1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



669 



see whether the bees are succesbfuUy gnaw- 

 ing away the pasteboard. If they are, let 

 them alone and close up the hive. If not, 

 remove the pasteboard, when the bees will 

 soon find the candy; but in no case handle 

 the cage with the fingers more than is ab- 

 solutely necessary. Some strains of bees 

 are very susceptible to strange odors; and 

 if a queen has something about her different 

 from the colony, that strange odor has a 

 tendency to make them antagonistic. We 

 always find it advisable, in cases of intro- 

 ducing, to handle any cage as little as possi- 

 ble, and then let it alone, leaving the bees 

 to release the queen rather than attempt to 

 do the work ourselves. The disturbance in 

 opening the hive may put some colonies 

 in a bad mood; and if there is a time when 

 a colony should be in a perfectly normal 

 condition, without disturbance, it is when 

 the queen emerges from the cage among 

 the bees. 



It should be stated, and experience shows 

 it in our own apiaries, that a colony just 

 made queenless is far better than one that 

 has been in that condition for ten days or 

 two weeks, for the reasons given in the in- 

 troductory sentence of the directions above. 

 Indeed, we go so far as to remove one 

 queen and introduce another at the same 

 operation; and as a general rule we do not 

 go near the hive until a day or two after 

 the queen has been released. We never ad- 

 vise a customer to dequeen a colony and 

 then send for a queen. Extended observa- 

 tion shows that this is a serious mistake. 

 Even if a queen is sent promptly, the colony 

 will be queenless four or five days, counting 

 two days for the letter to go to the breeder, 

 and two or three days for him to get the 

 queen to his customer. During this time 

 initial cells may have been started in the 

 colony, and these have a tendency to make 

 the bees less kindly disposed toward the 

 freshly introduced queen when they have 

 already laid plans for one of their own blood 

 and their own raising. If a breeder is slow 

 in making delivery the colony will be in the 

 worst mood to accept a queen from Uncle 

 Sam's mail-bags. A customer had far bet- 

 ter wait until he has actually received his 

 queen, then dequeen and introduce at the 

 same time. If a queen arrives in the mails 

 in good condition, it may be advisable to de- 

 queen the colony for 12 or 24 hours, and 

 then introduce the new one. I say it may 

 be advisable, because I do not believe that 

 any advantage will be secured. 



Referring to the other cage in the other 

 illustration, I may say that the medium size 

 requires two cents postage, and the large 

 size five cents. For cheap queens, especial- 

 ly those that go a short distance, we use 

 the smallest cage shown, attaching one cent 

 postage. For the average grade of tested 

 and select tested we use the medium size. 

 For our very best breeding- queens, and for 

 all export work, we use the large size. But 

 experience of late seems to indicate that a 

 large-sized three-hole Benton, of the same 

 proportions as the regular Benton, shown 



in the large illustration, is preferable for 

 export. Just why this should be so, I do 

 not know; but I know that, years ago, we 

 secured a little better results with our big 

 Benton in export mailing than we have been 

 able to obtain with the largest cage shown. 

 Part of this d fference is due to the fact 

 that the foreign countries are much more 

 strict now with regard to the examination 

 of all matter from the standpoint of sanita- 

 tion than formerly. We positively know 

 that many of our best queens en route for 

 export have been fumigated to death, be- 

 cause the cages containing them were put 

 in the sulphur- room along with other mail 

 matter. The customer, on receiving the 

 queen, discovers nothing unusual, and no 

 odor, and complains to the sender that the 

 bees and queen were all dead. Investiga- 

 tion reveals the fact that fumigation was 

 practiced with the inevitable results as stat- 

 ed. 



I do not know how we can protect our- 

 selves against this in all cases. Govern- 

 ment officials — especially in foreign coun- 

 tries — are very often officious in the ex- 

 treme. A simple request not to fumigate 

 may be an invitation to do the very thing 

 we expressly desire them not to do. 



There is one other cage (not shown in the 

 plate) that we have used; namely, one on 

 the same general principle as the large Ben- 

 ton, except that it is a Httle longer. In the 

 center there is a compartment for holding a 

 very small piece of sealed comb honey. 

 This is secured in place by melted paraffine. 

 The object of the honey was to give the 

 bees a food that they could utilize, providing 

 the candy should become hard during ship- 

 ment; but the general results seemed to be 

 no better than where candy was used alone 

 for the purpose. 



Dr. E. F. Phillips, of the Department of 

 Agriculture, when I saw him last, strongly 

 advised the regular Benton cages, pure and 

 simple Those shown in the illustrations 

 are modified Bentons. The arguments pre- 

 sented by the doctor seem to indicate that 

 the Benton original models are ahead of the 

 "improved" form for transmission through 

 the mails. I grant that this is probably 

 true; but customers all over the country, as 

 we find them, seem to want their cages 

 covered with wire cloth to render observa- 

 tion easy, and at the same time adapted for 

 introducing. We have modified the Benton 

 to suit conditions of our trade. I believe, 

 however, the regular Benton, as now made 

 for the government, will accomplish intro- 

 duction the same as the regular cages, but 

 without the wire cloth, in order to make a 

 warmer cage. It will be admitted, perhaps, 

 that the wire meshes make an excellent 

 radiator of heat and a conveyor of cold from 

 without. 



We shall be glad to receive suggestions 

 and criticisms from our subscribers; for on 

 the successful mailing and introduction of 

 queens depends in a great measure success- 

 cessful requeening with new and desirable 

 traits. 



