340 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



June, 1920 



FROM THE FIELD OF EXPERIENCE 



their identity and are on the downward road 

 to ruin, and they will certainly be thankful 

 to have any kind of a queen. 



Sometimes it is quite necessary to intro- 

 duce a queen when robbing is going on in 

 the yard. The first thing to do is to con- 

 tract all entrances, and the entrance of the 

 hive where the queen is to be introduced 

 should be contracted down to an inch or less. 

 If very hot the hives should be well shaded 

 and all cracks made bee-tight. 



The cage containing the queen to be in- 

 troduced should have a cork or plug insert- 

 ed in the candy hole so the bees can 't get 

 to the candy. Leave the cork in the candy 

 hole until the bees quit biting and balling 

 the cage. The cork should then be removed, 



All-wire ragos as used liy Mr. Diemer. 



and a pencil run thru the candy, making an 

 opening so the queen can be released by 

 the bees widening the hole. Then place the 

 cage back in the hive, leaving the queen to 

 emerge after the bees become quiet again. 



When there is a good honey flow, queens 

 will be more readily accepted than when 

 there is no honey flow, caused perhaps by 

 the great amount of honey in each hive hav- 

 ing the same odor. 



The Benton shipping cage is used in in- 

 troducing queens and does very well, be- 

 cause the queen will probably absorb the 

 colony odor as well as she would in an all- 

 wire cage. The worst fault I find with it is, 

 that sometimes the bees fail to gnaw away 

 the pasteboard that is tacked over the candy 

 hole; and even if they do gnaw away the 

 pasteboard, sometimes a bee will get stuck 

 in the candy and delay the release of the 

 queen. 



There is considerable advantage in an 

 all-wire cage in wliicli the receptacle for the 



candy is large enough to eliminate all dan- 

 ger of the candy hole's being stopped up by 

 a bee getting stuck in the candy, and to 

 have an introducing cage made so there 

 need be no fear as to whether the queen 

 will be released in a reasonable time or 

 not. If the wire cages shown in the illus- 

 tration are used according to instructions, 

 there need be no fear as to the results. 



I have no cages for sale, but anyone with 

 a little ingenuity can soon make enough for 

 his own use. J. F. Diemer. 



Liberty, Mo. 



[In our experience we have found it more 

 difficult to introduce to a colony eight or 

 nine days queenless than to one queenless 

 only three days. In regard to the tinned- 

 wire introducing cage used by Mr. Diemer, 

 we would prefer the regular Miller intro- 

 ducing cage, which is thinner and therefore 

 does not cause a bulging of the combs 

 when placed between them. Also, Mell 

 Pritchard reports that in the Root yards it 

 has been found that painted wire cloth is 

 more satisfactory than tinned cloth, since 

 the chemical action between the moisture in 

 the hive and the tinned wire results in the 

 loss of many queens. On taking this up with 

 Mr. Diemer, however, he replies that his 

 cages are made safe for use by dipping 

 them in boiling wax before using. — Editor.] 



OLD LETTER BY DEMAREE 



Swarm Control Discussed in Unpublished Letter to 

 Lawing 



One of our subscribers, S. S. Lawing, 

 while looking over some old letters found 

 oije by G. W. Demaree, dated Dec. 26, 1893, 

 which he thought other beekeepers would 

 enjoy reading. The letter is almost entirely 

 on the subject of swarm control. As pre- 

 viously pointed out in Gleanings (page 340, 

 June, 1918) Demaree gave four different 

 plans for swarm control, which have later 

 been improved upon by others. In 1895 in 

 his last plan he advocated raising all the 

 sealed brood above the queen-excluder and 

 leaving the queen below. Altho the plan 

 given in this letter was a little earlier and 

 advised raising all the brood, we are sure it 

 will be of interest since it gives points that 

 we believe were not touched on in his other 

 discussions of this subject. It will be noted 

 that he applied the plan either before or 

 after the swarm issued, and that he used it 

 in the production of both comb and extract- 

 ed honey. The letter is as follows: 



Concerning ray method of controlling swarming 

 and keeping the bees together during the honey 

 harvest, I practice it from year to year where 

 there is need for restraint to keep my colonies 

 from dividing their forces at swarming time. I 

 find no plan equal to it in taking honey with the 

 extractor or in taking comb honey, after Iciarning 



