712 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



reached, then insert the two combs, 

 when it is covered with a board or 

 carpet. 



I use the nursery in my apiary cel- 

 lar, and when the proper nursery 

 temperature is once reached, I am 

 thus enabled to hold it within one 

 degree all the 24 hours, day after day 

 and week after week. Many would 

 think that the proper temperature to 

 keep, would be that kept in a colony 

 while rearing and hatching queens. 

 Careful observation and experiment- 

 ing has taught me that there is a 

 great variation of the temperature in 

 queen-rearing colonies, varying with 

 differeut colonies, which should be 

 shaded from the sun's rays. 



Form these nuclei in the forenoon, 

 keeping them confined until about 

 sundown, or just as the other bees 

 are ceasing to fly. Now drum on the 

 hive, and smoke in the entrance a few 

 minutes, after which remove the 

 screen at the entrance, letting the 

 confined bees have a flight, when 

 they nearly all mark their new loca- 

 tion, remaining at the same, if these, 

 in addition to the other precautions, 

 are used. 



INTRODUCTION OF QUEENS. 



My method of introducing these 

 virgin queens, as fast as they hatch 

 in the nursery, is as follows : Watch 

 the nursery closely, so that the queens 

 will not become old enough to kill 

 each other, or bite open the un- 

 hatched cells and destroy the inmates. 

 I examine for hatched queens about 

 five times per day, going as early and 

 late as I am up, so as to make the in- 

 terval during the night, between ex- 

 aminations, as short as possible. I 

 have not as yet had a queen de- 

 stroyed. 



When you find one or more hatched, 

 place each in a wire-cloth cage, and 

 carry her to one of the previously- 

 formed nuclei ; smoke the "guards," 

 and removing the stopper from the 

 cage, place the open end at the en- 

 trance of the nucleus, and let her run 

 in. Just as she passes in, send a light 

 puff of smoke after her, and leave 

 the hive with the empty cage. I 

 think that the less you arouse the 

 colony, the surer you are of success. 

 I advise the use of no more smoke 

 than to make sure of subduing the 

 "guards." 



There has been some discussion re- 

 garding the best age of the nucleus at 

 the time the young queen is run in. 

 Some consider such introducing safe, 

 only after the nuclei have their 

 queen-cells capped, which will be 

 from 3 to 6 days after they are formed; 

 but I have always endeavored to get 

 a young queen in sometime between 

 24 and 48 hours after formation. I 

 have in many instances failed to have 

 my queens on hand as soon as I in- 

 tended, and have this season run 

 queens into nuclei of all ages, from 

 six hours to as many days, and I think 

 not a single failure has beset my ef- 

 forts. 1 have found about one in 

 fifteen of my nuclei queenless, but as 

 I seldom look after these matters pre- 

 vious to a week after introducing, 

 and have in no case found queen-cells 

 on the combs, I infer that these 



queens were accepted, but were lost 

 on their mating trip or otherwise, 

 afterwards. 



I wish to caution the less experi- 

 enced against opening a hive " to see 

 how the queen is coming on," or for 

 any other purpose, if it can well be 

 avoided, within 6 or 7 days after the 

 introduction of any queen. I have 

 received many letters like this : " I 

 received the queen apparently all 

 right. I introduced her safely, and 

 found eggs the next day after liberat- 

 ing, but now I cannot find her, and 

 queen-cells are started." 



Bees seem to receive a new queen 

 on probation for the first 3 or 4 days, 

 and if during the time they are sub- 

 jected to any disturbance, they sus- 

 pect the stranger as the cause, and at 

 once destroy her. I have had colo- 

 nies kill their old mother, upon hav- 

 ing their hives opened. This always 

 took place in the spring. 



If for any reason it becomes neces- 

 sary to open n hive, soon after in- 

 troducing a queen to its colony, by 

 the use of the big volume of smoke, 

 be sure that you subdue this colony 

 most thoroughly. 



In introducing fertile queens I have 

 adopted the caging plan, and that of 

 besmearing the new queen with 

 honey, and dropping her into the hive 

 at once, upon the removal of the old 

 queen, and with both methods I have 

 very seldom lost a queen. 



Dowagiac, p Mich. 



For tbe American Bee JoumaL 



FnmiiatiiiE Comli Honey. 



DR. C. C. MILLER. 



