532 
INTRODUCING 
ditions, as when an old queen is about to 
be superseded, the young daughter may be 
tolerated in the hive along with her mother 
—both laying side by side; but in the 
course of a few days or weeks the mother 
will be missing. Whether she dies of old 
age or the daughter kills her is not known. 
There are other conditions where two and 
sometimes a dozen laying queens will be 
found in the hive, but under circumstances 
which seem to be abnormal. 
Again, it may be stated that a normal 
colony of bees will not readily accept a 
strange queen, even tho they have no 
mother of their own, much less will they 
accept an interloper when there is already 
a queen in the hive. It may, therefore, be 
set down as a rule that has exceptions,* * 
that it is not safe to liberate any queen, 
young or old, in a colony that already has 
one. Likewise, bees that are queenless 
will not, under ordinary conditions, accept 
another, no matter how much they may 
need one, until she has been “introduced.” 
It follows that, in the process of requeen¬ 
ing, the apiarist is compelled to put a new 
queen in a wire cloth cage and confine her 
there (where the other bees cannot attack 
her) until she has acquired the same colony 
odor or individual scent as the bees them¬ 
selves. This usually takes two or three 
days, at the end of which time the queen 
may be released when they will treat her 
as their own royal mother. It is not known 
how bees recognize each other, or how they 
can tell a strange queen from their own, 
except) by the scent factor. 
It is a fact well recognized that a dog 
can pick out his master from hundreds of 
others thru the agency of scent. He can 
also track his master, if he loses sight of 
him, by catching the scent where he has 
walked, in spite of the fact that hundreds 
of other people may have gone over the 
same ground. This scent that is so acute 
in a dog is undoubtedly highly developed 
in the bee, otherwise it would be difficult 
to account for some of the phenomena in 
the domestic economy of the hive. See 
Odor op Laying Queens under Queens. 
*'If a virgin oueen. on returning from a matine- 
• trip .enters by mistake a hive where there is an old 
laying queen st>e mar, and very 'often does, supplant 
the old queen. The virgin is young .and vigorous, and 
more than a match for the old queen full of eggs. 
Even tho the colony odor he lacking, the bees in 
this case accept the supplanter. 
From what has been stated it is natural 
to conclude that, by the sense of smell, 
bees distinguish their own queen from a 
new or strange one. 
Again, it is learned that, if two queens 
have exactly the same colony odor after 
being caged for two or three days in a 
queenless hive, either one may be liberated, 
and the bees will accept one just as readily 
as the other. If both be liberated at the 
same time, one in one corner of the hive 
and the other in the opposite corner, both 
will be tolerated by the bees; but once the 
queens come together themselves there is 
danger of a royal battle* resulting in the 
death of one. From this fact it is inferred 
that the bees, provided a queen or queens 
have the requisite colony odor, will accept 
at any time one or more such queens under 
many conditions; that, further, when two 
queens have the same colony odor, if they 
can be kept apart by means of perforated 
zinc both will continue to lay eggs in the 
same hive without interference. This con¬ 
dition will be allowed so long as the colony 
prospers, or until a dearth of honey comes, 
when the bees shows a disposition to rob. 
They may then destroy one of the queens. 
Bees that have been thrown into a box 
or pan, and then shaken or bumped again 
and again until they are demoralized or 
frightened, are much more tractable than 
those not so disturbed. Such bees if made 
queenless just prior to the shaking, and 
confined without combs or brood in a cool 
place for a few hours, will usually accept 
a queen at once. The factor of colony odor 
then apparently does not operate, for the 
bees are put out of their normal condition. 
Very often the queens of two colonies 
may be made to exchange places. Two 
hives can be opened, and before either col¬ 
ony can discover that it is queenless, the 
queens may often be exchanged; but when 
this exchange is made, the precaution must 
be taken to open the hives very quietly, us¬ 
ing but little smoke. The idea seems to be to 
disturb the colony as little as possible, so 
that their normal condition may continue. 
Not suspecting any change in queens, the 
* We say “danger” of a battle. Queens will not • 
always fight when so put together. The relative ages 
of the queens makes a great difference. If one queen 
be an old one there probably will be no fight, and 
even if there is, the young queen will be more than 
a match for the old one. 
