178 DR. miller's 



finding the queen, it is generally as well to close the hive till an 

 hour or two later, or till another day. 



Q. I sent for a queen the past summer. I took all the frames 

 out of the hive, but I could not find the old queen, so I put the 

 new queen in and they killed her. How can I use a queen-trap 

 to find her? 



A. Fasten your trap at the entrance of the old hive. Lift out 

 all the frames with adhering bees, and put them in an empty 

 body close by. After all the frames are taken out of the hive, 

 make sure that the qtieen is not in it, if necessary brushing all 

 the remaining bees out of the hive upon the combs. Now lift one 

 of the combs, shake and brush all the bees from it upon the 

 ground in front of the old hive, and as soon as you have all the 

 bees ofi: the comb put the comb in the old hive. Proceed with all 

 the combs in the same way, brushing all the bees in front of the 

 trapped entrance, and putting the brushed combs into the old 

 hive. The bees will crawl into the hive through the trap, and 

 Madam Queen will be found trying to get in the same place. 



Q. What is the best way to find and catch the queen in a box- 

 hive ? 



A. Drum the bees out, put them in a movable-frame hive with 

 a frame of brood in it, give the bees time to settle, and then look 

 on the frame of brood for the queen. Or, you may sift out the 

 queen with an excluder. Usually if you shake the bees in front 

 of the hive you will see the queen running toward the entrance. 



Queen Introduction. — Q. Can I introduce new queens at any 

 time, and how will I have to proceed? 



A. Yes, you can introduce queens any time, so long as the 

 weather is warm. The proceeding is the same as at any other 

 time, but introducing is not always so successful in a dearth as 

 when honey is coming in freely. 



Q. Could I safely introduce a new queen to a swarm hanging 

 to a limb, by killing their queen and placing the new queen on 

 the cluster of bees? 



A. It might succeed, sometimes. 



Q. Is it any safer to introduce queens to one or two-frame 

 nuclei in place of a four-frame or a colony of bees? 



A. Perhaps there is no difference, but if there is any differ- 

 ence it is safer to introduce to the weaker. 



Q. What difiference, if any, is there in acceptance of a queen 

 in a colony that has been queenless for some time (no laying 



