THE 
JOURNAL. 
Vot,. n.— No. 3.] AUGUST 10, 1887. [Price 6d. 
Editorial. 
HINTS FOR THE SEASON AND QUEEN 
INTRODUCTION. 
Bees are already preparing for the new season, 
and strong stocks have now some brood in 
their combs; it is to be hoped all our bee- 
keepers are equally ready. The whole country 
has recently had such a thorough soaking it 
has not enjoyed for many years past, and if 
our spring be at all mild and propitious, vege- 
tation will be luxurious in the extreme, pro- 
ducing a glorious time for the bees. 
So Boon as the early wattles and other 
flowers come in bloom, our friends will require 
attention, and if their space has been con- 
tracted during the winter, they must be given 
more room in good time, by adding frames of 
comb if possible, if not frames of foundation. 
It will be well to see that no stocks are queen- 
less before the first harvest comes, so that a 
new queen can lie supplied in good time if they 
are found so. This brings us to the question 
of queen introduction, concerning which much 
has been written lately, and many modes of 
introducing advocated. Every experienced 
beekeeper hies his own way, all more or less 
successful in their own hands. Some usecagesof 
one kind or another in which the queen is 
placed in the hive among the strange bees, 
and kept prisoner for a period varying from 12 
t" 18 hours before releasing her among her 
new subjects, while others introduce her 
directly without imprisonment or any delay, 
bast season we tried Simmiu’s direct introduc- 
tion without a failure. It was done this way 
in every case : — During the day the old queen 
was removed from the hive, and in the even- 
ing the new queen was placed under a cage, 
without, food or any companion bees, for just 
about 30 minutes, when she was taken to the 
uve, and after gently lifting the cover and 
one edge of the mat near the cluster, without 
disturbing the bees, she was allowed to ram in. 
The hive was immediately closed, without any 
jarring or noise to disturb the bees, and left 
for a couple of days, after which we took a 
peep to see if she was all right, and in every 
ease was the introduction successful. 
The greater majority of our queens, and all 
the virgin ones, were introduced in a modifica- 
tion of Alley’s Combination Cage, and last 
season we had one of these cages in almost 
every hive, permanently fixed in an upper cor- 
ner of one of the frames. These cages are 
made thus : — Pieces of J pine or clear lumber, 
just ‘ 2 % inches wide and any convenient length, 
are marked out in 3 inch lengths. Run a gauge 
line down 1{ inch from one edge the whole 
length ; now measure with a pair of compasses 
1J inch from the end of each 3-incli length on 
this gauge line, and mark the points ; with 
the centre on these points bore 1 {-inch holes 
cleanly through the board. Next run a gauge 
line right along the centre of same edge of the 
board, and square the lengths over this edge. 
With a pair of compasses mark off on this 
gauge line points 1{ inch from the same end 
of each length that the centre of the hole was 
gauged from — this will be the centre of a 
inch hole to be bored into the lj-inch cage 
hole, and is used for inserting the queen into 
the cage. Now, from the other end of each 
length, and on the same gauge line, measure 
off j ; this will l^e the centre of a {-inch hole, 
which must be bored nearly to the bottom 
edge of the board. Now we have our board 
marked off into 3-inch lengths, with a l{-inch 
hole through the flat and two holes in the top 
edge of each length, one opening into the 1 {- 
inch hole and the other clear of it. Now, with 
a fine tenon saw, cut out the 3-inch lengths 
nice and square, as marked. The {-inch hole, 
nearly the whole depth of the block, is for 
the insertion of food for the queen, but so far 
there is no means for her to reach it from the 
cage chamber when it is closed. To mnko it 
