344 
BEES AND BEE-KEEPING. 
presently see, an invitation to follow a long and 
circuitous road when a short and direct one lies open. 
The third class of plans present, like the others, 
several varieties — e.g., Mr. Sadler* asserts that if, after 
the abstraction of the old queen, thin sugar syrup be 
scented with oil of peppermint, and poured between 
the combs, from a vessel with a small spout, a stranger 
then put on the top of the bars and wetted with the 
same syrup will be at once accepted. Here the 
queen, in her misfortune, is likely to welcome the 
attentions of the workers in cleaning her, and so 
secure for herself a good reception ; and this, in my 
judgment, is a more important factor in determining 
success or failure than the scenting. This method is, 
in some respects, like that of rolling the queen in 
warm honey, in a teaspoon, and dropping her in at 
the feed-hole, which is reliable during a honey flow, 
but most uncertain, as well as unsuitable, in early 
spring or late autumn ; and although I cannot cite 
proofs of failure of the method in which Mr. Webster 
has so much confidence, I still think it hardly likely 
to be more uniformly successful. In addition, the 
objection to daubing either queens or bees with syrup 
or honey is worthy of serious consideration, for the 
spiracles (page 33, Vol. I.), especially those near the in- 
sertion of the wings, are liable to damage by clogging. 
Bee-keepers sought long for some system of queen- 
introduction which should be immediate and practi- 
cally certain, and some progress had been made in 
this direction, when Mr. Simmins announced a 
method which, if successful, left nothing to be desired. 
I 
I 
* British Bee Journal, Vol. XIV., page 332. 
