THE AMERICAJ^ BEE JOURNAL. 



789 



ural swarming. As the public had 

 demanded tliis for tested queens, but 

 few of a low grade as to prolilicness 

 and short life were sent out. Many 

 opposed tills untested dollar-queen 

 business, but as the people demanded 

 something " cheap," the business grew 

 to large proportioned. Those receiv- 

 ing queens which were dead were not 

 satislied with no guarantee, and de- 

 manded that such loss should be made 

 good. Thus one claim after another 

 -was made till we have to-day queens 

 advertised at 9Uc.each, or nine dollars 

 a dozen, safe arrival guaranteed. As 

 a result of all this we soon hear our 

 prominent •' dollar-queen " man say- 

 ing that tlie way to rear good " dollar 

 ■queens " was to take a comb contain- 

 ing eggs from your best colony, place 

 it in an empty liive, then set it in the 

 place of another colony and the return- 

 ing bees from the field will raise good 

 queens.. Thus these old bees, long 

 unused to preparing food for feeding 

 larvae, are forced to do the best they 

 can at queen-rearing, in season or out 

 of season to meet this increasing de- 

 mand for cheap queens. 



Another, crying '• Headquarters for 

 Dollar Queens," says about Aug. 20th, 

 •' now is the time to rear good queens 

 cheaply." Upon inquiry it is found 

 that small nucleus boxes 5x6 inches 

 square are used with a little handful 

 of bees which are compelled to rear 

 queens at a time when the bees should 

 be preparing for their winter repose. 

 Is it any v^-onder that a party writes, 

 " out of^nine dollar queens purchased, 

 seven did not live six months and only 

 one of them a year V" Another says : 

 " I am disgusted with this dollar queen 

 business ; Uve out of six purchased 

 this season, died of old age." In this 

 controversy about cheap queens, talk 

 about the dishonesty of the parties 

 lias had a prominent place, as if there 

 was not room for dishonesty outside 

 of the queen business. The" question 

 is not as regards honesty or dishonesty, 

 but it is regarding a traffic wliich de- 

 mands such a scrimping and pinching 

 on every side in order to live, that the 

 quality of our bees is liable to be in- 

 jured for all future time. 



Talk about queens reared as above 

 being as good as those reared by natu- 

 ral swarming ! No one really believes 

 such a thing. But says our worthy 

 friend W. Z. Hutchinson, in the Rural 

 for July 16, " You say that Mr. Doo- 

 liltle 'evidently sees and feels deeply 

 the tendency of the cheap queen traf- 

 fic to depreciate the quality of our 

 bees.' Judging from his writing he 

 certainly does, but wliat are we to 

 think ot his rearing and advertising 

 for sale ' dollar queens T Actions 

 sometimes speak louder than words !" 

 For some reason or other Mr. H. for- 

 got to say that such queens were reared 

 under protest by myself. Merchants 

 often keep goods tliey do not approve 

 of because the demand calls for them, 

 and they must keep them or lose cus- 

 tomers. This is why I sell " dollar 

 (jueens " and probably no one knows 

 it better than does Mr. H. 



^^ When changing a postoffiee ad- 

 dress, mention the oM as well as the 

 new address. 



For the Amertcan Bee JoumaL 



Matiug: or a Queen Bee. 



S. A. SHUCK. 



On the lOlh of July, having some 

 queens that liad been kept confined 

 for the purpose, about 2:30 p. m. I lib- 

 erated, betV)re an open window, a very 

 strong and active one, five days old, 

 and proceeded to loop a silk thread 

 around her waist. After many fruit- 

 less efforts I succeeded in doing so. 

 The thread was attached to a pole 

 about IS feet long, the thread being 

 about 10 feet ioug. I carried her to 

 the apiary, and hoisted the pole, allow- 

 ing her to ssving at the end of the 

 tliread, or Uy as far as the thread 

 would permit. A stiff breeze was 

 blowing, but tlie weather was clear 

 and warm, and drones were flying in 

 great numbers. In less than a minute 

 several drones were pursuing her and 

 the number increased rapidly, until 

 there were, perhaps, fifty, when, for 

 S(fme reason, they all dispersed, like a 

 flash. In a short time, perhaps, a few- 

 seconds, and, at times, a minute or 

 more, they were again chasing her, 

 and disappeared in a twinkle again. 



This was kejit up for some time, 

 until I thought the queen needed some 

 food and let lier down and gave her 

 some honey. This was repeated sev- 

 eral times. 



