FOREIGN BEES. 159 



ported, and it has the reputation of being very gentle. 

 A stock of this kind I had maintained their good 

 character, but I lost them by disease before a summer's 

 trial was complete. This variety appears to have too 

 great an inclination to swarm to make strong stocks for 

 honey-gathering. On the Continent of Europe great 

 attention has been paid to the introduction of a Bee from 

 Cyprus, said to surpass all others known for good 

 qualities, but very few have been imported into England, 

 and I have no reliable confirmation of their attributed 

 virtues. 



The operation of exchanging Queens may be per- 

 formed in various ways, dependent in great measure on 

 the form of hive in use ; with frame hives, ten or twelve 

 minutes should afford ample time for the work, and the 

 danger to the new sovereign is almost nil. With skeps 

 or closed boxes more time is occupied, it being imper- 

 ative that the Black Queen should be first captured ; 

 and, to effect this, it is generally necessary to drive out 

 the Bees until the Queen is discovered and safely 

 removed. Sometimes she will elude the most educated 

 and vigilant eye, in spite of patience and assiduity ; and 

 it is unsafe to introduce the new sovereign without being 

 quite certain the old one is not in the hive. The mere 

 fact of not finding her is not sufficient, and in the event 

 of a battle royal it must not be forgotten the foreigner is 

 tired, cowed, and enfeebled by her long journey and 

 confinement, whilst her antagonist is in her accustomed 

 vigour. Supposing the old Queen is surely removed, 

 it would never do to introduce the new one to the tender 

 mercies of the Workers without proper precautions being 

 observed, for Bees are not noted for hospitality to 

 strangers, so she must be inclosed in a wire cage placed 

 in the hive, and kept so imprisoned for at least twenty- 



