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IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

OR

HOW TO REAR LARGE, PROLIFIC, LONG-LIVED
QUEEN BEES

The Result of Nearly Half a Century’s Experience in

Rearing Queen Bees, Giving the Practical,
Every-day Work of the Queen-
Rearing Apiary

BY HENRY ALLEY
Apiarist. ie

ILLUSTRATED

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR

By CuHas. A. KING, BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS

COPYRIGHT BY THE AUTHOR
1903

eeare

THE LIBRARY GF
CONGRESS,

Two Copies Received

MAR i? 1903

Copyngnt entry

Va. [0-19 03

CLASS Qv Xe. No,

SHI 13

copy B. _si

ad a! |

<BhY S77,
Mgee-nive ©
pice

Winter Case Brood-chamber

{mproved Bay State closed-end frame Bee-Hive. Used by thous-
ands of Bee-Keepers many years with great success. Con-
struction of brood-frames same as the Dawzenbaker.
Frames are reversible and held in position by
side boards and two iron rods.

PREFACE

HIS little book is written and designed to instruct

—4those engaged in bee-keeping in the art of rearing

= queen bees. The long experience of the author in
this particular branch of apiculture, as herein detailed,
may prove not only instructive but interesting, ‘That
the work may meet the approbation of its readers is the
wish of

THE AUTHOR

j il

i
i

Qa

Winter Case Brood-chamber

Illustration of the original Bay State Bee-Hive. Invented and_
used by Henry Alley, more than twenty years ago.
This hive was specially devised for wintering bees
successfully on summer stands and for the
production of the largest amount
of honey

CONTENTS

Breeding queen, where to keep
: Cell building, how to prepare a colony for
method number one

ws $s method number two

ce sc method number three
ut “ feeding while going on
at as how to prepare eggs for
Bb us destroying eggs

ae iad

theory of using young bees
how to rear the best
Drones, objectionable

es how to catch and destroy

se how to obtain and preserve
Drone-trap, utility of
Honey, how to prevent candying
Nuclei, how to form

‘« how to feed
Pipe for burning tobacco
Queen-cell frame, description of
Queen-cells, transferring
Queens, how to care for

age at which they mate

ae oe

7: virgin, forcing to mate

ss age at which they lay

we to know fertile from unfertile
fertilizing in confinement

“ respect bees show them

Queen-cells, destroying

Queens, comparative size

Queen- rearing, first improvements
latest improved methods
on a large scale

“se
“ec

“6

to prepare eggs for
Queen-breeding colony, how to start
ss hive, how to make
Queens, fertile, how to introduce
oe unfertile, how to introduce
Queen nursery, how to use
Queenless bees, necessity of

proper conditions of apiary

51
50
51

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

OR
How to Rear Large, Prolific and Long-Lived

Queen Bees

INTRODUCTION

N the year 1857 I had very little knowledge of apiculture,
yet I had seen bees in hives apparently working, ‘‘making
honey’’ as it was called in those days by all who kept
bees; had heard all the talk about the ‘‘king bee,’’ and
had seen hives draped in mourning when a member of the bee-
keepers’ family died. I had also seen the bee-keeper and his
‘family out in the apiary pounding upon tin pans, ringing the
| dinner bell, and raising a hub-bub generally when a colony had
.

cast a swarm.: Then I had seen bees ‘‘carry wax’’ on their legs,
tC eke,

Well, I did not require very much experience with bees to
find out that all the above performances were indulged in only by
ignorant and superstitious bee-keepers. With all the literature
we now have concerning apiculture, some bee-keepers may be
found who know no more about bees than those who kept them
50 years ago.

In the month of July, 1857, I found a fine swarm of bees
hanging upon a limb ofa tree inmy garden. The bees were hived
in a small packing box, and at once commenced to build comb
and store honey. When fall came the box was well filled with
_bees and stores, and the colony went into winter quarters in fine
condition, and came out in the spring strong in numbers, proving
‘to be a first-class colony in all respects.

In the spring of 1858, I purchased another colony which was
in a box-hive that had a 7x9 glass in the back side through which
I watched the bees many hours. Well do I remember the great
interest I took in bees at that time. One day while watching the

9

10 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING, »

bees through the glass, I saw the queen pass around one of the
combs, and had really seen the great ‘‘king bee.’’ Before winter
set in, I had not only seen other queen bees but had actually
reared a few. Then I got an idea that I had learned all there
was to know about bees and queen rearing. But this little bit of ;
egotism was dispelled by each year’s experience, and I soon found
that there was much to learn about bee-keeping. And now, after
my long experience in queen rearing, I find that no one can live
long enough to learn all there is to know about the subject of bees
and apiculture generally. Surely no one can learn the art of bee
keeping in one year as many bee-keepers of the present day claim.

Well, at the end of one year’s experience, I was seized with a
desire to go into queen rearing extensively. By this time I had
learned that every colony of bees had a queen and that drones
were male bees; and also found out hundreds of things about
bees that I never before had known. I had discovered that when
a colony of bees was deprived of its queen it would at once com-
mence to construct queen cells, and rear several young queens.

