332 THE ITALIAN OE UGUEIAN BEE. 



laying, or at any time wlien there is no brood in the 

 combs from which to rear queens. Drive out the bees, 

 remove the old queen, and return them. At the end of 

 a week introduce the Italian, and all will be right. If 

 there is any risk of eggs or larvae remaining, keep the bees 

 out of the hive for a week ; keeping the box containing 

 them with a little food, in the cellar or any safe place, till 

 it is too late to rear a queen from their own means ; then 

 return them, and at the proper time introduce the queen. 



I will give a method by which, with only one movable 

 comb-hive, a small apiary may be Italianized in one season. 

 Firstly, introduce an Italian queen into a colony occupy- 

 ing such hive. Drive out all the bees of some good stock 

 into an empty hive, and set this on the stand. Take the 

 hive from which the bees were driven, with its contents, 

 to the stand of the one with movable combs. Lift out the 

 combs and shake or brush the bees down by the box-hive, 

 which they will immediately enter. ZSTow take the mov- 

 able comb-hive with contents to the other stand, and put 

 that colony in it, and your colonies have simply traded 

 hives, and each wiU carry on its usual operations, the same 

 as if it had always been there. The one with movable 

 combs can now be controlled. After a few hours, when 

 the bees have become quiet, take out the combs, find and 

 destroy the common queen. 



In a week cut out all queen cells, and give them an 

 Italian queen, and when she has filled the comb with eggs, 

 four or five days after, this colony may be transferred 

 also. Continue the process until all are changed. The 

 cells cut out being Italian, may be put in the rearing 

 boxes to hatch. 



TKAKSPOETEN'G QTIEEN. 



A queen with a handful of bees can, with proper care, 

 be sent safely one thousand miles by express. To pack 



