The American Bee Journal, Vol. VI, No. 4, October 1870

The American Bee Journal, Vol. VI, No. 4, October 1870

That the introduction of unfecundated queens should be so often spoken of, and that too by some of our experienced bee-keepers, as a matter of much difficulty, is a question to me almost incomprehensible. In the hands of the inexperienced, or of those ignorant of the first principles of success, a few failures ought not to be wondered at. But for those having a knowledge of the prerequisites for the acceptance of a stranger queen by a colony of bees, to talk of the safe introduction of unimpregnated queens, as an act of uncertainty, induces me to believe that they have either not experimented at all on this part of practical bee-culture, or else did so to little profit. If it be true, as has been asserted time and again in the Bee Journal, that the only means the bees have of recognizing strangers, is by the sense of smell, it stands to reason that, if a stranger queen be confined in a hive long enough to acquire the scent of the hive, the bees will immediately accept her as their own, especially if they have no young queens in process of rearing. Acting upon this principle the past summer, I confined my young queens in small wire cages, and inserted them as near as I could in the centre of the hive; at the same time taking the precaution to provide them with food during their confinement. The result was that out of a goodly number of unimpregnated queens, introduced in swarming time, not one was lost. We have also succeeded admirably in introducing them, by scenting both queen and bees with some liquid having a peculiar scent. By either method, we regard the safe introduction of a queen bee, whether fertile or not, as a matter of certainty: where the queens themselves are kept from starving by proper feeding. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 58187
Author: Various
Release Date: Oct 28, 2018
Format: eBook
Language: English

Contributors

Editor: Wagner, Samuel