Rearing queens was so fascinating that I soon began to rear
them in great numbers, in fact I had them growing at all times
during the warm months. Of course this was only for amusement
as no bee-keepers were in want of queens, nor was there any de-
mand for them. Well, I continued to advance inthe art and en-
large my experience, not only in rearing queens, but in bee-keep-
ing generally. About this time i found a man who had also been
‘‘stricken’’ with the bee fever and he had as much experience
with bees as myself, and had reared queens merely to exhibit at a
cattle fair held in his town and only three miles from my place.
This man had made a frame about twelve inches square, to which
glass was fastened on both sides, thus forming a one comb obser- _
vation hive. A small piece of brood comb containing eggs and
lavae was fastened at the top of the frame by strings, and the bees,
of which there were about a pint, were actually building queen
cells. Thousands of interested people were watching the bees
while at work, and many of the people were asking all sorts of
questions about queens, bees and honey. My first queens were
reared in about the same way as above described.

In the year 1860 I practiced queen rearing on a larger scale,
as we had then heard about Mr. Langstroth and his wonderful
book and still more wonderful hive, which is today more marvel-
ous than anything else connected with apiculture. From this time
on rapid advancement was made not only in queen rearing but in

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING II

all branches of bee culture. We soon went from box-hives to
movable-comb hives. About this time the famous Italian bees
came in, and then gueen-rearing was carried on in earnest; not
for amusement but queens were reared by the thousand for sale.
At first they were sent by express in small one-comb boxes, then
‘by mail to all parts of the United States; later on queens went by
iail to all parts of the world.

I have continued to rear queens for sale every year since 1860.
At that time no one had much knowledge of queen-rearing, and
Mr. Langstroth’s book was the only guide for every queen- dealer,
and without his hive and book but little could have been done in
the way of rearing queens.

All who reared queens in those way-back days had good suc-
cess in obtaining first-class queens. You see no one had got ‘‘on
to’’ the idea that nature could be cheated and outdone in the pro-
duction of queen bees. Within a few years queens have been
reared by such methods that nearly all sold have proved to be
worthless, so that dealers find they must go back and adopt some
of the early methods in order to give satisfaction to their cus-
tomers.

FIRST IMPROVEMENTS IN QUEEN-REARING

I shall not claim that any very great improvements have been
made in the quality of queens reared by the methods given here.

Having told you how queens were reared in the early days of
the queen-rearing business, I can now only give the process of
doing the work in other ways by improved methods. It will be
understood that after the advent of the movable-comb hive, bee-
keeping took on a rapid move. The second advance of impor-
tance was made when Mr. J. B. Parsons of Flushing, N. Y., im-
ported some Italian bees. It was soon noised all over the United
States that the yellow-banded bees were better than the common
black ones, or the German bee.

At this time many bee-keepers were in condition to rear
queens and they did so, and thus the queen-rearing and supply
business has been on the increase since the year 1862, or the ad-
vent of the Italian bee. We all had, or thought we had, a lot of
“‘know how.’’ Whether we had the know how or not, no one
experienced any trouble in rearing good queens, all being satis-
factory except in purity. Every one who purchased Italian
queens expected them to throw a// three-banded bees, and it was
found almost impossible to get a breeding queen that could be

12 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

called strictly pure. ‘There was no fixed purity to the Italians ,
they were and are to this day nothing but a hybrid strain of bees,
With the exception of purity everything went on smoothly in
queen rearing. ;

Although some improvement has been made.in the purity of
the Italians, there are very few pure queens reared; and bee-
keepers continue to find fault with the queens they purchase if
there happens to be even but a dozen ‘‘one-banded”’ bees in a
large colony.

NOW LET US DISCUSS SOME OF THE IMPROVE)
METHODS OF REARING QUEENS

First the nucleus system. Any number of combs and bees
taken from a full hive constitutes a nucleus colony. We will
start on a three-frame nucleus with the L frame asa basis. Three
such combs, say one of brood in all stages and two of honey and
pollen, with all the adhering bees, are sufficient to form a good
nucleus colony.

As there are but few bee-keepers who do not understand the
above work, and as none are likely to begin queen-rearing unless
they can handle bees to some extent, I need not go into the little
details to describe how to form nucleus colonies. But’we will
suppose a three-frame nucleus has been formed, and the bees
have been confined in the hive at least 24 hours with a supply of
water, for bees that are deprived of their liberty, and are rearing
brood or queens, must have plenty of water or the uncapped brood
will perish. After 24 hours confinement the colony can be given
its liberty and placed ona stand anywhere in the apiary somewhat
remote, of course, from where they were first taken. After being
queenless for this length of time, the bees will have started several
queen-cells and have quieted down and only a few of the older bees
will return to the parent hive.

Now, to increase the population of the nucleus and to make
it thoroughly prosperous, other bees should be added each night,
for three or four nights in succession, say at about sunset. This
is easily and quickly done by taking a comb of bees from some
strong colony and brushing or shaking them down on the ground
in frontiof the nucleus. In doing this care must be used that the
queen of the full colony is not taken.

