324 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



Replies by Prominent Apiarists. 



IiitrotliicinE Oiieens, 



Query, No. 254.— I will get a pound of 

 bees about June 1, and will previously have 

 reared a queen for them. I will put them 

 on comb foundation. What is the best and 

 safest way to introduce the queen to them ? 

 — Canton. 



You had better buy them with the 

 queen. Otherwise introduce her by 

 caging her 48 hours. —Dadant & 

 Son. 



I should put the queen with one 

 frame of her brood and bees into the 

 hive that I intended to put the pound 

 of bees in, and then let the bees from 

 abroad run in at the entrance.— G. M. 



DOOLITTLE. 



I think I would risk putting her 

 with the bees. without any introduc- 

 tion ; but I would rather have the 

 bees on a frame of brood.— C. C. 

 Miller. 



I would introduce her in the same 

 way as I would introduce a queen to an 

 ordinary colony. As the bees will be 

 queenless, and will have no brood, 

 they will be almost certain to accept 

 a qiieen offered in any manner.- W. 

 Z. Hutchinson. 



I should cage her for 24 hours, then 

 if the bees seemed in a friendly mien, 

 I should let her out. If the bees did 

 not seem well disposed, I should leave 

 her caged 4S hours. I can alwiiys tell 

 when liberating a queen whether I 

 must re-cage her for a longer time.— 

 A. J. Cook. 



I would cage her on top of the 

 frames, and as soon as the bees quit 

 "balling " the cage— if they " ball " it 

 at all— I would turn her loose. I would 

 not meet with one loss in a thousand 

 when proceeding in this way. My 

 cages are so arranged that tlie bees 

 release the queens by eating out the 

 soft candy with which the cage is 

 provisioned. This feature of an in- 

 troducingcage is indispensable, in 

 my estimation.— G. VV. Demaree. 



I should either put the bees on two 

 frames of comb, and one of brood too 

 old to rear a queen from, and run the 

 queen into the entrance at dusk ; or 

 put the bees on two frames of comb, 

 and put the queen between them on a 

 frame of her own brood. In either 

 case I should not open the liive for 3 

 or 4 days* A novice perhaps had 

 better put the bees on the comb and 

 brood, cage the queen and keep her 

 among the bees for 2 or 3 days, and 

 then let her out if the bees were quiet, 

 but not so long as they seemed angry 

 and clung to the cage in bunches. 

 There is no absolutely safe method of 

 introduction, so far as I can learn.— 

 J. E. Pond, Jr. 



Sprinkle the bees in the shipping- 

 cage with sweetened water, to which 

 add 15 drops of the essence of pepper- 

 mint to one pint of water. Treat the 

 queen in the same way. Start the 

 bees into the hive and let the queen 

 run in with them, is one of the many 

 ways you can do.— II. I). Cutting. 



Transferring and Italianizing Bees, 



Query, No. 255.— I have 50 colonics of 

 pure Italians on Lang-stroth frames, and I 

 am buying andjmoving 40 colonies of blacks 

 in box-hives to within a mile of my home 

 apiary. How can I best transfer and Ital- 

 ianize them to secure the most surplus 

 honey ? — Texas. 



Rear Italian queens, and at the 

 time of transferring give an Italian 

 queen after removing the black one. 

 Any of the bee-books will tell how to 

 transfer.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Transfer all the best worker combs 

 with the worker brood, and fill out 

 with frames filled with foundation. 

 Rear Italian queens in the home 

 apiary, and at the close of the early 

 honey season, supersede all the black 

 queens, introducing Italian queens in 

 their places.— G. W. Demaree. 



According to the old or Ileddon 

 method, as described in my Manual. 

 This should be done at the swarming 

 season, or a little earlier.— A. J. Cook. 



Practice " modern transferring" as 

 advised and practiced by Mr. Iled- 

 don. Rear queens during the honey 

 harvest, keep them in nuclei until 

 the honey harvest is over, then in- 

 troduce them to the full colonies of 

 blacks.— W. Z. Hutchinson. 



