one end of the cage is a mass of granulated candy. This candy feeds 
the bees on their journey, and when the cage is placed in the hive, a 
small cord is drawn and through this hole the candy is exposed to the 
bees in the hive. This they eat away and thus Hberate the queen. 
It takes many hours to do this, so the queen has time to make her 
presence known and be safely introduced. Do not disturb the bees 
for about a week after the new queen has been introduced. This will 
give her time to start laying before you look at them. Should you 
disturb them too soon they will ball* her and kill her. When a queen 
is balled she is surrounded by a crowd of bees who pull her to pieces. 
So thickly do they press about her that the mass looks like a black 
golf ball. If this happens while the bee-keeper is present, he can save 
the queen by dropping the ball of bees into a bucket of water. This 
makes them let go the queen to struggle in the water. By Hfting the 
queen out she can easily be caged again, for with her wings wet she 
is unable to fly away and escape from you. To save the mass of 
struggUng bees, tip the bucket over, the water will soak into the 
ground and the bees, when dry, will fly home. 
Balling occurs whenever bees do not wish to accept a new queen. 
For this reason great care must be taken when a queen is to be intro- 
duced — 
1. That the hive is queenless. 
2. That no queen-cells have been started. 
3. That honey is coming in, or else feed the bees with syrup. 
4. That there is no robbing** or fighting among the bees. 
Before dividing up the colonies of bees like this, after the main 
honey flow, one must be sure of a later flow from which the bees can 
store up suppHes of honey and rear quantities of young, so they will 
be in good condition for the winter. Otherwise the trouble and ex- 
pense of feeding them will be necessary. 
Three more bulletins for free distribution, United States Depart- 
ment of Agriculture, Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C. 
Farmers' Bulletin No. 1012, Preparation of Bees For Outdoor Winter- 
ing. 
" " " 1014, Wintering Bees In Cellars. 
" " " lo^g, Commercial Comb-Honey Production. 
Three more Bee Journals published in the United States: 
The Western Honeybee, 121 Temple St., Los Angeles, Cal. 
The California Honey Bowl, Riverside, Cal. 
Dixie Beekeeper, Waycross, Ga. 
*Balling of queens, see Queens, Queen Rearing and Introducing, in the ABC and 
XYZ of Bee Culture. 
**Robbing, see ABC and XYZ of Bee Culture. 
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