The above was practiced by me in my early queen-rearing

a

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 13

experience when ‘‘vamping up’’ nucleus colonies. I was not long
in discovering that there was great advantage in adding young
bees as per above. By so doing I found that with each fresh lot
of bees given the nucleus there would be a new lot of queen-cells

started.

In a few days the colony will be well established, and queen-
rearing by a most convenient process will be going on in a very
successful manner.

Unless there is plenty of natural forage in the fields, the
colony must be fed continually or inferior queens will be the
result. Inthe course of about five days all the cells will be com-
pleted, that is, capped; and from eight to twelve good queen-cells,
most likely, formed.

At about the time the first young queen should appear, (say
the twelfth day from the day on which the eggs were given the
bees), provision must be made for preserving the cells or the
young queens. Other nucleus colonies must be made up for each
cell or queen, as the case may be. ‘The cells may be transferred
at once without danger of destruction from the bees, provided the
bees have been queenless for twelve hours. \While bees might
not destroy queen-cells if given them before they miss their queen,
I find that they cannot be trusted in this respect, and that it is
much safer to give queen-cells to bees that have been queenless at
least 24 hours. It is not necessary to cut a hole in the comb to
insert a queen cell, but push your finger down between the combs
at the top and place the cell in the space thus made. If more
convenient to use a queen nursery when the cells are ripe, full
directions for so doing may be found on another page.

SOME “Ol THE. “DISADVANTAGES (OF REARING
QOUBENS BY. TE ABOVE. PLAN

The above way of rearing queens has some advantages and
some few disadvantages. The objections to such a method are
not very serious, as they affect only those breeders who rear a
large number of queens. When bees are left to rear queens and
select locations for the cells, many of the cells will be built so near
each other that they cannot be separated without destroying some
of the young queens. I have found that if holes are cut in the
combs to make convenient places for queens cells, the bees are

14 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

pretty sure to build them exactly opposite each other, that is, cells
are built on opposite sides of the comb. Yet these cells can be
removed ; but in ieee them the knife must pass through the
base of one of the cells; damage that is easily repaired by a little
warm bee’s wax.

With the above minor exceptions, the nucleus system as
above given is very good. For rearing queens on a small scale, I
consider the above method as good and as practical as can be
desired. Such queens will be found large, long-lived and in
every way will equal those reared under the swarming impulse.
If you desire to practice and experiment in queen-rearing, do not
be afraid to try it. Itis a good way for the novice to start in on
rearing queens.

Removing the queen from a full colony of bees is practically
he same method as above given; the difference is, however, that
no more queen’s cells are likely to be made than in a three-frame
nucleus, and I hardly think one could get any better results by
the full colony plan in the end. I very much prefer the nucleus
system for rearing only a few queens, and it will be found much
less trouble and much less expensive.

REARING QUEENS: ON A’ LARGE SCALE

I think I have given as much advice as a novice will need on
the subject of rearing a few queens, and will now describe how to
rear queens by the thousands.

In this system a much smaller hive is used for nucleus
colonies for keeping the queens until they have become fertile.
The little hives, or boxes, used in my apiary have always worked
as well with me as standard frames. The reader can do as he
pleases about using them, but I advise testing the system and
judging for ones selt as to its merits. .

Bear in mind that I am not laying down any stereotyped
system of aueen-rearing. I shall give only that part of my long
experience that will prove of value to the inexperienced bee-
keeper who desires to enter queen-rearing ; and I hope it will
result in the production of much better queen bees than many that
are now being reared and sold. I advise the reader to carry out
any experiments that this work may suggest to his mind. If any
of my readers can improve upon the methods herein given, I ~
advise them, by all means, to do so.

JT shall hold back nothing, but giye in this work a full

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 15

description and explanation of every valuable point I have found
in my forty years’ experience in rearing queen bees for the bee-
keepers of the world. In connection with this business I have
conducted hundreds of experiments that were found to be im-
practical and of no value.

I think many bee-keepers are in too much of a hurry to rush
into print, when they are seized with an idea that they have made
a valuable and important discovery in apiculture. When impor-
tant discoveries are made it is time enough to make them public
after a thorough test.

Well, I could go on and spread this story out over 200 pages
of this size, but I think a more condensed form will be more com-
prehensive and better in every way, therefore I will get down to
the point at once and drop the lecture part of the subject.

EROPER CONDITIONJOP THE APIARY WHEN QUEEN- |
RHARING IS COMMENCED

All who undertake to rear queeens should understand that be-
fore such work should begin the whole apiary should be put in the
highest state of prosperity ; and the colonies to be used in queen-
rearing made very strong in numbers. ‘The combs of all cell-
building colonies should be well filed with honey and pollen. It
would be the merest folly to attempt to rear queens when the
whole or even a part of the apiary is in a state of semi-starvation.
So you see queen-rearing should not be commenced in the spring
until the weather is quite warm and the bees have had a chance
to breed up, fill all combs with brood and gather nectar from the
early bloom. Give the bees time enough on the early bloom to
get the swarming fever on.

