INTRODUCING IMPREGNATED QUEENS. 283 



"If another queen is introduced into the hive within twelve 

 hours after the removal of the reigning one, they surround, 

 seize, and keep her a very long time captive, in an impenetrable 

 cluster, and she commonly dies either from hunger or want of 

 air. If eighteen hours elapse before the substitution of a 

 stranger-queen, she is treated, at first, in the same way, but the 

 bees leave her sooner, nor is the surrounding cluster so close; 

 they gradually disperse, and the queen is at last liberated; she 

 moves languidly, and sometimes expires in a few minutes. Some, 

 however, escape in good health, and afterwards reign in the 

 hive." 



The manner in which strange queens are treated by the 

 bees, when they are queenless, depends mainly on the state of 

 the honey harvest. 



534. But in order to meet with uniform success, the fol- 

 lowing conditions must be fulfilled : 



Fig. 111. 



MILLEB QUEEN CAGE, 



(Prom "The A B C ol Bee-Culture.") 



The bees must be absolutely queenless. Sometimes a colony 

 contains two (ll'S') queens, and the Apiarist after removing 

 one may imagine that he can introduce a stranger, safely. 

 Many queens are thus killed. 



535. Bees recognize one another mainly by scent. The 

 queen, especially when laying, has a peculiar odor, evidently per- 

 vading the hive and known to the bees. It is thought that the 

 absence of this odor, when a queen is removed, alarms the bees 

 because they recognize their loss. When a nes\' queen is intro- 

 duced, if we cause the bees to become accustomed to her odor 

 before we release her, she may be accepted more readily. 



536. Our method consists in placing the queen in a small 

 flat cage, made of wire cloth, between two combs, in the most 



