INTRODUCING IMPREGNATED QUEENS. 283 



'If another queen is introduced into the hive within twelve 

 hours after the removal of the reigning one, they surround, 

 seize, and keep her a very long time captive, in an impenetrable 

 cluster, and she commonly dies either from hunger or want of 

 air. If eighteen hours elapse before the substitution of a 

 stranger-queen, she is treated, at first, in the same way, but the 

 bees leave her sooner, nor is the surrounding cluster so close; 

 they gradually disperse, and the queen is at last liberated; she 

 moves languidly, and sometimes expires in a few minutes. Some, 

 however, escape in good health, and afterwards reign in the 

 hive. ' ' 



The manner in which strange queens are treated by the 

 bees, when they are queenless, depends mainly on the state of 

 the honey harvest. 



534. But in order to meet with uniform success, the fol- 

 lowing conditions must be fulfilled : 



Fig. 111. 



MILLER QUEEN CAGE, 



(Prom "The A B C of Bee-Culture.") 



The bees must be absolutely queenless. Sometimes a colony 

 contains two (117) queens, and the Apiarist after removing 

 one may imagine that he can introduce a stranger, safely. 

 Many queens are thus killed. 



535. As bees recognize one another mainly by the scent, 

 the new queen should be placed so as to get the odor of the 

 hive, before being released among them. This can be ef- 

 fected readily by sprinkling the bees and the new queen with 

 sweetened water scented with peppermint, and liberating her 

 at once. But as this method generally causes some robbing 

 (664) in times of scarcity, it is not always to be relied upon. 



536. Our method consists in placing the queen in a small 

 flat cage made of wire cloth, between two combs, in the most 