Here in New England, in Massachusetts particularly, the 8th
of May is about as early as it is safe to commence to rear queens.
However, if the weather is fairly warm in April and the first week
of May, colonies can be so fed and stimulated that they may think
it is about time to get ready to swarm. By the way, I have heard
of swarms issuing as early as the roth of May, and had one swarm
on May 10, 1902.

Now here is a point at the start that should not be lost sight
of. In breeding queen bees the same rules should be observed as
in the breeding of animals. If desired to rear a colt, calf, chicken
or any other animal, the parents selected are not taken from

16 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

scrubs or inferior stock. ‘The very best are selected. The same
principle applies to bees.

Now for a queen mother take the best queen in the apiary,
also for a drone mother equal care should be taken to obtain the
best. Of course in the selection of the mother queen color and
beauty are important factors to be considered, and so is prolific-
ness, longevity, and honey-gathering qualities. It takes pretty
good stock to combine all the above named points. As for gentle-
ness I find almost auy strain of bees docile enough to be handled
with the use of a good bellows smoker. However, bees that have
vigorous dispositions are usually good honey-gatherers, and no
queen need be rejected as a breeder on account of the vicious
disposition of her worker progeny. Only an occasional queen
breeds vicious bees, and this trait is but seldom transmitted to
offspring.

TO.PROCURE EGGS FOR CELL-BUILDING; WHERE TO
KEEP THE BREEDING-QUEEN

If only a few queens are to be reared, the mother bee may be
kept in a full colony ; and if a few dozen queens only are required,
I advise placing a comb that the queens have used once or twice
for brood in the centre of a large colony. In about five days this
comb should contain several thousand eggs. Now some good
“queens can be reared on this comb by the plan given as the
nucleus system ; but if you like to work with bees for amusement
and experiment, try the plan I shall now give.

When a large number of queens are to be reared, it will be
found a good plan to keep the breeding queen in a small hive
having frames about five inches square, with five frames to a hive.
I have used such an arrangement a great many years as above
stated, and find it superior, in many ways to a full sized frame for
getting eggs for cell-building. By this plan no combs are cut or
mutilated when a few eggs are wanted, whereas if full frames are
used many good combs will necessarily be destroyed during the
season. ‘Then again, it is very much more trouble and work to
open a large hive than a small one when necessary to have some
eggs to use. Any person rearing queens feels the need of time

saving devices, as there is always something todo when queen- .

rearing is going on; I have found it so every day during the
season.
One of the small combs will contain enough eggs for fifty

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING sy |

queen-cells, and a good prolific queen will fill such a comb and
put an egg in every cell during each twenty-four hours. Does not
the reader see that by this arrangement there are always fresh
eggs at hand, and the exact age of the eggs can be known to with-
in almost an hour?

This one thing alone is a great point with me in my system
of queen-rearing, as I can know, and so can any one who practices
this method, just when to prepare bees for cell-building.

If a comb containing eggs is removed every day anda clean
comb inserted in its place, cell-building can go on every day in
the week ; and that is the right way to do if a supply of queens is
to be kept up to meet the demands of customers whose orders
come by every mail.

Now it may be that one queen will not supply all the eggs
needed, or that it is desired to rear more than one strain of queens.
When this is so, more breeding queens may be used, and they

may be kept in small hives. I have found that one good queen
will supply enough eggs for 1500 young queens in one season.

HOW TO START THE QUEEN-BREEDER COLONY

I will now describe the hive, fig. 1, for keeping the breeding
queen in, and give the dimensions of all the parts so that any one

| '

| (Se SS

LOO

Figure 1

— =

'can make the entirething. Sides of hive, 6 in. high x 7% in. long
{x% in. thick; ends, 6x6 in., % in. thick. Make rabbit for frames
to rest on %x¥% in. in the 6x6x% in. thick pieces. As the top
bar of frame is but 4 in. thick, there will be a bee-space of 14 in.

Se

18 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

between the cover of the hive and the top of the frame, and plenty
of room under the frames for the bees to cluster and be kept out of
the way while the combs are being handled. The bottom of the
hive is 9x8%4 in. x % in. thick and is nailed firmly to the bottom
of the box. The top, or cover, is the same as the bottom only
there are two Ix% in. thick clamps nailed on to prevent the board
from warping. Use 7-8 in. boards for the entire hive, excepting
the sides, as these hives must necessarily be out in all sorts of
weather, and rest upon the ground.

It will be found that the width of the hive allows for more
room than a regular bee-space for four frames, but this is auite an
advantage when handling the frames, as just a bee-space does not
allow sufficient room for easy handling the combs; and if they go
in closely the queen and many of the bees may be crushed when
the frames are removed.

The dimensions of the frames are as follows: ‘Cop bar 6%4x7-8
x in.; bottom bar 514x7-8x14 in.; end pieces 514x7-8x4 in.
The top and bottom bars are nailed to the end pieces. <A block is
used to form them on when nailed, so that when the frames are
put up they are all alike.

