INTRODUCING 
539 
ago Henry Alley introduced queens by 
smudging the colony and queen with to¬ 
bacco smoke. The plan was successful in 
many instances, but it was too often a fail¬ 
ure and for that reason it seems to have 
been dropped. A. C. Miller’s method, 
while similar only in the use of smoke, is 
enough different to make it practically new, 
and fairly reliable when directions are fol¬ 
lowed. There are conditions under which 
it is superior to any other plan of introduc¬ 
ing queens, unless it be the Smith-Chantry 
method just described. 
The plan has been used for requeening 
box hives with a considerable degree of 
success, and that, too, without finding or 
removing the old queen. But the success 
of this method of requeening without de- 
queening will depend on the superiority of' 
the alien over the old queen; for by the 
smoke method both queens will be equally 
acceptable to the colony; and so far as the 
colony is concerned it appears to be a 
choice between the two, resulting in favor 
of the better queen. 
HOW TO INTRODUCE BY THE MILLER SMOKE 
METHOD. 
The colony to receive a queen has its 
entrance reduced to about one square inch. 
Strips of wood, entrance cleats, or even 
grass or weeds, may be used for the pur¬ 
pose. The smoker bellows is worked until 
a white smoke is blown out—not a hot 
transparent smoke, as that would be de¬ 
structive. Three or four long puffs are 
then blown in at the entrance. The amount 
may vary according to the size of the 
colony, the condition of the fuel, and the 
fuel itself. At all events, enough smoke is 
blown in at the entrance until the colony 
sets up a roar, which will take place in 10 
or 20 seconds. If the roar does not take 
place it shows not enough smoke has been 
used. The queen to be introduced is now 
run in, either from the fingers or from a 
queen-cage, and followed by a gentle puff 
of smoke, when the entrance is entirely 
closed, and left so for 10 or 15 minutes. 
At the expiration of that time it is re¬ 
opened and the bees allowed to ventilate 
and quiet down, but the opening should not 
be wider than the original contraction of 
one inch, as the idea is to let the colony 
quiet down slowly from its distress. A full 
entrance is not given for an hour or more, 
and better not till the next day. Where 
grass or leaves are used they may be left 
to wilt and be pushed out by the bees. 
They are handy at outyards. 
In order to make the plan work success¬ 
fully there is one very important require¬ 
ment. The colony should not be larger than 
one story and the frames and bees should 
occupy the whole of the story. It has been 
found impracticable to use this plan of 
introduction when only a third or a half 
of the hive is occupied with bees and combs, 
for the simple reason that the bees and 
queen may get out of the smoke and thus 
be remote from the smoke that induces the 
necessary condition—distress. 
The theory of this method is based on 
the principle that bees in distress know no 
enemy or alien. Each is looking to the 
other for help or food. The colony spirit 
is entirely broken up, and every bee that 
comes under the influence of the uproar is 
seized with the same emotion, to be relieved 
of her distress. It is important, also, that 
the queen be under the same spell or in¬ 
fluence; hence the directions to follow her 
up, after she goes into the hive, with a 
puff of smoke. 
This method can be used for introducing 
virgin queens five or six days old. Such 
queens are usually rejected by a colony, 
or even by a nucleus. These six-day-old 
queens after introduction by this plan have 
been known to take a flight the very next 
day, and to be laying shortly after. 
The question might be raised here, why 
the smoke or distress method is not used in 
the directions for introducing sent out by 
queen-breeders in the mailing-cages con¬ 
taining queens. The reason of it is, there 
are some very nice points in introducing by 
the distress method, and the average begin¬ 
ner will succeed better by the cage plan. 
As a general thing, queen-breeders use the 
cage plan for introducing virgins, which 
are usually quite young, because it takes 
less time to go thru the procedure of in¬ 
troduction. An introducing cage is in¬ 
serted between the frames and left there. 
That is all there is to it. The smoke 
method of introducing requires considera¬ 
ble time and a great exactness of proced¬ 
ure, or the plan will fail. 
The question has been raised whether so 
