THOUSAND ANSWERS 179 



worker), and in case of increase by division of a colony, as to 

 queen given to the queenless part? 



A. Introduction would be quite a bit more likely to be suc- 

 cessful in the second than the first case. It is generally found 

 that it is more difficult to introduce a queen to a colony that has 

 been queenless for some time than to one from which the queen 

 has been recently removed. The reason may be because of the 

 age of the bees, for it is the older bees that make trouble when 

 a new ruler is introduced. It is better that they should not be 

 queenless for any length of time. 



Q. How should bees act when favorable to accepting a queen 

 introduced to a colony that has been queenless perhaps ever 

 since the swarm was hived last May? (October.) 



A. It is easier to tell by looking at them whether they feel 

 like accepting her than it is to tell how one tells. If the bees are 

 hostile to her, they may be grasping the wires of the cage as if 

 trying hard to get at the queen, while if they feel kindly toward 

 her they will sit quietly and loosely on the cage. That's not tell- 

 ing you very much, is it? Well, I may as well tell you that if the 

 case were right before me, I couldn't always tell for certain. They 

 might appear to be looking as sweet as you please at the queen, 

 with murder in their hearts all the while. 



Q. I have had trouble in introducing laying queens on account 

 of the bees starting cells. I have always lost about half of the 

 queens I tried to introduce. Would it be perfectly safe to shake 

 about a pound of bees taken from three or four different colonies 

 into an empty hive containing about three combs with no brood, 

 and confine these bees three or four days; in the meantime intro- 

 duce a queen in the regular way, brood to be given later? Would 

 these bees be likely to swarm out after they were released? 



A. The plan has been used, the bees being put in the cellar or 

 other dark place. They ought not to swarm out afterward. 



Let me give you one of the kinks I have used in introducing a 

 valuable queen. It is the old bees, and not the youngsters, that 

 make trouble when a step-mother is given them. So the thing to 

 do is to get the field-bees out of the hive before the queen is 

 given. That is a thing vefy easily done. Just set the hive in a 

 new place, and leave on the old stand a hive with one of the 

 brood-combs. When the gatherers return from the field they will 

 go to the old stand, and in 24 hours the old hive will have in it no 

 bees more than 16 days old. As a matter of convenience, I lift 

 the old hive from its stand, setting it close by; put the new hive 

 with one frame of brood on the old stand, put on this the cover, 