To stock this hive with bees, brood, stores and queen, remove
from a full colony one comb containing brood in all stages of
maturity with the queen and adhering bees. Place the hive on
the grass, or a cloth, and brush the bees from the comb directly in
front of it. They will at once run in, or, at any rate, stay about
the hive until the combs are transferred to the small frames. ‘To
cut the combs in the small frames, lay the full comb ona clean
board, place one of the little frames over it, and with a sharp
knife cut the brood into the frame. If nicely done no strings or
sticks will be needed to keep the brood in the frame. One of the
combs should contain honey, pollen, etc.

The bees will soon repair the damage done the combs and
brood, and, in the course of 24 hours, this colony will be in con-
dition for the business of producing eggs for queen-rearing.

If any clean and nearly new pieces of comb about the size of
the nucleus frame are at hand use them for the breeding-queén to
deposit eggs in. Never place the empty comb at the side of the
hive. The queen will utilize it at once if placed near the centre
of the brood-nest.

In four days after inserting the comb it will be filled with
eggs and lavae in just the right condition for cell-building and
queen-rearing. From this time on a new comb can be given the

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING ge)

nucleus each day. If desired to start cell-building every day in
the week, eggs will always be found in the right condition for use
if the above instructions are followed.

Now, I dislike the bother of starting queens every day. To
avoid doing so and still have plenty of eggs, I use three breeding
queens and start cell-building every fourth day. I like the idea
of having hundreds of queen-cells growing at one time. Then
when queens hatch they come in large numbers, aud can be sent
out by mail in the same proportion. A large queen-dealer cannot
do a successful business on a small scale. He must branch out
and have queens by the hundreds on hand at any time during the
season from which he can draw a supply of fertile queens when
orders are to be filled.

PREPARING A COLONY OF BEES FOR QUEEN-CELL
BUILDING

I think I have made the matter of getting eggs for queen-cells
so clear that all may understand how to proceed, and now will
give several methods for preparing colonies of bees for queen-cell
building.

I have always worked on the theory that bees should be put
in proper condition for rearing queens several hours before any

Figure 2

eggs are given them from which they may rear queens. The
entire colony should be put in a ‘‘broody’’ state by dequeening
and then given six hours at least to realize their queenless con-
dition. ‘There are three ways for doing this.
METHOD NUMBER ONE
Before giving any of the methods I will describe some of the
necessary apparatus to use in this arrangement. One of the
handiest things for use in the apiary is a wire screen shown in
fig. 2. This screen is made in about the same style as a common

20 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

window screen and the size of the top of the brood-nest of the
hive. I always have at hand some half dozen of these wire covers
and they come into use many times when necessary to confine
bees in the hive.

Now when ready to ‘‘seize’’ a colony of bees for the purpose
of forcing them to rear queens against their natural will, proceed
in this way: If a colony working in sections is selected, the super
should be removed the previous day and all the bees allowed to
return to the hive. When the sections are taken off place the
screen on and just fasten it by one or two small nails. The next
morning fasten the bees in by using a similar screen and suitable
for confining the bees so that none can escape. Now the colony
is ready to be taken to the bee-room and all the bees removed from
the hive and combs. To the novice this may seem like a huge
undertaking, yet it is not and does not require one half the time
to perform as it does to describe it so that it can be understood.

I so arrange my workshop that all the above work is easily
and quickly done. When the hive is‘taken to the bee-room it is
placed on the cap of a hive and then I just sit down and at once
commence operations. ‘The first thing is to give the bees tobacco
smoke at the entrance as well as some at the top through the
screen, all the while drum on the hive, or excite the bees by
striking the hands on the sides of the hive. This causes the bees
to fill with honey and in the course of ten minutes they are ready
and in condition to be brushed from the combs into a box where
they will remain quiet until all are removed from the combs and
hive. ‘The screen is first removed from the top, the bees shaken
from it, then the combs are taken out, one ata time, and all the
bees brushed from them into a hive-cap. While doing this work
some of the bees may attempt to fly, or crawl up the sides of the
cap, if they do, more smoke is blown among them, when they
soon quiet down and remain so for quite a while. When all the
bees have been removed, the queen should be hunted up. Ifthe
work of finding the queen is rightly done, it will not require but a
few minutes to find her. Of course the bees must be pushed over
considerably in the operation. The best tool for such a purpose
is the wide part of a 4x4 section. Never use feathers or a small
broom for such work.

When the queen is found, the bees are forced into one end of
the cap by a sudden strike of the box on the floor, and then they
are quickly dumped into another box the exact size of the hive
the bees were taken from. This latter box has a wire-cloth

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING oT

bottom; the cover is a screen same as above described. ‘This ar-
rangement gives the bees all needed air while confined. It is
necessary to nail three pieces of wood 7-8 inches square across the
bottom of the box so that the air will not be shut out when the
box is resting on anything. The bees are then put in a cool place
until the time arrives for giving them eggs for cell-building.

The bees disposed of, we now have all the brood of a strong
colony to take care of. Now for the first two or three colonies
treated as above, I divide the brood among the weaker colonies
in the apiary. By this operation, the light colonies soon become
strong and in condition for the first flow of honey. At this stage
of the work, we have a colony of queenless bees ; the brood dis-
posed of, and everything is in readiness for starting the bees to
building cell-cups in a natural and practical way. We will now
suppose the bees have been queenless six hours. The next move
is to get the frame, or piece of comb containing the eggs, cut in
strips and fasten in position so the bees will at once commence
work on cell-cups.

