1907 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1137 



their combs with eggs, which tive queens 

 will do in three or four days. That is all 

 there is of it. 



You now have the colony all together with 

 their brood and their mother-queen, and as 

 many other queens as you care to have in 

 one colony, ihere has not been a queen 

 balled or injured in any way. 



We all know that many things along the 

 line of introducing queens can be done with 

 weak colonies during a good flow of nectar 

 that can not be done with a strong colony 

 in a honey-dearth; and for that reason we 

 tried nearly all our expei'iments on the 

 strongest colonies we had during a scant 

 flow of nectar, and usually with colonies 

 that had stung several queens during our 

 experiments. There seems to have been 

 almost no end to the number of queenS we 

 sacrificed in perfecting this undertaking — 

 more so because we picked out the crossest 

 and worst-dispositioned bees we had, to ex- 

 periment on. But as these queens died to 

 save the rest, their lives were not lost in vain. 

 Now why is this method a success? First, 

 because the bees have been a few hours 

 without their queen and brood; next, a 

 small part of their colony was confined in a 

 box and filled with honey for several hours 

 before the strange queens were given them; 

 then those bees and these queens were shut 

 up long enough together to become all of 

 the same odor before they were given to the 

 colony. 



There are some things in this method that 

 must not be overlooked. You first confine 

 enough bees in the inti'oducing-box to give 

 to the queens you introduce the same scent 

 as the colony is, to which you intend to put 

 them; then the whole colony has been queen- 

 less and broodless for a few hours, and you 

 have fed them in the box all they could hold 

 before giving them these queens, and you 

 have also fed the colony all they could eat 

 before they received the queens and their 

 bees. I find bees, like men, are better- 

 natured when their stomachs are full. 



If these instructions are carried out care- 

 fully you will never lose a queen in intro- 

 ducing, and the colony will be queenless 

 less tnan twelve hours. Certainly this is a 

 quicker and safer way than the candy meth- 

 od, which takes three or four days, and is 

 often followed with a loss of ten per cent or 

 more. 



When we take queens from our nuclei or 

 full colonies to introduce in this way we put 

 several into a large cage, and have never 

 had one stung by another. We are careful 

 not to put any worker bees in with them. 

 You may think that, to remove the plug 

 from the hole in the box and let the bees 

 leave it during the night would be better 

 than to remove the top of the box; but don't 

 do it. Some of the bees and queens will 

 stay in the box until the next day; then when 

 they come out and join the colony the bees 

 are all empty of the honey you ifed them, 

 and they have some queens that joined 

 them at first, and these additional queens 

 might make trouble. 



Be careful in following these instructions, 

 and you will not lose one queen in a hun- 

 dred; but it will not do to omit any part. 



Now as to the advantages derived from 

 this plurality of queens in a hive. First, we 

 soon have a hive packed with brood; next, 

 we have never had a colony with two or 

 more laying queens prepare to swarm. 

 Then it is the nicest way imaginable to su- 

 persede inferior queens. You can have the 

 choice queen you wish to keep in the colony 

 somn time before removing the old queen, 

 and both will be laying in harmony togeth- 

 er. Sometimes we find a colony that has 

 lost its queen, and its combs are so full of 

 pollen that they appear almost worthless. 

 When this is the case, just run in at the top 

 of the hive, after a few puffs of smoke, two 

 or three laying queens and you will be sur- 

 pi'ised to see how soon these combs will be 

 filled with larvic and capped brood; and 

 shortly after its brood begins to hatch, these 

 colonies will be the strongest in the apiai'y, 

 and I can not see any reason why you could 

 not winter a large number of queens that 

 were reared late in the fall, and have them 

 ready for your early increase; or for sale 

 much earlier than they could possibly be 

 reared in the spring. If surplus queens can 

 be kept in full colonies during the winter 

 season as safely as dviring the summer, then 

 certainly another great forward step will 

 have been taken in modern bee-keeping. 



I expect to try wintering some surplus 

 queens in full colonies this coming winter. 

 In fact, I can already see many advantages 

 that this new departure from the old meth- 

 ods will give us. We should naturally think 

 that, with several queens in a colony, they 

 would separate to different parts of the hive, 

 and start a brood-nest alone by themselves; 

 but, not so. They all seem to act together, 

 commencing in the central part of the hive, 

 and spread their eggs naturally toward the 

 outside. A short time ago I opened a hive 

 containing five queens. Four were on one 

 comb, three on one side, and two in the act 

 of laying. Again, I opened another hive 

 containing four queens, the fourth day after 

 they were introduced, and 7 of the 9 combs 

 in the hive were filled with eggs as full as I 

 ever saw combs filled. 



I have explained this subject as plainly 

 as I can, even repeating some parts; so 

 please don't flood me with letters for fur- 

 ther particulars, as I have no time to answer 

 them at present. 



Delanson, N. Y. 



[The reader should not lose sight of the 

 fact that Mr. Alexander is presenting a plan 

 for introducing one queen to a colony, as 

 well as a plurality of them, at one operation. 

 While it may seem impossible, one should 

 remember that his bees are a leather-colored 

 gentle stock of Italians. Possibly it would 

 not work with some strains, especially hy- 

 brids or bees of the Eastern persuasion. 



Without having had the opportunity to try 

 this plan we would suppose that, after the 

 honey-flow had stopped, and there was a 

 strong disposition on the part of the bees to 



