December. It' 17 



G L K A N I N G S IN BEE C U T. T H R E 



r\ FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



939 



added (o tliem. The two liives are given 

 the same number or letter in order to kesp 

 track of them. If tlie queen is found she 

 is given to the new colony and a young 

 queen introduced to the colony on the old 

 stand. If the queen is not quickly found 

 T look them over three to eight days later; 

 and if queen -cells are discovered, it is not 

 necessary to look into the corresponding 

 number. Again, if I find the que^n in the 

 hive (unless supersedtu'e has taken place), 

 there will be a young queen required in the 

 corresponding number. In any case, young* 

 queens are introduced to the queenless colo- 

 nies. You will notice I call them " colo- 

 nies." Yes, because they are quite strong" 

 enougia to make a full colony. I have had 

 the bees hanging behind the division-board 

 when it had eight or nine combs in the 

 hive. That is a colony, is it not? 



''Ah!" you may say; "but just wait 

 until the old bees that have already located 

 themselves go bark to the old stand." Now, 

 I like to please people when I can do it 

 without injury to themselveis amd with- 

 out too much injui-y to me; but T will not 

 wait until the bees return to the old stand 

 and thus desti'oy the normal division of 

 the colony. If I could not overcome this 

 tet/dency I would not attempt to divide 

 them early in September. I just close up 

 these hives; and when I get a load of them 

 T take them to another apiai-y where they 

 will not return. 



There are old and young bees in each 

 hive — brood in all stages, also pollen; and 

 if there is little or no honey, which is often 

 the ca.=e with a 12-frame hive, they are fed 

 '^yrup. 



If one has no out-apiary he could prob- 

 ably get a place in which to put his bees 

 for a few weeks and then return them 

 home. I remember the first winter I had 

 such colonies; and during stormy winter 

 nights I wondei'ed how it fared with them. 

 The next spring I found they had winter- 

 ed just as well as any of the others. This 

 is now tlie third winter that I have tried 

 the plan, and it strikes me that I have 

 found an excellent way of maldng in- 

 crease, and that perhaps I am not as big 

 a fool as T seemed to be from surface in- 

 dications. R. F. HOLTERMANN. 



Bi-antford, Canada. 



[If a beginner attempted to do a " stunt " 

 like this he would be pretty apt to fail. 

 Moreover unless the colonj^ is an exceed- 

 ingly powerful one we should expect that 

 one or the other of the divisions — possibly 

 both, would be too Aveak to winter. — Ed.] 



Introducing by the Honey Method 



Time and again has the beekeeping world 

 tussled Avith the problem of introducing 

 queens safely; but for me the knotty poi its 

 have finally been cleared up. The plan 

 has proved a 100 per cent success in my 

 apiary. It takes only five minutes, and 

 does not require an exjiert. I have lost 

 several fine queens by the cage method, and 

 one of my strongest colonies by the smoke 

 method. I know that I am not an, expert 

 on smoke, and I expect never to try it 

 again. I can introduce a queen by the oage 

 method in from 30 minutes to 15 days, 

 telling by the action of the bees on the cage 

 when they will a^"cept her. Yet neither of 

 these plans really suits me. 



Mr. F. M. Baldwin, from Sanford, Fla , 

 visited me several times this season; and a-; 

 we were looking thru my bees I showed 

 him a fine queen that I had had in the hive 

 for eight days. At that time the cage was 

 as large as your fist, with bees; and the 

 longer the cage stayed in the hive the more 

 the bees balled it. "Well." Mr. I'aldwin 

 said, " just get me a cup of strained honey 

 and I will put her in, in three minutes." 

 Now, I was willing to lose the queen in 

 order to learn something; but I was cer- 

 tai-ni her doom was sealed. Mr. Baldwin 

 took the queen out of the cage and put her 

 in the cup of honej', smearing her around 

 and around until she was completely cover- 

 ed and looked as tho dead. Then he pour- 

 ed her down between the fi^ames. 



This was on Friday, and on Monday we 

 looked fiir the queen and foui^d larvae in 

 the cells, thus showing that the queen went 

 to laying immediately. Look at the time 

 saved by tlais method, and the time lost by 

 the cage method and others. Since then 

 I have tried this method with 45 queens, 

 some being virgins, and yet the plan has 

 never failed. Sometimes I have cut the 

 queen-cells out and put the queen right in. 

 This morning I removed a virgin from a 

 hive and introduiced a queen by the Baldwin 

 method, and in one hour she was laying. 

 By other methods there are a gi-eat many 

 queens lost, but I believe that this plan will 

 prove at least 95 per cent successful for 

 all beekeepers, whether experienced or not. 

 By the honey method the queen is in a 

 stupid condition; and by the time the bees 

 lick her off all excitement is over and every- 

 thing quiet. When a queen is released from 

 a cage she runs excitedly, while the bees 

 pursue her; then she begins to pipe from 

 fear, and immediately they ball her. 



Roanoke, Va. Henry S. Bohon. 



