JULY 15, 1916 



Two New Ways of Introducing Queens.^ 



Last season I used two plans of queen 

 introduction that to me are new. Both plans 

 have proven highly successful and satisfac- 

 tory. 



Of course my queens are clipped. When a 

 swarm issues, the queen is caged; and if she 

 is one that I want to supersede, I simply kill 

 her and put another in the cage, lay it at 

 the hive entrance, and, when the swarm re- 

 turns, and about one-third of the bees have 

 entered the hive, I liberate the new queen 

 and let her run in with the swarm, and all is 

 well. 



When I have a queen in any hive that I 

 wish to supersede I set the hive to one side 

 and put an empty one on the same stand; 

 then I take the combs from the old hive, one 

 at a time, looking them over carefully; and 

 when I find the queen I kill her and throw 

 her away some distance so that the bees will 

 not find her. Then I shake all the bees off 

 the combs in front of the empty hive, which 

 I have previously filled with empty combs. 

 I also jar all of the bees from the old hive 

 and carry it to the other side of the yard, 

 after putting back into it the old combs and 

 brood. Then I liberate my new queen on the 

 combs of hatching brood, close the entrance, 

 and leave the hive thus for one hour. At 

 the end of this time all the bees in the new 

 hive will be aware of the loss of their brood 

 and queen, and will be running over the 

 front and sides of their hive, in their eager- 

 ness to find a queen. I then remove this 

 hive from the old stand and set the old hive 

 and brood back again, open the entrance, 

 remove the combs from the empty hive and 

 shake all the bees in front of their old hive, 

 just as they were in the. first place. When 

 they go in and find their brood, they seem 

 to think that their queen is the old queen. 

 It is not necessary to open the hive before 

 the next two or three days after. The queen 

 is introduced all right and they should be 

 left alone. 



Before liberating the new queen on the 

 combs of brood I destroy all queen-cells, if 

 there are any; and if the weather is cool at 

 the time, T carry the hive in the house to 

 prevent any possibility of chilling brood. 



Union Center, Wis. ' Elias Fox. 



Rel-clover Bees. 



I should like three-banded Italians that 

 work on the red-clover bloom as those are 

 the kind raised here. Please let me hear 

 where I can get them. 



Mrs. Mary E. Adams. 



Eansomville, N. Y., June 12. 



[There are some strains of Italian bees 

 that will work on red clover; but as a gen- 

 eral thing the conditions have to be some- 

 what favorable, so far as the season is con- 

 cerned. When there is a drouth on, or when 

 there has been backward or chilly weather, 

 the corolla tubes of the led clover are enough 

 shorter so that the bees can reach the nec- 

 tar. When the clover is developed so that 



615 



the blossoms are large, the ordinary Italian 

 bees do not get very much of the nectar; 

 still, there are some strains that have a little 

 longer tongue. See our advertising columns. 

 —Ed.] 



The El Paso County Beekeepers Organize. 



The beekeepers of El Paso County, Texas, 

 seeing the need of greater co-operation, met 

 at Ysleta, Texas, on June 10 for the purpose 

 of organizing. A very successful meeting 

 was held, and the El Paso County Beekeep- 

 ers ' Association organized with Mr. W. J. 

 Stahmann acting as temporary chairman, 

 and F. C. Belt as temporary secretary. 



Following a discussion of the need of such 

 an organization, the following oflficers were 

 elected: W. J. Stahmann, President; J. G. 

 Snurenmann. Vice-president; F. C. Belt, 

 Treasurer; Albert S. Blanks, Secretary. 



A constitution and by-laws were adopted, 

 and the resolution was passed that F. C. 

 Belt be recommended to the State Entomol- 

 ogist as bee inspector. 



Clint, Texas. Albert S. Blanks, Sec. 



Sacramento Valley Beekeepers Organize. 



A few of the beekeepers of this section 

 met on the evening of June 7 and organized 

 an association to be known as The Sacra- 

 mento Valley Beekeepers ' Association, with 

 A. W. Morgue, of Durham, as President; J. 

 A. Williams, Durham, Vice-president; F. M. 

 Washburn, Chico, Secretary. 



F. M. Washburn, Sec. 



Chico, Cal., June 16. 



Sounds Good for the Breeders. 



I have bought queen-bees from several 

 western breeders, one eastern, and one south- 

 ern, and in every case have bought the un- 

 tested queens with entirely satisfactory re- 

 sults. Every queen, I think, was purely 

 mated. One was dead and one was a cripple 

 when received, but these were replaced at 

 once by the breeders. 



Edgewood, March 20. W. A. Gridley. 



Barbed Wire for Reinforced Concrete Hive 

 Bottom. 



Eeferring to the excellent plan of Mr. E. 

 A. Harris on page 629, August 15, 1914, I 

 beg to offer the suggestion that barb wire 

 be used for the reinforcement. The barbs 

 keep the wire from the surface, and the 

 advantage of barb wire over smooth wire 

 as a reinforcing medium is apparent. 



San Juan, P. E. F. E. Hartwell. 



Can you tell me of a better way than 

 scraping to clean supers and fixtures? I use 

 the Danzenbaker bodies and supers. 



Ealph P. Smith. 



New Garden, Pa., June 22. 



[There is no better way to free supers from 

 bee-glue than to immerse them in boiling 

 water with a little Ij'e so as to cut and 

 remove the glue. You could use gasoline or 

 alcohol, but that would be too expensive. — 

 Ed.] 



