FEBRUARY 1, 1916 



109 



But it is tongh on the beekeeper and tough- 

 er on his bees. 



Where a hive does not fit quite evenly to 

 the floor, or a very slight crack is open 

 between the cover and the hive, it is not 

 always necessary to plug them up — just be 

 sure the smoke is thick and white, and give 

 a little more of it. 



The best test is the tone of the bees' 

 " roar." It is quickly learned, and the 

 trained ear will instantly detect any undue 

 subsidence, and more smoke will be given. 

 I have several times noticed the sudden low- 

 ering of the "roar," and, on looking around, 

 discovered smoke being blown from some 

 unsuspected ci'ack. 



Create the distress; see that it is contin- 

 ued for about ten minutes, and you never 

 need worry as to the safety of the queen. 



As to the manner of running in the 

 queen, use the handiest way — that which is 

 easiest for you. If working with queens 

 from one's own yard, taking them by the 

 wings and tucking them in at the entrance, 

 followed by a putf of smoke before closing 

 the small space, is easy for all who are 

 accustomed to handling queens. Sometimes 

 it is easier to push the cover back at one 

 corner, drive the bees back with more smoke, 

 drop the queen in, followed by smoke, and 

 close the cover. Putting the queen into a 

 wire tube and holding the finger over the 

 open end until the tube is pushed in at the 

 entrance is another way- The escape-board 

 on top as given by Mr. Fisbeck affords a 

 very convenient place to drop in the queen 

 or to put in an opened cage. 



When running in a queen from a mail- 

 ing-cage the end is opened and the cage is 

 pushed in under the fram.es, and queen and 

 attendants allowed to run in. My enti'ances 

 ai'e all an inch high so I can do tliat ; and, 

 by the way, if you see the attendants being 



thrown out soon after you open the entrance 

 you may be sure you did not give smoke 

 enough, and that your queen is in danger. 

 Pour in more smoke — thick and white, re- 

 member — and reclose the entrance for an- 

 other ten minutes, at the same time making 

 sure there is no leak by which the bees may 

 drive out the smoke or obtain fresh air. 



I find several advantages in the distress 

 method over any other I know of. There is 

 no long queenlessness of the colony, for the 

 new queen may be run in at once on remov- 

 ing the old one, the only exception being 

 where a colony has been badly overhauled 

 in finding the old one. Under such circum- 

 stances, it is better to wait a few hours or 

 over night. 



Another advantage is tlie lack of any 

 need of looking np queen-cells, as when a 

 colony has been long queenless. If, how- 

 ever, it has been so long without a queen 

 that a virgin may have hatched it will be 

 necessai'y to find and remove her. And if 

 a man must, he may safely introduce a 

 queen by this method to a colony with 

 laying workers, but it is a piece of poor 

 beekeeping. Better add such a colony to 

 one with a good queen, giving her the run 

 of both chambers for a- couple of weeks, 

 then separate and give a queen to the 

 queenless part. 



Finally, the method yields the highest per 

 cent of success. I lose less than one per 

 cent of all queens introduced, and I can 

 almost always trace such loss to insufficient 

 smoke or some elianee for ventilation. 



In conclusion I would give one word of 

 caution. Don't overdo the smoking, for it 

 'is possible to injure the bees and brood by 

 an excess of smoke. However, there is more 

 danger of too little than too much. Listen 

 to the " roar " a few times and you will 

 soon learn how much is needed. 



Providence, R. I. 



SOME OBSERVATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS ON THE SMOKE-IN METHOD 



BY C. D. CHENEY 



Upon the advent of any new method 

 there are always some who try it with great 

 success, and others who fail to make it 

 work, with enough praise from the former 

 and more than enough condemnation from 

 the latter. The "smoke-in" method of queen 

 introduction is a case in point. 



Fortunately there are many open-minded 

 and careful observers who, if given time, 

 will ascertain possibilities and limitations 

 so as to establish the conditions for success- 

 ful general use, or determine the fallacy in 

 the method. 



While A. C. Miller, from his own inti- 

 mate knowledge of conditions, can Avork the 

 method with uniform success, others whi^ 

 undertake to use it can hardly be expected 

 to meet with the same success, owing to 

 their lack of that knowledge. 



As time passes and experiences accumu- 

 late and are reported, some comprehensive 

 instructions should be evolved on just how 

 to manage the smoke-in operation to enable 

 beekeepers at large to practice (he method, 

 even tho they do not know the " whyfore." 



It is not necessary to repeat here any 



