THr AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



85 



Finding tlie Queen, 



Query, No, 195.-1 have read of so many 

 <iitfereut operations with bees, where it is 

 necessary to find the queen, that 1 write my 

 experience and ask for a remedy for my 

 troubles. I tlrst smoke my bees, then open 

 the hive, take out a frame, look it over care- 

 fully, and lay it down outside the hive, and 

 proceed with the other frames in like man- 

 ner ; then the inside of the hive will be filled 

 in the corners, on tlie bottom and on the 

 sides with a horde of bees, all excited and in 

 motion. By this time the bees outside will 

 have recovered from the effects of the 

 smoke, and are ready to stinj? and fly about 

 in the air, making a complete confusion of 

 the whole job ; and the result is I do not find 

 the (lueen.— E. A. S. 



I do not smoke the bees so as to get 

 them to running ; if you do, you will 

 always have trouble" in finding the 

 ■queen. Go slowly and carefully, not 

 exciting the bees, and you will suc- 

 ceed better.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Take out the central combs first, 

 examine them quickly — learn to tell by 

 one sweeping glance whether the 

 queen is on one side of a comb. Find 

 the queen before the bees get to run- 

 ning all over. When a comb has 

 been examined, place it in an empty 

 hive.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



To keep tliem quiet keep up the 

 smoke. When we find trouble in 

 seeing the queen, it is often an aid to 

 shake all the bees in front of a hive, 

 on a board. This often saves time, 

 and is quite sure. Shaking bees from 

 frames seems to take the fight out of 

 them. — A. J. Cook. 



Have you carefully studied direc- 

 tions in the bee-books V If not, one 

 of the first things is to commence a 

 library. I suspect that you use too 

 much smoke, as very little is needed — 

 a couple of puffs at the entrance be- 

 fore touching the hive, and 3 or 4 

 across the top after uncovering it. 

 With good-natured bees in a honey- 

 flow, no smoke may be necessary. — C. 



C. ^IlLLER. 



If I want to find a queen in any 

 hive very quickly, I would not smoke 

 the bees. The queen is nearly always 

 found on the combs containing the 

 brood, and on the brood itself, not on 

 the sealed honey. It the bees are 

 vicious, I would put on gloves and 

 protect my face. If not smoked, the 

 queen seldom leaves the combs on 

 opening a hive.— G. L. Tinker. 



It is plain that you lack practice, 

 and that your bees are not pure Ital- 

 ians. The best chance to find a black 

 queen is to lift a centre comb first, 

 for she may be on it and will not have 

 time to run off as she does when you 

 start at the side, where she is less 

 likely to be. Seek tor her on the 

 hrood-comhs. When your bees get 

 confused, give them a good smoking, 

 remove their hive, and shake them all 

 on a sheet in front of an empty hive 

 on the stand of their;o\vn. If you do 

 not find the queen then, you had 

 f)etter quit hunting tor queens. — 

 Dadant & Son. 



When no robbing is imminent,! have 

 hunted queens in the same manner. 

 If you and your bees are "fidgity" 

 you may not find the queen till what 

 you describe, results. You can drive 

 the queen and part of the bees above 

 into a box, and then shake them upon 

 a board, and find her thus. This 

 method is also uncertain and slow. 

 With my hive I shake the queen out 

 at once, without removing a frame. — 

 James Heddon. 



Take out one frame, look it over 

 carefully, then hang it outside of the 

 hive, or inside of an empty hive. 

 Take the next frame, look it. over, 

 and if no queen is found upon it, put 

 it back into the hive, to one side, and 

 go on until you do find her. You will 

 have less trouble if you leave the 

 frames inside of the hive. If you do not 

 find her, go back over the frames. In 

 looking up queens, I find the less 

 smoke you use the easier to find them. 

 — H. D. Cutting. 



There is no remedy. The only way 

 to find a queen, is to hunt her up. If 

 you cannot find her readily on the 

 first trial, close the hive, wait an hour 

 or so, and try again. You can if you 

 like, shake all the bees from their 

 combs in front of the hive, and brush 

 out all the bees, and then pick out 

 the queen when all are traveling 

 back ; this, however, is a tedious job, 

 and I prefer the second trial. It is 

 seldom, though, that I do not find 

 the queen at the first attempt. — J. E. 

 Pond, Jr. 



Your experience is not peculiar ; 

 all beginners meet with the same 

 difficulties that you mention. Use a 

 comb-box large enough to hold a full 

 set of combs, or an empty hive will 

 do. Open the hive and use no more 

 smoke than is absolutely necessary to 

 keep the bees quiet. Remove the 

 combs one at a time, kx\A look them 

 over, placing them in the comb-box 

 till all have been examined. If the 

 queen is not found, examine among 

 the bees left in the hive, stirring 

 them with a stick. If still not found, 

 go over them again when replacing 

 them in the hive. " Practice makes 

 perfect."— G. W. Deiiaree. 



Hive-Entrances in Winter, 



cillery. No. 196.— In covering hives with 

 outside boxes for wintering bees on the 

 summer stands, how should the entrances 

 be aiTanged to prevent their being clogged 

 with snow, in regions where very heavy 

 snows fall ?— H. C. P. 



Make your cover-box with a deep 



portico.~D AD AnT & Son. 



The entrances should be protected 

 bywideboards in front of them.— G. 

 L. Tinker. 



Stand a board up in front of the 

 entrance, so the snow will not drift 

 in.— II. 1). Cutting. 



I stand a board from tlie alighting- 

 board slanting to the hive, so as to 

 protect the entrance from snow. — G. 

 M. Doolittle. 



I have no experience of late years, 

 but would not boards leaned against 

 the hives accomplisli itV — C. C. 

 Miller. 



Lean a board up against the hive in 

 front of the entrance, and fill the 

 openings at the ends of the board 

 with straw.— W. Z. HuTcniNsoN. 



Snow never injures my bees by 

 drifting at the entrances of the hives. 

 A broad board set up against the 

 front of the hive would remedy the 

 evil effects, if there was any to be 

 feared.— G. W. Demaree. 



A slanting board can be placed 

 against the hive. If this is as long 

 as the hive, and pretty close to the 

 entrance, it will serve the purpose 

 well. If snow is cleaned out as soon 

 as the weather warms up, it is a ques- 

 tion if it does any harm. — A. J. Cook. 



It will make little difference whether 

 they are so protected or not. If de- 

 sired, a board can be set slantwise 

 over the entrance, but I have never 

 found that snow clogging entrances 

 caused any injury, as it is porous 

 enough to give ample ventilation. — 

 J. E. Pond, Jr. 



To prevent clogging with snow and 

 other vastly more important and 

 detrimental influences, allow me to 

 advise leaning a board up over the 

 front of the hive, and piling all the 

 snow over the hive, board, and all 

 that you can find. Cover them from 

 sight, if you have enough snow, and 

 keep theiii so as much as possible.^ 

 James Heddon. 



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