726 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



June 1 



owersmom 



>ooIiti 



I 



FINDING QUEENS, ETC. 



"Is this Mr. Doolittle?" 



"Yes. What may I call you?" 



" My name is Miller. I live in Pennsyl- 

 vania, and I came to see you about finding 

 queens, and to have a little talk with you 

 about how I can manage my bees during the 

 swarming season. But how it rains! " 



' ' Yes, we are having lots of rain again 

 this spring, and, what is worse for the bees, 

 lots of cold; been but very few days since 

 the bees were set from the cellar that they 

 could fly, and it is now May 14." 



"Then you are worse off than we are, for 

 our season has been about an average one 

 thus far. I have been trying to find my 

 queens to clip them, but do not have good 

 success. Can't you tell me how to find 

 queens? I am a beginner with the bees, 

 and take Gleanings. It seems to me if you 

 could only tell me how to find a queen as 

 plainly as you tell about other things in 

 your ' Conversations ' I could find a queen 

 at once." 



"Well, it is hard work, often, for the ex- 

 pert to find a black queen ; but with all of 

 the other races there is not much trouble, 

 and especially with the Italians. If you jar 

 the hive too much, or use too much smoke, 

 so that you set the bees to running, it will 

 be very difficult to find the queen of any 

 race. Why it is more diflScult to find a black 

 queen is because black bees have a greater 

 nabit of running and stampeding off the 

 combs than any other bee that I know of; 

 and why it is easier to find an Italian queen 

 is that her color is generally different from 

 the worker bees, and, also, because it takes 

 much abuse to start these bees so they will 

 appear any thing but natural on the combs. ' ' 



' ' Well, I guess part of my trouble was 

 that I jarred the hive too much. I use the 

 Danzenbaker hive, and the end sticks and 

 springs seem to stick in the hive as if they 

 grew there." 



' ' Your bees may use lots of propolis, thus 

 causing things to stick. But if this is the 

 case you will have less trouble the next time 

 you open the hives. Where things are badly 

 glued in any hive, it is best, in opening the 

 hive the first time in the spring, to pry all 

 the fixtures loose, then close the hive for an 

 hour or two, when by using care you can 

 open it up, almost without a jar or any dis- 

 turbance to the bees. ' ' 



"That is something I had not thought 

 about, but I know it is so, now you mention 

 it, for the next time I opened the hives I 

 did not have so much trouble. " 



" It is always best to take an empty hive 



or a light box of the same size of the hive 

 with you when you go to find queens, as it 

 helps very much in the matter, giving you 

 a chance to look the combs over twice, near- 

 ly or quite as quickly as you would once, did 

 you have no empty hive or box along in 

 which to set each frame in order, as you 

 take them from the hive." 



"That is right; tell me jast how you do 

 it." 



"Having your lighted smoker, empty box 

 or hive, and a stool or box of convenient 

 height for a seat, go to your hive and open 

 it as carefully as possible. Having the hive 

 open, you are next to put down your seat so 

 you can sit with your back to the sun, this 

 allowing the sun to shine on your work and 

 at the same time keeping your eyes in the 

 dark, so that you can see things twice as 

 well as you would under other circumstances. 

 Now carefully remove the first frame from 

 the hive on the side next to you, and hastily 

 look it over for the queen. If she is not 

 seen, set this comb in your comb-box, put- 

 ting it on the furthest side of the box from 

 you." 



' ' Why should I put it over there instead 

 of next to me, as it was in the hive? " 



' ' So that, when you come to putting the 

 combs back in the hive, you can look them 

 over for the queen, should you not find her 

 the first time over, with the same chance of 

 finding her that you had at first. Having 

 the first frame in the box, lift the second 

 one from the hive; but instead of first looking 

 on the frame you are now lifting, glance at 

 the side of the frame next to you, still re- 

 maining in the hive. If you do not see her 

 there, then look on the side of the frame 

 you have in your hands, that is away from 

 you." 



" What is that for? " 



" As a rule, the first thing a queen will 

 do, when the strong sunlight strikes the 

 comb she is on, is to run around to the dark 

 side of the comb; and as soon as you lift the 

 second comb from the hive, there is enough 

 empty room so that the sunlight can strike 

 on the combs, and you see the whole of the 

 * face ' side of the comb next to you. If the 

 queen is on this sunlit side of that comb, 

 you will see her very easily as she starts on 

 her way to go around to the dark side of the 

 comb, when you will at once set the frame 

 you have in your hands in the box, and pick 

 up the frame she is on before she can have 

 time to leave it. If you do not see her, you 

 may know that she is on the opposite side 

 of the frame you are holding in your hands, 

 or else in the hive. ' ' 



" Ah ! I begin to see. ' ' 



"After you have gotten started in this 

 way it is of no use to look at the side of the 

 comb next to you, after you have taken that 

 frame in your hand. Simply look on the 

 side of the comb next to you which remains 

 in the hive, as soon as you raise each frame; 

 and if you do not see the queen, then look 

 on the opposite side of the frame you are 

 holding in your hand, setting each in the 

 box, one after the other as they come from 



