1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



667 



article to tell you what I think the manufac- 

 turers intend to do with this hive. But I 

 will give you a small hint as to what I sus- 

 pected was in the mind of one of the man- 

 agers when he said a certain thing. From 

 this I infer (and I "guess" that the infer- 

 ence is well founded) that they no more ex- 

 pect to make a profit directly from this hive 

 than the fisherman expects to eat the chub- 

 by little ' ' shiner ' ' that he puts on his hook 

 when he goes angling for pickerel. These 

 shrewd manufacturers know that bee-keep- 

 ing is fascinating, and that all they have to 

 do is to get you started. Every thing else 

 follows easily. So this hive will be put on 

 the market at less than net cost, and in this 

 laudable action the manufacturers will not 

 be hampered by any patent to be taken 

 out by the inventor. He has too strong- 

 ly at heart the interests of apiculture as an 

 educational factor. 



But, to revert to the figure of the fisher- 

 man and his bait. The parallel is not quite 

 true, and so far as it is inaccurate it is to 

 your advantage. This "bait" (the Pearl 

 Agnes hive) in itself is good, and the more 

 freely it is offered (by the manufacturers) 

 the more reason for your pulling it off the 

 "hook" and taking it home with you— in 

 fact, get several of the "baits." 



The name, " Pearl Agnes," is in honor of 

 the ten-year old sweetness-maker of the 

 "B(igelow)-hive" in which I am writing. 



MAILING AND INTRODUCING CAGES FOR 

 QUEENS. 



Precautions to be Observed; Dequeening and In- 

 troducing at One Operation. 



BY E. R. ROOT. 



As we are just nosv on the eve of a season 

 when queen- breeder J will be doing a rush- 

 ing busmess, it may be advisable to make 

 some suggestions that will be valuable alike 

 to both the breeder and his customers. 



The illustration shown on the next page 

 Fhows very fairly the queen-cages used by 

 many of the most extensive breeders in the 

 country. They are all based somewhat on 

 the principle of the three-hole Benton, par- 

 ticularly the small one. In this the end hole 

 contains candy, and the other two are for 

 the occupancy of the queen and her attend- 

 ants. The hole or holes at the end opposite 

 the candy end in the small and medium 

 s zed cages is perforated with small holes 

 to give air to the bees whenever the tem- 

 perature rises. When it falls they seek the 

 inner hole, that is warmer and protected, 

 next to the candy. 



It is very important that the compart- 

 ments to receive the food should be coated 

 on the inside with beeswax or paraffine, and 

 that the candy, when in place and nicely 

 leveled off, should be covered over with a 

 small square of foundation or a sheet of 

 wax, or one thickness of paraffine paper. 

 The object of these is to prevent the too 



rapid evaporation of moisture from the 

 candy; for the more moisture it can be made 

 to hold and not "run" or become sticky 

 the better it is for the bees. 



In the cages used by the great majority 

 of breeders a quarter-inch hole is bored into 

 the candy-hole, which is likewise lined with 

 paraffine, and filled with candy. This is for 

 the purpose of introduction— the bees in the 

 hive to receive the queen eating away the 

 candy and finally liberating her; but if the 

 cage has been on a considerable journey her 

 majesty and retinue will have consumed a 

 considerable portion of their candy, so that 

 sometimes in a few hours the bees in the 

 hive will release the new mother before she 

 and her attendants have acquired the body 

 odor of the colony. It then very often hap- 

 pens that she is balled and destroyed. 



To prevent a too rapid entrance of the 

 bees into the cage, a narrow piece of thin 

 pasteboard, a trifle narrower than the hole, 

 so that the candy is slightly exposed, is tack- 

 ed over the candy in the end hole. The cage 

 as thus prepared is laid right on top of the 

 colony or between the frames. The bees, at- 

 tracted by the candy, will eat away as far as 

 they can reach, and at the same time gnaw 

 away the pasteboard, which is soaked with 

 the sweet. This latter operation requires 

 from 24 to 36 hours of time. If, then, the 

 bees eat away the candy in five or six hours, 

 they are usually in a good mood to receive 

 the queen when she finally emerges from 

 the cage. 



The cage as thus constructed is practically 

 automatic after a postage stamp has been at- 

 tached and the address marked on the cover. 

 The recipient of the cage reads the accom- 

 panying direct ons, which simply means put 

 the cage, after the cover has been removed, 

 screen side down among the bees. Nothing 

 further needs to be done, as the bees will 

 take care of the rest of the work, on the 

 principle that "you press the button, and 

 we do the rest. ' ' 



DIRECTIONS FOR INTRODUCING. 



Before giving this queen to the colony be sure it is 

 queenless. A stock that has been without a queen from 

 12 to 16 days— long enough so that there is possibly one 

 or more virgins in the hive, will not as a rule accept an 

 introduced queen. The colony should not be queer less 

 more than five days, and to secure the best results one 

 or two days are better. See that all queen-cells that 

 may have been started are destroyed. To introduce 

 with this cage, note the condition of the queen, and 

 place cage on top of or between frames; if on top of the 

 frames, put the wire cloth down next to the bees. The 

 bees should gnaw away the pasteboard nailed over one 

 end, eat out the candy left in the cage, and release the 

 queen; but under some conditions they fail to gnaw the 

 pasteboard. If they fail to do so in 24 hours, tear the 

 pasteboard away and leave the bees to eat out candy. 

 If the weather is cold set the cage right over where the 

 cluster of bees is. Should queen and her attendants 

 arrive feeble, or daubed up, release her at once among 

 bees. If, after they clean her off, they ball her, return 

 her to cage and introduce as explained- If she arrives 

 dead, notify us and we will replace. If your bees are or 

 have been robbing, you may not succeed in introducing. 

 We do not guarantee safe introduction. 



A^. B. — Queens just Jrom the mails usually look small 

 and dark. After laying a jew days they will improve. 



As a matter of precaution, in the case of 

 valuable queens it is advised that the cover 

 of the hive be removed within 24 hours to 



