PUBLISHED EVERY WEEK 



AT $1.00 PER ANNUM. 



35tli Year. 



CHICAGO, ILL., OCT. 10, 1895. 



No. 41. 



Report of the Proceedings 



OP THE 



Twenty-Sixth Annnal Convention 



OF THE 



North American Bee-Keepers' Association, 



HELD AT 



TORONTO, Ont., Sept. 4, 5 and 6, 1895. 



W. Z. HUTCHINSON, SEC. 



(Continued from page 630.) 

 SECOND DAY— Thursday Afternoon Session. 



First upon the program came an essay by Mr. S. T. Pettit, 

 of Belmont, Ont., on 



Introducing- Queens. 



Upon the subject of introduciug queens, am I expected, 

 after all the volumes that have been written and spoken upon 

 that topic, to write anything new ? 



It has often been said that an essay on apiarian subjects 

 should be more calculated to draw out discussion than to ex- 

 haust the subject. Well, the essay in hand I hope will meet 

 that view, for, iudeed, I myself want more light upon the sub- 

 ject. 



I shall aim to set forth what seems to me the cause or 

 causes of imperfect introduction. If we once fully understand 

 the real causes, then we are in a position to seek a remedy. 



There are some characteristics in bee-nature so similar to 

 those in human nature that if we study ourselves it may help 

 ns to understand why queens are often accepted under protest, 

 and then treated as heathen Chinamen and subsequently 

 abused, tortured, and finally put to death, or superseded, 

 which ultimately means the same thing. In this way, be- 

 Qause of imperfect introduction, many valuable queens that 

 are received in good condition are cruelly disposed of, after 

 the apiarist had decided that they were safely introduced. I 

 know by repeated experiences of that kind, the keenness of 

 such disappointments. I believe it will pay us to look more 

 closely into this matter. 



I do not believe the fault is all with the bees. I appre- 

 hend that the queen has strong, natural motherly affections 

 and yearnings for her own family and " blood relations," and 

 cares not to leave them and trust herself to the tender mercies 

 of her natural enemies ; for all worker-bees and queens seem 

 willing to destroy all other worker-bees and queens from off 

 the face of the earth, and they all understand this depravity 

 in bee-nature, and hence the fighting spirit — the principle of 

 self-preservation is aroused in both queen and bees when 

 thrown together without due precautions. 



The bees fear the queen, and the queen fears the bees, 

 but this mutual mistrust is not the only element of discord 

 and danger. 



The queen's love for her own, however great, is equalled 

 by the loyalty of all worker-bees to their own queen ; and this 

 laudable principle, coupled with fear, are two standing diffi- 

 culties to successful introduction. But these are not all. I 

 believe it is a recognized fact that generally, if not always, 

 the stronger a man, a society or a company, a mob or a nation, 

 or a hive of bees, the more self-confident and self-assertive 



each becomes. Now these I believe are the difficulties to be 

 removed. Can we do it? And if so, how? are the pertinent 

 questions. I will give what I think more successful in a good 

 honey-flow. 



I may be allowed to interject right here that I believe 

 more queens are lost or injured through imperfect introduc- 

 tion than through transit; a poor queen is often made so by 

 imperfect introduction. I kave succeeded best by selecting or 

 preparing for the purpose a weak colony ; in this, as above 

 suggested, their self-sufficiency is not so great, and they are 

 more yielding than a strong colony. 



Now having your queen on hand, remove the old queen 

 from the hive, and immediately place the new queen in a clean 

 cage all by herself, and place her in a clean, sweet, airy place 

 (not in your pocket) out of the reach of all bees. 



Now watch your bees, and they will soon manifest their 

 loss. In many cases their grief and consternation will be 

 very manifest. Now at this crisis the queen will be just as 

 lonesome and forlorn as these queenless bees, and now is the 

 time to liberate her. Place her within about a foot of the en- 

 trance. The queen will know by the commotion and mourn- 

 ing of the bees what is the matter ; she will understand their 

 frame of mind, and her fears will give place to hope ; her 

 lonely, forsaken condition prepares her to welcome the bees, 

 and they, in their forlorn condition, and perceiving the queens' 

 humility, will gladly reciprocate her overtures of peace and 

 good-will ; then they will escort her to their home and king- 

 dom, and proclaim her queen of all the realm. 



Then their mourning and sadness 

 Is turned to rejoicing and gladness. 



A queen may be successfully introduced to a new swarm 

 in the same way. If the condemned queen is clipped, cage 

 her when the bees swarm ; then place the new hive on the old 

 stand and remove the old hive some distance away ; now place 

 the old queen at the entrance of the new hive, and when the 

 bees are returning rapidly, remove the old queen. When they 

 miss her they will ma nifest their loss in a marked degree. Hav- 

 ing prepared the new queen as in the other case, let her run 

 in as above, and you will see how quickly the bees will quiet 

 down and go to work. 



Some bees that have brood will fail to manifest their loss ; 

 in that case it is better to cage the queen in the usual way. 



But, after all, the plan of placing a valuable queen with 

 just-hatching brood never fails to give satisfactory results. 



Having selected the combs of brood, and liberated the 

 queen in the hive, I place it on top of a fairly strong colony, 

 with two frames of wire-cloth between them. This arrange- 

 ment enables me, without danger from other bees, to place the 

 hive where I wish it to stand. If some new capped honey is 

 present, and water provided, breeding will go on at a lively 

 pace. 



All changes in the practice of bee-keeping should be made 

 with due caution. There is so much in knowing how to do a 

 thing. S. T. Pettit. 



L. A. Aspinwall — Much depends upon the honey-Qow. 

 Late in the season, when but little honey is coming in, it Is 

 more difficult to introduce queens. I have used with the best 

 success a cage made of a small frame-work upon the sides of 

 which is tacked some cheese-cloth. The cage is supplied with 

 food. The queen is released by the bees gnawing through the 

 cheese-cloth. Simply remove the queen and put the new one 

 into this cage, and the workers wiU at once begin the work of 

 releasing her, which will require at least five hours. They 