This work cannot be donein a cold room. Have in the work-
shop a three-wick oil stove, not only for heating purposes but to
use in other necessary work in queen-rearing operation. Another
thing that must be at hand is a tin vessel in which there are equal

parts of rosin and bees-wax. Melt these on the oil stove, mix
thoroughly and when quite hot it will be ready for use.

We will now suppose the comb containing eggs for queen-
cells has been taken from the hive and is at hand ready to be pre-
pared. This is cut in strips by using a thin, hot knife by the
lines as shown in fig. 3. Now the egg in each alternate cell of
the strips should be removed in order that sufficient room may be
given for large queen-cells. I know of no better way of doing

22 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

this than by taking a common ‘‘scratch’’ match between the
thumb and fore finger, inserting the ‘‘scratch’’ end in the cell and
rapidly twirling it for a moment. ‘This effectively destroys the
egg as shown in fig. 4.

Now the next thing to do is to fasten the comb on strips of
wood and in sucha position that the bees will construct a large
number of queen-cells. Fig. 5 illustrates three rows of com-
pleted queen-cells and the manner of fastening the strips of comb
to the wood. This is done by lightly dipping the strips of comb

d y 4
SELLE

Figure 4

in the wax mixture. Just touch the edges of the cells of the op-
posite side of those in which the eggs were destroyed and quickly
place the comb on the wood.

The strips of wood mentioned here, but more fully described
on another page, are 1-4 inches thick, 1 inch wide and cut any
length desired. ‘The queen-cells shown are fastened to such strips
of wood described. ‘The cells illustrated are completed and nearly
matured, or, in other words, are about ripe. The illustration
shows but few cells; this was owing to the fact that they were
built late in the season and from drawn foundation, in fact, they
were the last hatch of queen-cells of the season 1902. Earlier in
the summer, the bees under the same conditions would have
started many more queen-cells. However, the illustration is the
best one I have been able to obtain of completed queen-cells.

To go back to fastening the strips of eggs to the pieces of
wood, will say that when placing the strips in position if the comb
is pressed down a little harder at both ends than it is in the mid-
dle, it will be made a little curving on the underside, thus giving
more room for the queen-cells. But this curving business must
not be carried too far, as too much curving will elongate the cells |
and the bees will remove the egg from all such and but few queens
would be reared.

The reader will appreciate the fact that it is almost impossible
to lay down any set rules, or to describe every little detail con-
nected with the rearing of queen bees.

I can give all the main points in the business, but those who |

LS

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 2

o>)

rear queens by them must use good judgment and a fair amount
of common sense. That is what is needed in the queen-rearing
business. Experiment and practice are as much needed in queen-
rearing as in any other occupation one is at work a

A. piece of nice worker comb 5x5 inches ae will furnish
all the eggs a large colony of bees should be allowed to work into
queen- cells. Such a piece of comb if carefully cut will make
about ten strips containing a dozen or more eggs. Always give
eggs in proportion to the quantity of bees that are to do the work
of cell-building.

When the strips of comb are fastened to the sticks and in the
frame, they should be placed in a brood-box and the balance of
the space of the hive filled by combs of honey and pollen. In no
case use combs that have brood in thei.

Now all being ready set the box of bees in a convenient place
on the floor; put the box of combs between yourself and the bees.

Figure d

With a sudden drop of the box on the floor all the bees will
go to the bottom and before they can recover from their surprise, re-
move the cover, place it on the box of combs and quickly place
the combs over the box of bees. Now all the labor is done ex-
cepting giving the bees water until the next morning. All this
work can be done without even one bee escaping in the entire
operation.

The bees can be left in the bee-room over night, and placed

24 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

on the stand about 10 o’clock the following day. Water may be
supplied them while confined by splashing a little over the frames |
and on the bees, through the wire cover at the top.

When the bees are released they may be somewhat excited,
not being wholly reconciled to loss of their queen. To pacify
them place a caged queen at the entrance for a few hours when,
they will quickly quiet down and the queen can be taken away
and all will go on as though nothing had happened to the colony.

The bees are left 24 hours to build cell-cups, and then an-
other thing must be done if first-class queens are to be reared.
Now the colony to which the eggs are given will commence to
build from 40 to 60 cell-cups, or would rear from 4o to 60 queens
if none of the cell-cups were removed. But such a thing should
never be permitted, as not one queen out of all those reared would
be of any good. Should the colony commence to build 60 cell-
cups, the proper thing to do would be to divide that number of
cells equally among three strong colonies of bees. Well, you say,
how can this be done? If at this time bees are gathering honey
from the fields and in a high state of success, the cell-cups can be
placed above a colony of bees as has been and is now practiced by
many breeders of queen-bees. I want it understood, however,
that I do not so advise anyone, as by the method to foilow this
very much better queens are reared. Yet if bees are in a
swarming mood, pretty good queens are reared over the brood-
nest;

I shall advise all not to rear queens by above method except-
ing at swarming time, as under no other conditions can good
queens be reared by such a system when any kind of a queen is
in the hive the bees occupy. Of course, if a colony is about to
supersede its queen, fairly good queens are reared while a queen
is in the colony.

