CHAPTER XIII 



INTRODUCTION OF QUEENS 



Having successfully raised the requisite number of 

 queens, the next stage is to introduce them to the 

 colonies, the queens of which we are desirous of super- 

 seding. This requires care, otherwise the bees will 

 destroy the stranger. If the alien queen be enclosed in 

 a cage, and the whole introduced into the hive, the bees 

 gradually become reconciled to the presence of the 

 stranger, and if the new queen be released in forty- 

 eight hours she is generally accepted. 



But perhaps the simplest as well as the safest method 

 of introducing stranger queens is that known as Simmins' 

 direct queen introduction. 



Before re-queening, the first step obviously is to 

 find the old queen we desire to supersede. To do 

 this, open the hive at a time when the bees are flying 

 freely, lift out the central comb and carefully examine 

 both sides of the comb, paying particular attention to 

 any particularly dense cluster of bees. Queens are 

 extremely shy, and speedily bury themselves beneath 

 a cluster of the workers. Should she not be found in 

 the first frame examined, hang the frame on a comb 

 stand, or place it in a spare hive, and search each frame 

 in turn until she is found, when, seizing her by the 

 wings, either kill her at once or otherwise dispose of her. 

 Should a thorough search fail to discover the queen, 

 queenlessness may be suspected. To set all doubt at 

 rest, insert a comb containing brood, if the bees com- 

 mence queen cells thereon, no queen is present. Failing 



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