Any of the standard directions for 

 transferring and Italianizing are 

 good, but to tell you how to do so to 

 obtain tlie most surplus honey, is a 

 difficult matter, as location makes 

 such a great difference.— H. D. Cut- 

 ting. 



Unless the combs are very nice and 

 straight, you will do as well to use 

 foundation. Mr. Heddon's plan of 

 transferring, as given in the Bee 

 Journal, is good. Rear Italian 

 queens in nuclei of full-sized frames, 

 and add the nuclei, queen and all, to 

 the black colony during the honey- 

 flow, having killed the black queen.— 

 C. C. Miller. 



Transfer tliem by my plan called 

 " modern transferring," wliich has 

 been detailed in the Bee Journal 

 and Prof. Cook's book, and also in 

 mine. For the sake of more honey 

 and Italianizing, move those black 

 bees out of your home field, and rear 

 queens for them in your home apiary. 

 Move them six miles away. — James 

 IIeddon. 



Transfer the bees from the box- 

 hives at once, and Italianize them as 

 instructed in the text-books, of whicli 

 " Bees and Honey " is of the best. It 

 would require a page or more to an- 

 swer this question, and as good an 

 answer as I can give will be found in 



the above work. Some advise wait- 

 ing till a swarm issues from the box- 

 hive before transferring. I do not 

 myself believe transferring as ordi- 

 narily advised pa^s. I much prefer 

 the method described some 2 or S 

 years ago by Mr. Heddon.— J. E. 

 Pond, Jr. 



Using Empty Comlis, 



Query, No. 256.— Having lost all of my 

 bees (19 colonies) during the winter and 

 spring, I have ordered two •3-frame nuclei 

 with Italian queens. I propose to send for 

 bees by the pound ; how shall I proceed in 

 order to utilize my empty combs to the best 

 advantage ?— J. C. 



Put the combs in close boxes so 

 that they will be safe from moths, and 

 use them as rapidly as needed by the 

 bees.— A. J. Cook. 



Give the bees as many combs as 

 they can cover ; also furnish them 

 with queens, and as fast as the bees 

 increase in numbers, add more combs. 

 Produce extracted honey. —W. Z. 

 Hutchinson. 



Watch so that mice and worms do 

 not infest the combs ; keep them well 

 spread apart in a cool, airy place ; 

 and give them to the bees just as fast 

 as they can use them.— C. C. Mili er. 



I would buv bees in box-hives 

 "cheap," and "drum" out two or 

 three swarms from each box-hive, 

 using the empty combs to hive them 

 on, and rear queens from the nuclei 

 for each swarm. My next choice 

 would be to buy bees by the pound, 

 and fight the tlie moth-worms with , 

 the fumes of brimstone.— G. W. Dem- 

 aree. 



You can rear queens from one 

 nucleus, and if you get enough bees by 

 the pound, you can soon have the 

 most of your combs in use. Keep 

 your queens hard at work, and add an 

 empty comb as often as practicable.— 

 H. D. Cutting. 



I should get an untested queen with 

 each pound of bees, and upon arrival 

 I should take a frame of brood from 

 the nuclei and put with a hive of 

 combs, hiving the bees and queen 

 upon them. Later on, these colonies 

 can furnish brood in place of the 

 nuclei to hive other pounds of bees 

 on.— G. M. Doolittle. 



Put one queen with 2 pounds of 

 bees in a hiveful of comb during the 

 white clover bloom. This will make 

 a good colony promptly.— Dadant & 

 Son. 



Hive the bees on the empty combs 

 and give queens to them. Fill up by 

 adding more combs as fast as the 

 queen can occupy them. Work care- 

 fully and intelligently in this way, and 

 if the season is fair, each pound of bees 

 will build up into a good colony ; and, 

 if flrst-rate, it will probably produce a 

 little surplus. Read and study the 

 book "Bees and Honey" carefully, 

 also the American Bee Journal, 

 for valuable information and instruc- 

 tion.— J. E. Pond, Jr. 



