THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



203 



about (|uite a little to find a good honey 

 location combined with a good market. 

 I have spent two summers in Virginia, 

 one in Louisana and one in Cuba, and, 

 taking everything into consideration, 

 New York State suits me about the best 

 of any place I have seen. 



Kingston, N. V. Feb. n, 1899. 



ood things 



from Ottief Journals, 



CONTROIXED FERTIUZATIONOF QUEENS. 



INTRODUCTION OF QUEENS. 



In looking over the last number of the 

 Canadian Hee Journal I noticed, on page 

 531, the heading to an article written by 

 W. A. Whitney, which reads," Control of 

 the Fertilization of Queens;" and, as I 

 had often wished there was some surer 

 way of accomplishing this very desirable 

 result, I read the brief article with inter- 

 est; and presuming all who have trouble 

 in getting their queens fertilized as they 

 want them will be interested in this sub- 

 ject, I lay it before your readers. Here 

 is what he says: 



I have just visited the apiary of Mr. J. 

 .•\. Holniberg of this city, and as he gave 

 me what I consider a new idea in the fer- 

 tilization of queens, I will give you and, 

 perhaps your readers, a brief account of 

 his plans. How to prevent Italian, virgin 

 queens from becoming fertilized by black 

 or inferior drones has always been a diffi- 

 cult problem for bee-keepers. Mr. Holm- 

 berg thinks he has succeeded in solving 

 it. and he says he has so far been entirely 

 successful. He practices Doolittle's plan 

 in raising queens. His nuclei are sup- 

 ported, not only with nursing bees but 

 with a good supply of drones. He removes 

 the tiucleus to his cellar where he leaves 

 it well supplied with honey for about 

 three days. He then, at 5:30 1*. M., after 

 all outside drones have returned to the 

 hives, brings f)ut his nucleus, when the 

 virgin c|ueen and drones will at once rush 

 out for a flight after their long confine- 

 ment. After their return the queen is 



examined and if she does not show evi- 

 dence of having met the drones, the opera- 

 tion is repeated and she is given another 

 chance at the same hour on the following 

 day. Now I do not know whether you 

 have heard of this j^lan or whether you 

 have faith in its efficacy, but I thought I 

 would write you aljout it, and if you have 

 any use for it in the C. B. J., use it. Mr. 

 Holniberg has a way of introducing 

 queens that is, as he says, very successful. 

 The old queen is caged and placed on the 

 top of the frames for two or three hours. 

 Then she is destroyed and the new queen 

 is put in the same cage which is placed in 

 the same place on the frames. After an 

 hour she is released, when she is accepted 

 readil)'. The bees tliink she is their old 

 queen, now having the odor of the old 

 one gathered from the cage and her posi- 

 tion over the bees. He says the plan is a 

 good one in his practice. 



In his comments on the above, editor 

 Holterman of the C. B. J., says: 



"The above idea is new to me and I have 

 never heard it mentioned at any of the 

 bee-keepers' conventions I have attended. 

 The method given of controlling fertiliza- 

 tion appears to me very reasonable, and I 

 believe your article and Mr. Holmberg's 

 experience valuable" 



I have several times tried the plan that 

 has been so often recommended of keep- 

 ing virgin queens and the drones I wished 

 to have meet them shut in their hives 

 from 9 A. M. till drones had cea.sed flying 

 for the day, but for some reason I didn't 

 make much of a success of it. The young 

 queens and drones were uneasy, fretting 

 and stewing to get out for a flight, and 

 now I wonder that I didn't have gumption 

 enough to do as Mr. Holniberg does. 



If I sold a colony of bees to be called 

 for the next day, or some other future 

 time, I knew enough when the bees were 

 fastened in to set the hive in as cool a 

 place in the shade as was possible, or, if 

 convenient, and I was uncertain at what 

 time during the (\ny the colony would be 

 taken away, I set it in the darkened cellar, 

 but I didn't have sense enough to serve 

 drones and virgin queens the same way, 

 but have allowed a " blarsted " Canadian 

 to get the start of me; but I don't owe him 

 enough of a grudge to wish that his plan 

 may prove a failure. No sir.ee: I hope it 



