hand. If shaken off they wt)uld soon retu|rn. 

 At last I remembered that, in killing the 

 old queens, I gave tliem a pinch between my 

 thumb and finger, and it was this queen 

 odor that attracted the bees. I smoked my 

 finger thorougldy, and the bees ceased to 

 return. Here was a pointer: Smoke tvill 

 destroy the queen odor. Put your thumb on 

 this spot, for we shall come back to it later. 

 The experience that converted me to the 

 theory that the queen gives the colony its 

 individual odor came to me several years 

 ago while requeening my apiary, and I have 

 verified what I learned several times since. 



One hot July day I had a queen I had 

 killed in my hand, and I sat down under a 

 tree to cool off. Out of idle curiosity I 

 placed the dead queen in a large bunch of 

 bees that were clustered on the outside 

 of a hive. I did this to see -if they would 

 ball her. They did not, but clustered around 

 her very much the same as they would do 

 with their own queen. As there seemed to 

 be nothing startling in this exi:)eriment I 

 forgot the matter and went on with my 

 work. Next morning I was surprised and 

 chagrined to find in front of this hive a 

 good double handful of dead bees. I was 

 nonplused. I thouglit that possibly the bees 

 from the hive from which I had taken the 

 queen and killed her had smelled their queen 

 and gone to her and started a rumpus with 

 its attending evil results, much the same as 

 might occur if two suffragettes wanted the 

 same office. (I have nothing against the 

 last-named joerson unless her malady takes 

 on the militant form.) I saw no bees flying 

 around that would suggest this theoiy, and 

 the matter for the time being was a mystery. 

 A year later I tried the same experiment. 

 This time it was about sundown, and no 

 bees flying. Next morning the ground for 

 two feet in front of the hive was strewn 

 with dead bees. I believe there was over a 

 quart. The bees of the colony were extra 

 yellow, and all the dead bees were the same. 

 There was no doubt that the dead queen had 

 caused the bees in this colony to flght among 

 themselves. (I have tried this several times 

 since Avith the same result.) Why did the 

 bees fight each other? This is the reason: 

 The bees on the outside of the hive clustered 

 around the dead queen and acquired her 

 odor. Later in the night, when they went 

 into the hive, they were taken for bees of 

 another colony, and killed. 



Another point I have settled to my own 

 satisfaction is that the queen odor is ver}' 

 strong, but is not lasting beyond a very few 



minutes, and is easily removed from the 

 bees. Now let us go back to the place in 

 this article where, if you have followed my 

 instructions, you still have your thumb. 

 Why did the bees fail to alight upon my 

 liand after I smoked it? Because the smoke 

 destroj^ed the c[ueen odor. Mr. Arthur C. 

 Miller, why is your smoke method of queen 

 introduction such a success? (Excuse me 

 for butting in, but I am going to answer 

 that for you.) Because the smoke destroys 

 the queen odor of the colony; and the new 

 queen, by coming in contact with the bees, 

 imjjarts to them her odor before they have 

 recovered from their demoralization. 



Why will queenless bees readily unite 

 Avith another colony? Because they have no 

 queen odor. Why will bees coming in from 

 the field be accepted in any liive they may 

 happen to enter? Because they have been 

 for some time in the open air, and the queen 

 odor has left them. Why do bees usually 

 recognize and object to robber bees? Be- 

 cause they come from a hive near by and 

 have their queen odor still with them. A 

 young worker bee out for her initial flight 

 enters the wrong hive. She is seized, and a 

 ligid examination and cross-c[uestioning 

 takes place. She is young and innocent, 

 cannot be a robber, no harm intended; so, 

 after being mauled, and having some hair 

 pulled out, she may be allowed to pass on 

 into the hive. They would have probably 

 allowed her to pass without a word of sus- 

 picion, but they did not like that queen odor 

 she brought with her. Possibly those that 

 are admitted without an examination are 

 those that were in the air longer, and lost 

 more of their odor. Why are so many 

 queens lost by the cage method of introduc- 

 tion? Because they cannot communicate 

 their odor to the bees by coming in contact 

 with them; and when released they are 

 taken for a strange queen, and killed. Why 

 do bees ball queens instead of stinging 

 tliem? I don't know; but I have a suspicion 

 that ^ they wish to confine the queen odor 

 and not allow it to penetrate the hive, there- 

 by causing a riot as my dead queens did. 



That bees also have the power to give off 

 an odor is not doubted ; but I believe they 

 use it only when necessary, when fanning 

 to call their mates of the hive, or upon like 

 occasions. 



I have used with perfect success for some 

 years back the smoke method of introduc- 

 tion ; but I always used tobacco smoke. I 

 abandoned the plan, for I did not like to 

 make the bees sick with the nauseating 

 tobacco that God never intended should be 

 used by man or beast except to their hurt. 

 Thanks to Mr. Miller for telling us that 

 good clean wood smoke will do as well. 