Only a few of the queens reared under the supersedence pro-
cess are first-class. Bees do not seem to work with that interest
when superseding an old queen as they do when absolutely
queenless, or are about to cast a swarm.

THE THEORY OF USING YOUNG BEES IN
QUEEN-REARING

I have given three methods of preparing bees for cell-
building. ‘The final result is the same in all cases. The only
difference being in the manner of doing the work of preparing

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 25

the bees. Now, how many of my readers understand the correct
theory of taking all the bees of a colony for such work rather
than only a part of it? Let me describe. Old bees will not and
cannot rear good queens; they will commence cell-cups and
complete queen-cells, but no strong queens will come from them.

Why is this so? Simply because old bees have passed from
the stage of nurses to the sphere of honey and pollen-gatherers,
or out-door workers. Old bees cannot prepare the proper food for
nursing either worker or qneen-bee larve.

What are considered old bees in this connection are those
that have been made queenless and kept so from three days
to a week; such bees are of no value as cell-builders, as after
being queenless thirty-six hours they seem to lose their en-

| thusiasm and interest in the work.

>

Now as to the correct theory of taking al/ the bees of a colony
for cell-building or for rearing queens. By such an operation
every nurse bee in the hive is taken, and this includes thousands
of just hatched bees that are maturing each day as nurse bees,
thus keeping up a constant supply of nurses.

How many of the readers of this work ever watched bees
building queen-cells in an observatory hive? Why, a queen-cell,

until it is capped is never without a worker bee’s head in it.

The young bees keep a constant watch over the little worm
within, and it is supposed that each bee that thrusts its head into
the cell leaves a small amount of royal jelly. You all know that
every cell from which a strong and healthy queen has emerged
contains a lump of royal food aslarge asa pea. The amount is
greatly 1 in excess of the needs of the royal occupant.

It is the young bees that do all the labor in the hive and in
rearing queens, and the more young bees there are engaged in

the work the better will be the quality of the queens reared.

By this the reader will understand why all the bees of a
colony should be used in building cell-cups and in completing
queen-cells.

Has any one connected with the rearing of queen-bees ever
before explained this point in any book or publication ?

Notwithstanding the fact that young bees are constantly
maturing as nurse bees, as above detailed, it is not good policy to
pompel any given lot of bees to commence cell-cup building a
‘second time. After once starting one batch of cell-cups the in-

| terest and enthusiasm has vanished, and pretty poor work will

“be done.

26 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

Hens, ducks and birds of all kinds will sit on their eggs for a
time, but there is a limit to the ‘‘broody’’ condition in all such
cases. Hens have been known to sit six weeks, or rather have
been compelled to sit long enough to ‘‘hatch out’’ a second brood
of chickens. But in many such cases the nest is deserted before
the second lot of eggs mature. It’s but little use to overwork
Nature. Natural laws must be observed in all such cases. This
I have tried to apply to all my operations in queen-rearing.

PREPARING BEES FOR CELL-BUILDING
METHOD NUMBER TWO

My favorite way of preparing bees for cell-building is given
in Method No. 1. No doubt many will say they cannot do any
thing of the kind; ’tis too fussy and takes too much time, etc.
It is not fussy nor in any way difficult to perform. However, I
will give two other methods for preparing bees for cell-building,
making a colony queenless, etc.

We must start in the same as in case No. 1, that is, the sec-
tions must be removed the day previous.

Now proceed in the usual way of ‘‘drumming out’? a swarm.
The proper way to do this, and the way I practiced artificial
swarming, or dividing a colony of bees, is as follows: Blow
rottenwood smoke among the bees through the entrance; this so
alarms the colony that all the bees commence to fill their sacs
with honey. By drumming on sides of the hive, while smoking
is being done, greatly helps in the operation.

When the bees seem ready to go up into the cap, more smoke
should be introduced and a vigorous drumming on the hive kept
up. In this way about two-thirds of the colony will run up into
the cap. Now give them a few minutes to sort of settle down and
become quiet. Remove the cap, invert it and throw a cloth over
the box. Give the bees a few puffs of tobacco smoke under the
cloth. In a few minutes the cloth can be removed, the queen
hunted out and the bees dumped into a box same as described in
Method No. 1.

By this plan bees, in either box or frame hives, can be uti-
lized for queen-rearing. The queen can be re-introduced at once.

{n a few hours, bees thus prepared, will be ready to build

queen-cells and all that is necessary to do is to proceed as in case
of No. 1. ;

a ——_ ——

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 27

METHOD NUMBER THREE

Early in the morning remove the queen from a populous
colony. At night they will be in a proper condition for cell-
building. When ready, prepare the eggs and queen-rearing hive
as given above. Remove the queenless colony to a new stand,
twenty feet away, and put the queen-rearing hive in its place.
Now after arranging to brush the bees down in front of the latter
hive, take out the combs of the queenless colony and brush or
shake, at least one-half of the bees in front of the queen-rearing
hive. ‘They will all run in and at once commence to construct
queen-cells, and the next day will be seen working just the same
as if nothing had happened to them. The queen removed in the
morning may be given back to the old colony.

