“ novice’s ” gleanings in bee culture. 
INTRODUCTION OF QUEENS. 
Jl\ ^ m«ny infnlliable plans have been 
Sr*i given for introducing queens per- 
haps, as for any other operation in Bee 
Culture, yet the great number of com- 
plaints that are continually being made of 
humiliating failures, seem to indicate suc- 
cess by no means certain with any one 
plan. Several points require considera- 
tion in the matter ; for instance, we can 
afford to run some risk of losing a queen 
occasionally, rather than to consume the 
amount of time required for some of the 
methods given, such as caging the queen 
or keeping the colony queenless until all 
brood is hatched, or letting one of the 
cells hatch and then destroying the young 
queen after she has torn down the rest of 
l lie cells, and before she has become fer- 1 
tile. 
We think Mr. Quinby favors one, or 
both of these processes, and it is true that 
queens will often be received this way 
when quicker methods fail, but as the 
danger of having queens die in the cage 
when they have been some time confined, 
is considerable, we cannot think it much 
advantage after all. We cannot think any 
of the plans invariably safe, such as scent- 
ing bees and queens with peppermint, to- 
bacco, etc,, fora queen is often well treat- 
ed for a few hours and then attacked and 
stung. In mid-summer confining the 
queen on combs of hatching brood with- 
out bees, is probably as safe a plan as 
any, and will do very well for a queen of 
considerable value, but as we must gener- 
ally make a new colony to do this, and it 
takes considerable time, we think it can- 
not come into general favor, besides it is 
next to impossible to do this except in 
very warm weather. 
Mr. Langstroth's plan is the one we j 
think best, all things considered, and we 
shall make no additions to his directions 
only to say that no exact time can be giv- 
en as to when the queen shall be liberated. 
1 n warm weather, during a yield of honey 
they can almost always be uncaged in 
about . twenty-four hours, and we have 
sometimes succeeded perfectly in releas- j 
ingthe queen at once, without caging at all. 
Wo would strongly recommend Novices to 
experiment with queens of no value until 
they learn to judge by the behaviour of 
the bees when danger may be expected. 
Queens are more often “hugged to death’’ 
than stung, and where they have been re- 
leased after being caged but a short time, 
or when the queen is very valuable we ! 
should always examine the hive after an | 
hour or so, and again altera lapse of sev- 
ernl hours. In early spring, or after fall i 
pasturage has ceased, queens are most 
difficult to introduce ; at the latter season 
we sometimes have them killed even after 
t hey have filled several combs with eggs, so 
we think it best to attend to all such work 
as early in the fall as is practicable. We 
do not favor stopping the cage with cloth, 
paper wet with honey, comb compressed 
69 
in the hands, or any such means, because 
we wish to see the bees when the queen is 
set free. When they first become aware 
of the fact that they are queenless, the 
cage of the strange queen is generally 
densely covered with bees, sometimes 
knotted so closelylhat they can hardly be 
pulled apart; but if the wire cloth of 
which the cage is made, is of a mesh not 
less than ten strands to the inch, no dan- 
ger need be apprehended to the queen. 
The knotted bees often make a buzzing 
sound, and it is never safe to release the 
queen before this buzzing has ceased, even 
if they keep it up for four days or a week, 
ns we have sometimes known them to do. 
When she can be released safely, but few 
bees should be seen on the cage and these 
not excited and angry. Slip out the wad 
of paper that confines her ns quietly as 
possible, and carefully note appearances. 
It they offer her food which she partakes 
of quietly, all is well, probably; but if they 
crowd after her and grasp her as they 
would a robber, pick her up with your lin- 
gers carefully and recage her. If a bee 
attempts to sting her while in your hands, 
you had better crush him; some smoke 
here is quite serviceable, and if you should 
get stung yourself, dont make a fuss 
about it until your queen is safely caged. 
Keep her caged until toward sunset the- 
next day and try again. Sometimes it is 
best to destroy all queen cells after three 
or four days, if they “don’t behave;” also 
removing all their brood, "does good’ at 
times. If that wont, do, take their combs 
away, and when y r ou can’t get them to have 
any queen unless they rear it from a cell of 
their own, console yourself with the idea 
that you are no worse off than, some oth- 
er folks have been occasionally'. 
If you wish to become an expert in 
such matters keep practicing \ learn the 
conditions necessary for being able to 
take a frame of brood bees and all from 
one hive and place if in another without 
fighting. The matter is very easy', when 
the bees are in the proper mood, and it 
expedites work greatly, such as giving a 
colony choice brood wherewith to rear a 
queen and strengthening them up in num- 
bers at thp same time. 
Bees are wonderfully tractable and 
yield to our wishes with the greatest good 
nature when wo have learned just where 
and how they may be “imposed upon ’ 
with impunity. 
If we have decided to winter our bees 
on sugar syrup instead ol honey, the only 
question remaining is, whether they have 
bees enough and a good queen, i. e. one 
that has proved herself prolific; and not 
whether they have stores sufficient. 
Skx» us all the circulars pertaining to 
bee culture you can, if you have reason to 
think they contain misrepresentations. 
