A YEAR'S WORK IN AN OUT- APIARY 



39 



season afterward, in my having all the sections in both supers worked 

 in, yet none completed in either, I am, perhaps, over-cautious now on 

 this point. However, I think it better to use great caution at all times 

 about putting an empty super under a partially full one, and especially 

 so after having found that by putting the empty one on top better 

 results can usually be obtained. I next look after the three colonies 

 made by "shook" swarming at the first visit, exchanging supers and 

 adding the third, where needed, the same as was given when telling 

 how the thirteen were treated at that time. These have the supers 

 containing the bait sections nearly completed, and I am tempted to take 

 them off, but finally conclude to leave them, which proved the best 

 thing to do, the way the season turned. 



DOOLITTLE'S CANDY METHOD OF INTEODUCING. 



I now look after the nine colonies made at the last visit, and an 

 examination shows that all have laying queens but one, so I have two 

 of the three brought, to carry back home. To the one having lost its 

 queen a frame of young brood is given, taken from one of the others, 

 and one of the three queens I have in cages is given to it. The remov- 

 able stopper in this cage is one which I call a "candy cork," which is 

 made by boring a five-sixteenths hole through a piece of an old broom- 

 handle one inch long, or some other piece of wood that will fit into a 

 round wire-cloth queen-cage, the cage being made by rolling a piece of 

 wire cloth, fourteen or sixteen mesh to the inch, around said broom- 

 handle or the finger, and locking the edges so it will retain the size 



DOOLITTLE'S HOME-MADE INTBODUCING-CAGE. 



wanted. This "cork," made from the broom handle, has the hole filled 

 with "queen-cage candy," made by stirring and kneading powdered sugar 

 and honey together till a stiff dough is formed, as is described in all of 

 our late literature on bee-keeping. This inch in length of hole is filled 

 with the queen candy, so the bees can liberate the queen at a time when 

 she will be likely to be accepted by the bees, and at the same time 

 not require my coming to the out-apiary to look after the matter, as 

 would be necessary by other ways of introduction. As a rule it will 

 take the bees about twenty-four hours to eat the candy out of an inch 

 in length of the five-sixteenths-inch hole, which is about the right length 

 of time in this case to warrant safe introduction. 



Having the queen all ready for the hive, a center frame is removed, 

 and, after shaking the bees off, the cage is crowded between the bottom 



