_Buffalo Grove, Iowa._
[For the American Bee Journal.]
Introducing Queens.
Dr. H. C. Barnard in the June number of the A. B. Journal, gave
directions for introducing queens by fumigating with tobacco smoke. I
had introduced them by means of the queen cage, and sprinkling them with
sweetened water scented with the essence of peppermint. But as this
seemed to be a better plan, I thought I would try it. I caged the queen
to be introduced, and followed his directions to the letter, but what do
you think I had? A laying queen in twelve hours? Nay, verily, but a dead
queen, and half the bees dead and driven from the hive. Now, Mr. Editor,
I think a great deal of my bees, and when, in opening a hive, I
carelessly kill one, I am always sorry; but then to see them
slaughtered by wholesale, was very cruel to say the least. All the next
day, whenever I passed that way, the well bees were driving off those
that were crippled or had lost the use of their legs or wings. Besides
this, while they were in no condition to repel an attack, the robber
bees came in for a share, and I came very near losing them. They were
not so drunk but that most of them could crawl round, and only a few of
them fell to the bottom of the hive.--Dr. Barnard said, “if they all
fell to the bottom it would do no harm.” Now what was the cause of this
failure? I could not have smoked them too much, according to his
instructions, for nearly all of them could crawl round, when I first
opened the hive to let the smoke out; yet it destroyed fully half of
them. I do not write this by way of fault-finding, but so that nobody as
green as I was, should undertake the same process, and have a like
failure.