THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



337 



run ill other directions — two or three 

 sometimes j^oiiig at the same time. From 

 this phenomenon I have first discovered 

 the accidental removal of a queen. Con- 

 cern is often shown in the same way 

 when a cjueen is on her wedding trip. 

 Then, if the queen is caged and placed 

 near the entrance of the hive from which 

 she came, many bees will rush about the 

 cage showing the greatest joy; while, if 

 placed near the entrance of any other 

 hive, very little notice will be taken of 

 her. 



N i:\V-PROCESS FOUND.VTION V.S THE OLD. 



In an article, with illustrations, taken 

 from the C. B. J., tileanings, 712, at- 

 tempts a comparison of the readiness with 

 which bees work the new-process and the 

 old-process foundations. The illustra- 

 tions are somewhat confusing. The la- 

 bels they contain are abundant, but are 

 made out with some difficulty by poor 

 eyes; then each of the three illustrations 

 is put upon the page according to a some- 

 what different plan; and in one case 

 either the label or the explanatory figure 

 below is erroneous. But the chief defect 

 lies in the e.xperiment itself. The "or- 

 dinary" foundation with which the com- 

 parison is tnade has no pedigree whatever. 

 The maker is not disclosed; and we have 

 no knowledge of his skill or success in 

 the manufacture of foundation. The 

 new-process foundation may be decidedly 

 preferable to any other made, but it 

 would be ridiculous to claim that the ex- 

 periment develops an}' proof of it. 



AkI-; THK L.\TKK MKTHCJDS OF INTRODIC- 

 IXG ylEKNS .\XV SAFER TH.\N 

 THE OI.I) PLANS? 

 I'rom the many changes in the cages 

 and in the methods of procedure and the 

 many failures I am led to wonder whether 

 introrlucing cages are the boon they 

 have been represented to be. For in- 

 stance, Mr. I.apsley (Gleanings, 762), 

 having a valuable queen for introduction, 

 uses extra caution , and procures one of 

 the cages for the sake of a "certain meth- 

 od." He loses his queen. Again, Mr. 



Warden (Gleanings, 768) has been suc- 

 cessful in introducing with the cages by 

 first tacking a piece of caul board over 

 the candy, thus compelling the bees to 

 cut through the card board as well as the 

 candy to release the queen. The change 

 was made on account of previous losses. 

 So I am led to query whether the old 

 way isn't the best one, after all. One 

 great advantage of it is on account of the 

 great difference in the length of time re- 

 quired for introducing queens to different 

 colonies. Not infrequently a colony re- 

 quires more than 48 hours; and such prob- 

 ably release the queens more quickly than 

 those that harbor milder feelings. Of 

 course, in such cases, the queens are des- 

 troyed. Again, in the spring, queenless 

 colonies are so desirous of a queen that 

 no formal introduction is required — they 

 are glad to take them at once — and at 

 such a time, when eggs are so important, 

 it would be folly to keep the queen caged 

 for tw-o days. Then, a swarm will al- 

 ways take a laying queen; so that when 

 there are swarms there is the best possible 

 opportunity for introducing valuable 

 queens safely. Altogether, may not the 

 subject I'e properly reconsidered ? 



[Last month I touched upon this sub- 

 ject, but the publication of Mr. Taylor's 

 views calls up some more thoughts. The 

 point that he brings up in regard to the 

 fact that some colonies are ready to accept 

 a queen much quicker than is the case with 

 other colonies is an important matter. I 

 thought of this when I first read about 

 Mr. Warden's plan of covering the candy 

 with card board — that is, it simply makes 

 the time of caging longer than it 

 otherwise would be. Sometimes this is 

 needed — sometimes not. I think it is 

 possible that with the novice the plan of 

 allowing the bees to eat out the candy 

 and release the queen from the mailing 

 cage may be as good as any; but for one 

 who has the experience and ability to 

 manage the details, the plan of caging 

 the queen against the side of a comb from 

 which young bees are emerging can be 

 made a sure thing. As I explained last 



