314 THH bee-kbepbr's guidb ; 



queen, at pleasure, to use elsewhere, though, if the latter, we 

 must liberate one of the caged queens, which, says the Judge, 

 "will always be welcomed by the bees." Mr. Doolittle, as 

 already stated, causes the bees to fill themselves with honey, 

 then shakes them into a box, which is set for a day in a cool, 

 dark room, when the new queen can be given them at once, 

 even though she be a virgin. It is also stated that if we 

 remove a queen at noonday, and after dark smoke the colony, 

 after keeping the queen fasting for half an hour, we may 

 safely introduce her at once. I have tried neither of these 

 methods. I think this is the method of Mr. Simmins, of 

 England. 



When bees are not strong, especially if robber-bees are 

 abundant, it is more difficult to succeed, and at such times the 

 utmost caution will occasionally fail of success if the bees are 

 not all young. Sometimes a queen may be safely introduced 

 into a queenless colony by simply shaking the bees all down 

 in front of the hive, and as they pass in, letting the queen run 

 in with them. If the queen to be introduced is in a nucleus, 

 we can almost always introduce her safely by taking the frame 

 containing the queen, bees and all, and setting it in the mid- 

 dle of the hive containing the queenless colony ; though it is 

 well to smoke the colony well. 



A young queen, just emerging from a cell, can always be 

 safely given at once to a colony, after destroying the old 

 queen. 



A queen-cell is usually received with favor, especially if 

 the colony has been queenless for twenty-four hours. If we 

 use a cell we must be careful to destroy all other queen-cells 

 that may be formed ; and if the one we supply is destroyed, 

 wait twenty-four hours and introduce another. If we wait 

 seven or eight days, and then destroy all their queen-cells, the 

 bees are sure to accept a cell. If we use the West cell-protec- 

 tor (Fig. 137) then there is of course no danger. 



If we are to introduce an imported queen, or one of very 

 great value, we might make a new colony, all of young bees. 

 We simply place two or three combs of fully matured brood in 

 a hive, and the queen on them. By nightfall there will be a 

 goodl}' cluster of young bees. Unless the day and night are 



