3o6 



THE BBE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



cleaned up in the fall by placing them in 

 the cellar, as Dr. Miller did, where the 

 darkness makes the bees a little slow in 

 finding them, that is, not only slow in 

 finding them the first time, but in each 

 subsequent visit, or else they stack them 

 up out of doors, and allow only a small 

 entrance. The point is that if the bees 

 gain access to them in large numbers, 

 they quarrel, and push, and crowd, and 

 break down the walls of the combs. 



«^«^" ».»u»*^*^ 



INTRODUCING QUEENS BY CAGING THEM 

 AGAINST THE SIDE OF A COMB. 



Mr. R. A. Lapsley writes quite graphi- 

 cally to Gleanings in regard to his failure 

 by caging the queen against the side of a 

 comb, as described and illustrated in the 

 June Review and in other journals. He 

 says this plan might do very well in the 

 hands of the veterans, but thinks that 

 some other plan better for the inexperi- 

 enced. Mr. Root thinks that I was put- 

 ting it a little strong when I called it a 

 certain method of introduction. I do not 

 know how many queens I have sold this 

 summer; I have not figured it up, but I 

 know that it is several hundred, and to 

 each purchaser has been sent instructions 

 for this style of introduction. In each 

 case when a queen was lost I have sent 

 another free of charge. There were 

 quite a number of failures, but, almost 

 without exception, the trouble was simi- 

 lar to that reported by Mr. Lapsley; the 

 bees dug under and liberated the queen 

 before they were ready to accept her. I 

 think that some of us who attempt to tell 

 others how to manage, sometimes take 

 too much for granted. I do not know 

 how the others felt who described this 

 method, but it never occurred to me that 

 any one would cage the queen against 

 a nezv comb of honey; but that was what 

 several of my customers did the past sea- 

 son, to their sorrow — and mine. The 

 comb selected should be old, tough, 

 brood-comb, and filled with just hatching 

 brood instead of sealed honey. If a few 

 of the cells contain unsealed honey, no 



harm is done — in fact, it seems tome bet- 

 ter. If I remember correctly, the only 

 failures, aside from those that came from 

 the bees eating under the cage, 

 were those in which the bee-keeper 

 hunted up the queen in a day or two af- 

 ter she was released, "to see if she was all 

 right." He found her all "right," but 

 the disturbance caused the bees to attack 

 her; and then there was trouble. I am 

 satisfied that this plan of introduction is 

 correct in principle, and about the only 

 detail that needs more attention is that of 

 the selection of proper comb upon which 

 to cage the queen. 



r-*^* >iA»^^^fc» 



\VH.\T DETERMINES THE SEX IN EGGS ? 



What has been called the Dzierzon the- 

 ory has been almost universally accepted 

 among bee-keepers. Briefly stated, it is 

 that the eggs of an unfertilized queen 

 produce drones, and that after she is fer- 

 tilized, drones are produced by her lay- 

 ing eggs that are not brought in contact 

 vvith, or under the influence of, the fer- 

 tilizing fluid. I think that any one who 

 has read the lit*^le phamphlet called the 

 Dzierzon Theory, will admit that there is 

 good ground for such belief. Recently, 

 however, there has been started another 

 theory, called the Dickel theory, in 

 which it is asserted that the power of de- 

 termining the sex lies with the workers, 

 and not with the queen. Mr. Thomp- 

 son referred to it in his notes last month, 

 and gave a brief account of some experi- 

 ments. 1 may say, also, that I have had 

 some correspondence on this subject with 

 Mr. C. Thielmann, of Thielmanton, Minn. 

 He made five swarms queenless at the 

 time of hiving, then gave each a new 

 comb containing only worker eggs. 

 There was not a drone cell on one of the 

 combs, yet every swarm reared workers, 

 drones and queens from the eggs given 

 them. Mr. Thielmann has sent me a 

 photograph of one of the combs, taken 

 eleven days after it was given to the 

 swarm, and it shows conclusively that he 

 is correct in his statements. 



