76 



TBE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



than is best. Of course, this may be reme- 

 died by leaving in the tin slide, but this 

 defeats the advantages, or supposed advan- 

 tages, arising from caging the queen against 

 the comb. I say "supposed advantages," 

 because, as favorable as the Peet cage 

 appears as an introducing cage, I have been 

 equally as successful with other cages. I 

 have had excellent success with a cylindrical 

 case, made from a piece of wire cloth four 

 inches square. Ravel about two wires from 

 one edge of the wire cloth, roll it up, thrust- 

 ing the projecting ends of the wires through 

 the meshes of the opposite edge, and clinch 

 the ends by bending them over. This forms 

 a round tube about an inch in diameter and 

 four inches long. The ends may be stopped 

 by plugs of wood, corncob, or cork, or the 

 ends may be ''squeezed" until they are 

 closed. When the queen is confined in such 

 a cage, the cage should be placed between 

 two combs just over the brood nest, and the 

 combs pressed together until their pressure 

 holds the cage in place. That the queen 

 may not perish for want of food, should the 

 bees neglect, or refuse, to feed her, see that 

 one side of the cage is pressed against some 

 part of the comb containing honey. 



No definite length of time can be given as 

 to how loi^g a queen should be caged before 

 she is released. The behavior of the bees is 

 the best guide. If they are " balling " the 

 cage, clinging to it in masses, like so many 

 burdocks, their behavior indicates what the 

 the queen would have to endure were she 

 within their reach. The operator must wait 

 until the bees are in a different mood ; until 

 they are walking quietly about over the cage, 

 as unconcernedly as upon the combs of 

 honey — perhaps the bees may be offering 

 food to the queen and caressing her with 

 their antennas. This shows that the bees 

 are favorably inclined towards the queen, 

 and that it is safe to release her. 



When Mr. S. W. Morrison was in the queen 

 business, he sent out bees in a cage that was 

 an excellent one for use in introducing 

 queens. Its opening was covered with a 

 piece of zinc in which was a perforation just 

 large enough to allow a worker to pass, but 

 not a queen. Over this was a slip of unper- 

 forated tin. As soon as it was discovered 

 that the bees were favorably disposed to- 

 wards the queen, the tin slide was turned, 

 admitting them to the cage. For some 

 peculiar reason, the bees will not attack the 

 queen, in the cage. Perhaps it is because 



she cannot run, and perhaps it is because 

 the bees don't feel as courageous when they 

 find themselves cooped up in a cage. W^ith 

 this arrangement a large number of bees 

 can go in the cage, a few at a time, and pay 

 their respects to her majesty ^ After the bees 

 have been on their good behavior for a day 

 or two, the queen is finally released by turn- 

 ing aside the slip of zinc. As the queen 

 emerges she is accompanied by a little com- 

 pany of bees that has virtually accepted her 

 as sovereign of the hive. 



There is probably no method of releasing 

 a queen, let the cage be what it may, that is 

 equal to that of stopping the entrance to the 

 cage with Good candy, and allowing the bees 

 to eat it out. The bees that first meet the 

 queen are in good humor from the candy 

 they have eaten. The queen is released 

 quietly at a time when the colony is undis- 

 turbed. 



Until quite recently a few of the leaders in 

 apiculture advised bee-keepers to examine a- 

 colony within an hour after the queen was 

 released, to see how she was being treated. 

 If she was found in a ball of bees she must 

 be re-caged. No worse advice could be 

 given. The disturbance frightens the queen; 

 she begins to run and "squeal," when the 

 bees immediately "ball" her. W'hen a bee- 

 keeper rescues his lately-released queen 

 from a ball of bees, it m-iy be natural for 

 him to conclude that his interference saved 

 her life ; but the truth in nine times out of 

 ten would be that it was this very meddling 

 that put her life in jeopardy. After a queen 

 has been released the colony should be let 

 entirely alone for three or four days, or a 

 week, until the queen has become fully 

 " established as queen of the hive. 



To be successful in introducing queens 

 that have come from a dista^ice, the condi- 

 tion of the colony must be well looked after. 

 It is better that it should be hopelessli/ queen- 

 less. Let it build a batch of queen cells, and 

 remove them after all the larvae are too old 

 to be developed into queens, then the bees 

 are almost certain to accept a queen if given 

 to them in a proper manner. I would sooner 

 release a queen after the bees had discovered 

 the loss of their old queen, and before they 

 had begun the construction of queen cells, 

 than to release her after the cells were under 

 way, unless I waited until the cells were 

 sealed over and had been removed. 



When engaged in queen rearing, I did not 

 lose one queen in 100 that I attempted to 