I have been much interested in 

 looking over the replies given on page 

 740 of the American Bee Journal 

 for 1886. Generally, the replies to 

 queries show great uniformity of opin- 

 ion, but in this case there is variance 

 enough to make lively reading. The 

 amount of surplus used for 1,000 cubic 

 feet of space varies from " a heaping 

 table-spoonful " to " 2 pounds ;" that 

 is, if my own reply reads as I meant 

 it. I should say I never wrote " 1,000 

 square feet of comb," but " 1,000 cubic 

 feet of room ;" but if I say anything 

 of that kind it would be just like Bro. 

 Newman to quietly enclose and mail 

 to me the original copy written word 

 for word as printed. 



In any case, the amount given by 

 me is so much more than others, that 

 I have just been out to measure my 

 smoke-room to see how my answer 

 compares with my actual practice. It 

 measures about 600 cubic feet. I have 

 many times fumigated honey in it, 

 each time using just one pound of 

 sulphur. The room is generally tilled 

 with honey piled up to the ceiling. A 

 few sections will show the green 

 color, but on the whole, I think it is 

 not far from right. 



But if I am right, how about the 

 others ? Dr. Brown thinks a heaping 

 table-spoonful suflBcient for 1,000 

 cubic feet of space. I regard Dr. 

 Brown as a man not likely to make 

 reckless statements, and in his case I 



presume the amount mentioned is 

 sufficient. He stipulates that " the 

 room should be perfectly tight." 

 Mine is not, and this would make 

 quite a difference. He probably never 

 allows time enough to elapse so that 

 the worms may attain any size, and 

 when taken at that stage, when noth- 

 ing but a bit of tine powder can be 

 seen, I presume a heaping table- 

 spoonful will be more effective than 

 2 pounds when the worms have 

 reached full size. 



Then again, the Doctor may have 

 in mind that the space will be almost 

 entirely filled with honey, and this 

 may make a great difference. In 1,000 

 feet of space, if 900 feet are occupied 

 with honey there will be only one- 

 ninth the empty space that there will 

 be if 100 feet of space are occupied 

 with honey. With the same amount 

 of sulphur burned in each, will not 

 the fumes be nine times as strong in 

 100 feet of empty space, as in 900 ? 



Still I would rather have plenty of 

 sulphur, for if a small quantity is 

 used, and an occasional worm is left 

 alive (and I have found an occasional 

 one alive after my heavy smoking), it 

 is worse than to have a very few sec- 

 tions green. After worms have grown 

 to full size, it is almost impossible to 

 kill them with any amount of sulphur. 



As to the manner of burning, I 

 think coals and heated irons will be 

 discarded by any one who fairly tries 

 the easy and simple way of lighting 

 the sulphur directly with a match. I 

 use the powdered sulphur. Possibly 

 the roll-brimstone would not light so 

 easily. 



My experience does not lead to the 

 same conclusions as Dr. Tinker has 

 reached. I think that 1 should not 

 care to hold up sections to the light 

 to see if pollen was in them, for if the 

 pollen is covered with honey and 

 sealed over (and I think it is never 

 sealed without first being covered 

 with honey), I should no more fear 

 worms than if no pollen were present. 

 But the occasional open cell of pollen 

 that mars the surface of an otherwise 

 beautiful section, is pretty sure, un- 

 der favorable circumstances, to mark 

 the birth-place of a worm. It is pos- 

 sible that a worm may develop in the 

 pollen under the honey, but I have 

 never observed it. 



However that may be, I am sure 

 that I have seen worms start where 

 there was no pollen. If any one 

 should object that a microscope might 

 discover traces of pollen where I 

 could with the naked eye see none, I 

 reply that I am not talking as a hypo- 

 critical scientist, but as a plain bee- 

 keeper to bee-keepers, and as such, if 

 I can see no pollen, I feel justified in 

 making the assertion in ordinary lan- 

 guage, that there is none there. In- 

 deed, 1 suppose Dr. Tinker uses the 

 language in the same way, as he 

 speaks of holding sections up to the 

 sunlight to see if pollen is in them. I 

 have frequently seen worms originat- 

 ing on the edges of the walls of cells 

 not tilled with honey, next to the 

 wood. I have even seen them on 

 foundation in sections not yet drawn 

 out by the bees. Whether these will 

 grow to full size without pollen, I am 