During the time the drones were 

 chasing the queen, a great many 

 caught her, one at a time, and would 

 cling to her a few seconds and then 

 let go. Finally, one caught her, and 

 she appeared to have caught the 

 thread" with her front feet. They ap- 

 pearecf to be face to face and for a few 

 seconds only. The drone, letting loose 

 his hold, swung tiead dovpnward, and 

 the instant he reached a straight line, 

 his head in the opposite direction from 

 that of the queen. Snap ! Did you 

 ever, in your boyhood days, pinch the 

 ripe seed pods of the wild touch-me- 

 not to hear them snap, and see the 

 seeds cast in every direction ? The 

 above occurrence reminded me of 

 these ripe seed pods, and the drone 

 struck the grass near my feet, as if 

 impelled by a force similar to that 

 which casts these ripe seeds away. 



The queen bore the evidence of her 

 mating, but there was not that white 

 thread-like appendage that we see in 

 so many cases where the queen has 

 just mated, but in this case the organ 

 she held was large and appeared to be 

 perfectly smooth, so I conclude that, 

 in mOst cases, the drone is not so 

 easily freed from the queen, as in this 

 case. 



Later in the season I tried to secure, 

 in the same way, the mating of 

 queens, with imperfect wings. The 

 drones appeared, as before, but I failed 

 to accomplish my undertaking. 



The question now arises, have I 

 gained any information leading to tlie 

 successful mating of queens in con- 

 finement. This is what prompted me 

 to make the above experiments. I 

 had learned that others had mated 

 queens in this way, but not one word 

 have 1 seen in regard to the disposition 

 of the drones in such experiments. 

 During my last experiment the 



weather was very still and pleasant 

 and the actions of the drones were 

 observed witli more ease and more 

 definite conclusions were formed con- 

 cerning their natural actions. On such 

 occasions they become very much ex- 

 cited, and notwithstanding their sud- 

 den fright and dispersal, occasioned 

 by any unnatural turn or jerk of the 

 queen, caused by her attachment to 

 tlie thread, they may be seen several 

 rods away aiui in ditferent directions, 

 chasing each other, and often, a dozen 

 or more together, as though each sus- 

 pected tlie other of chasing the queen. 

 One of these little swarms, as it were, 

 of drones, I saw come to the ground 

 in chasing each other, and it there 

 had been any virgin queen in the 

 apiary, except the one 1 had attached 

 to the thread, I should have thought 

 they were in ()ursuit of her. 



From my observations in these little 

 experiments, I have concluded that 

 any efforts to secure the mating of 

 queens in small boxes, barrels or any 

 like devices, will in the main, prove 

 unsuccessful. However, it may be 

 accomplished in a building covering 

 several rods of ground, provided suffi- 

 cient light can be given, and at the 

 same time have sufficient shading to 

 prevent the bees from striving to get 

 out. 



Bryant, 111. 



BrlUsh Bee Journal. 



Introducing Queens Without Encaging. 



SAMUEL SIMMINS. 



It is well known that a serious loss 

 is occasioned to a colony of bees, es- 

 pecially in early spring, by the ex- 

 change of queens through the stranger 

 being caged for 48 hours, on even a 

 less time. The colony does not only 

 lose the eggs that might have been 

 produced during that time, but the 

 sudden check imposed upon a full 

 laying queen by being imprisoned, 

 throws her back so much, that she 

 does not recover her usual fecundity 

 for some days. Imported queens will 

 often not lay at all for the first few 

 days ; and the original sovereign hav- 

 ing been deposed or destroyed the col- 

 ony suffers the loss equivalent to an 

 average swarm before the new arrival 

 is in good order for laying. 



This has been so strongly impressed 

 upon my mind, that for a long time 

 past I have been experimenting, in 

 the hope that I might ultimately be 

 enabled to dispense with the introduc- 

 ing cage entirely. I am happy to say 

 that I'liave succeeded beyond my ex- 

 pectations, and the method is so sim- 

 ple that the only wonder is that 1 had 

 not thought of it sooner. Colonies 

 with fertile workers, or those that have 

 been long queenless without brood (as 

 they are sometimes found in early 

 spring), cause me no trouble wliatever, 

 as I can give them a laying queen 

 without her ceasing her work, except 

 for the few moments that she is being 

 transferred from one hive to another. 

 When a queen is sold with a swarw, 

 another can be immediately inserted, 

 and the queen of one colony can be 

 exchanged with that of another with- 



