256 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



of the frames with some strips of 

 wood or bits of wax under its ends, 

 so as to give the bees free access to 

 the wire cloth between it and the 

 tops of the frames. The whole is 

 now covered with a bee quilt. The 

 food apartment is left closed. Once 

 or twice a day the quilt is gently 

 lifted at one end to see how the bees 

 disport themselves about the cage. 

 As long as the bees -'ball" the cage, or 

 gather in knots or clusters about it, 

 I leave them to themselves to work 

 off their discontent. As soon as I 

 find the cage nearly deserted of con- 

 gregated bees, which may be in one, 

 two or three days, the stopper to the 

 food department of the cage is re- 

 moved, and the bees allowed to 

 release the queen at their leisure. 



I have tried both ways thoroughly 

 and I now prefer to have the attend- 

 ant bees in the cage with the queen. 



In the first experiment given by 

 Mr. Cushman, the queen was re- 

 leased before the bees were recon- 

 ciled to her. I have tried this plan 

 too often to mistake I think. 



The second experiment is a case 

 in which there is room for doubt. 

 I have had this state of things under 

 my observation several times, and I 

 concluded that either the queen was 

 sick and the bees had no faith in her, 

 or the colony was not in unison of 

 purpose. Most probably she was re- 

 leased too soon. 



I have had two or three cases 

 where the queens were found dead in 

 the cage. Of course, in such cases, 

 the queen either sickens and dies or 

 is stung through the wire cloth. 



I remember years ago of trying to 

 introduce a queen in the unnatural 

 way recommended and widely pub- 

 lished by one of the older bee papers, 

 to wit : Cage the queen forty-eight 

 hours, then release her in broad day- 

 light, keeping a watch over her to 

 see how the bees received her. On 

 the occasion referred to, I caused the 

 queen to run out of the cage on top 

 of the frames among an excited lot 



of bees, and of course she was 

 "balled," as might naturally be ex- 

 pected. I smoked the bees off of 

 her and lifted her by the wings with 

 the intention of recaging her, when 

 a vengeful worker made a fierce 

 dash at her and stung her fatally be- 

 fore I could move a muscle. After 

 years of careful experimenting in 

 this direction, I am more and more 

 convinced that no systematized plan 

 will meet all the conditions when in- 

 troducing queens. Close observa- 

 tion and good judgment on the part 

 of the apiarist are the nearest approx- 

 imation to certainty in results, that I 

 know anything about. 



To introduce queens when there 

 is a steady flow of honey, is a very 

 different thing from introducing them 

 at a time of dearth when the bees 

 are ill tempered and discontented. 

 This fact alone is sufficient to throw 

 discredit on all "infallible plans." 



In introducing queens, I am gov- 

 erned by the following rules, and 

 they may be the means of helping 

 some who have not had the oppor- 

 tunity to go over the whole grounds 

 of experiment. 



1. The cage used for introducing 

 should be so arranged that the bees 

 can release the queen by eating out 

 the provision stored in the cage. 



2. The cage should be placed in 

 such a position that the apiarist can 

 see the behavior of the bees about 

 the cage without stirring up, or excit- 

 ing the bees, hence the top of the 

 frames I think is the best place. 



3. The bees should not be per- 

 mitted to release the queen till they 

 give evidence that they are recon- 

 ciled to her. 



4. The colony should be left 

 quietly to themselves till the queen 

 begins to feel at home, and begins 

 to lay eggs, after which she is as safe 

 as if she had been reared in the hive. 



ANSWERS BY OLD BEEKEEPER. 



I. Our plan for introducing 



