1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



823 



the same as was given wnen telling how the 

 thirteen were treated at that time. These 

 have the supers containing the bait sections 

 nearly completed, and I am tempted to take 

 them off, but finally conclude to leave them, . 

 which proved the best thing to do, the way 

 the season turned. 



DOO^ITTLE'S CANDY METHOD OF INTRO- 

 DUCING. 



I now look after the nine colonies made at 

 the last visit, and an examination shows 

 that all have laying queens but one, so I 

 have two of the three brought, to carry back 



DOOLITTLE'S HOME- MADE INTRODUCING- CAGE 



home. To the one having lost its queen a 

 frame of young brood is given, taken from 

 one of the others, and one of the three 

 queens I have in cages is given to it. The 

 removable stopper in this cage is one which 

 I call a "candy cord," which is made by 

 boring a five-sixteenths hole through a piece 

 of an old broom- handle one inch 

 long, or some other piece of wood 

 that will fit into a round wire- 

 cloth queen- cage, the cage being 

 made by rolling a piece of wire 

 cloth, fourteen or sixteen mesh 

 to the inch, around said broom- 

 handle or the finger, and "lock- 

 ing the edges so it will retain the 

 size wanted. This "cork," made 

 from the broom handle, has the 

 hole filled with " queen-cage can- 

 dy," made by stirring and knead- 

 ing powdered sugar and honey to- 

 gether till a stiff dough is formed, as is de- 

 scribed in all of our late literature on bee- 

 keeping. This inch in length of hole is 

 filled with the queen candy, so the bees can 

 liberate the queen at a time when she will 

 be likely to be accepted by the bees, and at 

 the same time not require my coming to 



the out-apiary to look after the matter, as 

 would be necessary by other ways of intro- 

 duction. As a rule it will take the bees 

 about 24 hours to eat the candy out of an 

 inch in length of the five-sixteenths-inch 

 hole, which is about the right length of time 

 in this case to warrant safe introduction. 



Having the queen all ready for the hive, 

 a center frame is removed, and, after shak- 

 ing the bees off, the cage is crowded between 

 the bottom of the comb and the bottom-bar 

 to the frame, seeing that there is nothing in 

 the wav o^ the bees having free access to 

 the candy end of the cage, when 

 the frame as thus prepared is set 

 back in the hive and the hive 

 closed. 



Owing to the length of time 

 between visits, the above, and the 

 giving of queen-cells, is about the 

 only way that queens can be suc- 

 cessfully supplied to queenless 

 colonies at out-apiaries. If 1 

 think any of these new colonies, 

 or those having upper stories 

 of brood, will be apt to need more room than 

 they have, I now put on at the top a hive 

 containing wired frames filled with founda- 

 tion, so that they can draw them out suita- 

 ble for more reserve combs, and fill them 

 with honey should an extra good yield fol- 

 low. In this way all are prepared for what- 



MANNER OF PLACING CAGE ON THE COMB. 



ever may come, be the same wet or dry, 

 cold or hot, a rich or a poor season, without 

 feelirg that I must go to the out- apiary 

 with any change of weather that may occur. 



WHAT IT COSTS THE BEEKEEPER TO LET 



GRASS AND WFEl>S TANGLE UP THE 



EN . RANGE. 



I next look after the 

 "dooryards" in front of 

 all the colonies, making 

 sure that none will be 

 bothered in their flight by 

 grass or weeds, as well 

 as to look after any little 

 odds and ends that may 

 need my attention be- 

 fore leaving. This keep- 

 ing of grass and weeds 

 down in front of the 

 hives is quite an item 

 here in New York, as 

 they spring up almost 

 by magic in a wet season 

 like this one. From 

 some experiments I have 



