RE-QUEENING. 119 



again with the fruits of their early excursions. So it goes on all 

 day until the lateness of the hour checks further outside labour. 

 This will continue for the first and well on into the second season 

 if there be out-door labour to be done. After these two seasons 

 the foraging-bees' zeal and energy will begin to wane. They don't 

 rise in such numbers as they did, and their excursions are not so 

 frequent as they were. Why ? The queen's procreative powers 

 are subsiding, therefore the workers' maternal duties and love of 

 offspring diminish in like manner. To introduce a new queen, 

 one having all the elements of a queen that has sailed forth with 

 a swarm, is to put new life and energy in the bees that had afor- 

 time settled down into the humdrum lassitude of a declining queen. 

 A change may be as good as a rest. But in this case a change 

 toeans more labour for the bees and extra profit for the bee- 

 keeper. 



Again, what pleasure there is in knowing that you are master 

 of your bees, and that you can stimulate a sluggish colony into 

 activity. This activity is a mutual help to both parties. 



Let me enumerate the different methods of doing this all- 

 important work: — (a) By destroying the old queen, and letting 

 the swarm take its chance; (6) by grafting a queeln cell on the 

 comb of a queenless colony; (c) by the aid of chloroform; (d) 

 by leaving the colony queenless for a given period ; (e) by direct 

 introduction. Can these various methods be equally successful ? 

 All may be successful, but not equally so. Then why recommend 

 them? Because some of the methods referred to can only be suc- 

 cessful in the hands of an experienced bee-keeper. Other methods 

 depend for success upon the season of the year and the abundance 

 or otherwise of the floral season. 



By destroying the old queen and letting the colony take its 

 chance. — In the hands of a beginner this is always a success. In 

 the warmer parts of this State there are always eggs and larvae 

 from which the bees can manufacture a queen. Although a new 

 queen can be thus produced, it is not wise to do so at all seasons 

 of the year, because drones are not always available. If there 

 are no drones the queen will lay only drone-eggs. Spring and 

 summer are the only seasons that should be chosen, and the former 

 one preferable. Look at the waste of time in this method of re- 

 queening. There is a loss of about seven weeks during the most 

 important season of the year. No ; don't requeen in this way if 

 you can succeed otherwise. 



