74 



MONEY IN BEES IN AUSTRALASIA 



■Pig 40 



iiecn Bees. 



ITALIAN STOCK. 



ITndoiibtedl}' the best bee in Australasia to-daj' is the 

 leather-coloured Italian, and with good reason. If all 

 the original stock in the apiary were black or hybrid, it 

 is a step in the right direction to purchase one or two 

 leather-coloured Italian queens from some reputable 

 queen-breeder. These sliouki be introduced to hives 



in the home yard to be 

 under close observation 

 for qualitication as queen 

 mothers of the future. In 

 introducing queens re- 

 ceived through the mails 

 the beginner will prob- 

 ably just follow the direc- 

 tions on the card attached 

 to the mailing card (Fig. 

 4-0), and this is the safest 

 course until he gains further experience. 



When the apiarist decides upon the hives to be 

 re-queened with Italian blood, he should mark them to 

 avoid mistakes when the queens come to hand. The mail 

 cages are small blocks of pine with three one inch holes 

 bored almost througb, to overlap each other; the end 

 compartment is filled with special candy upon which the 

 bees subsist during transit. The holes are covered on 

 the front with wire cloth which in turn is covered with 

 an address card, on the reverse side of which are 

 directions for introducing. Upon receiving the queen, 

 remove the card and place the cage in a coat pocket. Go 

 to a marked hive, open as already directed, and keep a 

 shar]j look-out for the black queen. 



TO REMOVE BLACK OR OLD QUEENS 



IN LANGSTROTH HIVES. 



Every bee-keej^er has experienced at one tune or 



another the difficulty of finding the queen in a powerful 



colony. Usually a quick eye will locate a queen of the 



