254 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 



QUKSTIOXS BY SAMUKL CUSHMAN. 

 IXTIIODUCING QUEESS. 



After removing queen from strong 

 colony, do you immediately put in the 

 caged queen and attendants with cage 

 arranged so bees can release her by 

 eating away the candy, or do you leave 

 her in the hive two days, before allow- 

 ing theui to release her? 



Do you in either case allow atten- 

 dant bees to remain with queen or re- 

 move them before placing cage iu hive? 



I have failed lately by the following 

 methods. 



1st. I removed queen from hybrid 

 stock, immediately put in a queen caged 

 alone with candy stopper. Queen was 

 released and was killed. 



2nd. Full stock had queen removed. 

 A queen caged alone was given them, 

 left two days, then bees were allowed 

 to release her. This colony was fed 

 while queen was caged. Several days 

 later found her on combs crawling 

 about rather forlornly, with no eggs in 

 cells and several queen cells some of 

 them capped. 



Another queen, managed the same, 

 was found dead in cage when hive was 

 opened to allow bees to release her. 



At the same time I was successful 

 by giving sealed brood and young bees 

 to a valuable queen. 



Also by giving queen and attendants 

 to a gentle but weak colony, who had 

 their queen removed and had started 

 queen cells. They were allowed to re- 

 lease her as soon as they could remove 

 the candy. 



The above attempts were made dur- 

 ing a scarcity of houey flow. 



What was the trouble? 



ANSWERS BY G. M. DOOLITTLE. 



All who have read Mr. Alley's plan 

 of introducing virgin queens, know 

 that he recommends waiting seventy- 

 two hours after the stock or nucleus 

 has a queen removed from it, before 

 introducing the virgin, and I wish to 

 say that the same thing vvhich ap- 

 plies to a virgin queen holds good 

 with a laying queen with this differ- 

 ence ; a laying queen will often be 

 accepted where a virgin will not, so 

 that when there is a prospect of suc- 

 cess with a virgin queen, there is 

 almost an absolute certainty when 



the same plan is used with a laying 

 queen. 



To avoid labor I made up a lot of 

 cages fixed in such a way that when 

 they were once filled with candy it 

 took the bees from three to four days 

 to eat through it to the queen ; 

 in this way I had the Alley plan so 

 modified that I need not open a hive 

 but once, for the new queen could 

 be put in the hive at the same time 

 the other was taken out, and be get- 

 ting acquainted with the bees all 

 those three or four days that they 

 were liberating her. Another thing : 

 I find that often when a queen is 

 balled or killed there are at first not 

 more than one or two bees hostile to 

 her while the rest of the colony would 

 treat her kindly, did not these few 

 bees "raise a row" by hanging to the 

 queen and trying to sting her, thus 

 causing the scent of poison in the 

 hive which arouses the whole colony. 

 We often see a few bees tightly fas- 

 tened to the cage containing a queen 

 when all the rest about it are quiet 

 and well disposed. Well, this plan 

 of mine lets the queen out at quite a 

 distance from these few hostile bees 

 and the cage should then be such, so 

 that there is no danger from them 

 and as the bees first entering the 

 cage, and out through which she 

 must pass are well filled with the 

 candy they have no inclination to 

 molest her so she passes out quietly 

 and is safely introduced. I com- 

 menced using this plan in June, 1885, 

 using it very largely ever since, not 

 losing a single laying' queen and very 

 few virgins. I do not in any case 

 allow any attendant bees with the 

 queen, for on all occasions where I 

 have tried I find that as a rule these 

 attendant bees are killed, and from 

 the killing of them a hostility is start- 

 ed toward the queen. In all of 

 this work I find that the "Good "candy 

 at first described by him is prefera- 

 ble. To work it, get some honey 

 in a dish and stir into it all the gran- 

 ulated sugar necessary to keep the 



