456 THE ITALIAN BEE. 



original Italian queen from the hive and put her elsewhere, 

 in order that, finding themselves without a queen, they may 

 be disposed to tolerate the drones, as long as possible. If 

 other Apiaries are near, to which he cannot apply the non- 

 swarmer, the bee-keeper must remove his nuclei and hive 

 with the Italian queen and drones, to some situation more 

 remote. By substantially such methods of procedure, the 

 season may be ended with none but Italian queens in the 

 Apiary. Let the bee-keeper in his zeal for multiplying 

 colonies with Italian queens, be sure not to forget my pre- 

 vious cautions. He should never, unless in latitudes where 

 the Winter is mild and short, attempt to winter any but 

 strong stocks. From these, with the comb procured in 

 uniting several feeble families, he can safely form new ones 

 the ensuing season, and with much less trouble and expense 

 than would ordinarily be necessary to nurse feeble stocks 

 through a very precarious existence. 



Italian queens may be safely sent in my hives to any part 

 of the country. A hive for this purpose should be made to 

 hold only one comb, which ought to be old and very se- 

 curely fastened. Into such a hive, suitably provisioned, an 

 Italian queen may be introduced with a few hundred bees to 

 keep her company, and if the frame containing the comb is 

 properly secured, and sufficient ventilation given, they will 

 bear a journey of many days. If received at a season un- 

 suitable for rearing new queens, she may be given to some 

 strong colony, transferred * to a suitable hive, and reserved 

 for future operations. 



* In the directions for transferring bees, 1 spoke of securing the old 

 combs with cotton-twine, until the bees could fasten them to the 

 frames. Quite recently a friend has contrived a much better way. 

 He cuts out from bass or any other spongy wood, slats, three-eights of 

 an inch wide, and one.eighth thick, and half an inch longer than 