This operation so depopulates the colony that little will be
done in the supers for a week or ten days. But as the combs are
filled with brood in all stages, and as the queen is with them, the
stock will soon recover and get back in fine condition.

I have tried to make the above very clear. Of course it is
all plain and easy to me, but how other people can translate it so
as to understand it is the question. In none of the works I have
published were the methods made so clear, but nearly all who
read these books have stated that they had no trouble in rearing
queens by the methods given.

The ‘‘Beekeepers’ Handy Book,’’ a work of nearly 200 pages,
and ‘‘Thirty Years Among the Bees’’ were treatises on queen-
rearing published by me within the last fifteen years. Some 5000
copies were issued and both books are now out of print.

HOW, TOtRE ARS LER VERY BESL OURENS

Of all the methods I have given or shall give for having cell-
cups, or queen-cells completed, none of them will compare with
the one given below. I believe this method is entirely new.
Certain am I that it never has appeared in any publication, nor
has it even been brought to my notice by anyone.

After reading what follows the reader will understand why I
advised letting queenless bees work on cell-cups from twelve to
twenty-four hours.

In the course of twelve hours after bees have worked on the
queen cells, remove the queen from one of the strongest colonies in
the yard. ‘I‘welve hours later remove one of the side combs from
the hive and three or four other combs laterally so as to leave

28 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

space in the centre of the brood-nest for one of the frames on
which the queen-cells are started. Now cover up with a super or
in any way to suit the convenience of the apiarist. Not later
than five days remove the frame of completed queen-cells to a

queenless colony, replace the combs in the hive just as they

were at the start and reintroduce the queen and never mind about
looking the combs over for queen-cells, as the old queen will be
well received and will soon destroy all queen-cells that may have
been started.

Of course if there are cell-cups enough started by the queen-
less bees, say 40 or 60, not less than three strong colonies should
be prepared as per above, as/20 queen-cells are as many as the
largest stock of bees should cinta d

The above operation does not so disturb the bees that
they will desert the sections. In all this work it is better to be
quiet and do the work as quickly as possible. Also do as much
of it at about sunset as that late hour will permit.

NECESSITY OF QUEENLESS BEES

Right here will be found the necessity of queenless bees in
the apiary. Such colonies must care for the completed queen-
cells when removed from the colony that built them until sucha
time as the cells can be transfered to nuclei or the nursery.

One doing a large queen-rearing business will need several
queenless colonies at all times. Not only must queenless bees be
used in caring for queen-cells, but for queens confined in the
queen nursery.

When the bees are removed from a hive for the purpose
of starting more cell-cups, the bees that have just completed a
batch of cells may be put on the combs and a queen given them
at once, and in a short time, say two weeks, such a colony will be
in as good condition as any in the yard.

This thing can go all through the queen-rearing season.
Only a few colonies need be made queenless in the beginning,
and then no colony will of necessity need be queenless.

I would not advise using one colony for cell-building but
once in four weeks. It requires a lot of colonies to rear queens in
the above way, but the results are so satisfactory it will be found
much the cheapest in the end.

Good queens is the main point in queen-rearing. Never mind
about the cost. Ifthe right methods are used in rearing queens,
good queens will cost no more than poor ones.

ae

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 29

Bee-keepers the world over are interested in the subject of

better queens. We all know that queens to supply the demand

must be reared by what is called artificial methods. ‘The best
methods must be put in practice if the bee-keeping public is to be
satisfied. Cheap and inferior queens have had their day, and
those who rear the best will get the business and they should
have it, too.

FEEDING WHILE QUEEN-REARING IS GOING ON

It should be understood that when queen-rearing is going
on and no forage in the fields, feeding must be resorted to; a
syrup composed of honey and granulated sugar will answer all
right for food. Feeding not only keeps up the excitement, but
the interest in the work the bees are doing. Keep up a liberal
supply until the cells are capped.

During the past season I conducted some experiments in
feeding clear honey and clear sugar syrup while cell-building was
going on. The results of my experiments clearly show that sugar
syrup with some honey is just as good to feed bees in queen-
rearing as the best honey. This fact I could not believe until I
had made the above experiment; therefore it will be seen that
food has no influence whatever on the quality of the queens
reared. Other conditions and circumstances do have a positive
influence on the embryo queens; large colonies, thousands of
young bees, plenty of stores of both honey and pollen, and then
when the colony is put in fine condition for queen-rearing, the
result is fine queens. Observe all these conditions if success is
desired.

THE QUEEN NURSERY AND HOW TO USE IT

One would naturally think that when a lot of ripe queen-cells
are at hand the thing to do would be to form nuclei for the recep-
tion of the cells or young queens. It is not so in my case. I
never allow queens to hatch in nuclei. My reasons for this are
many. I like to secure a large number of queens, say 50 or 100,
and critically examine each one to see that they are all right
before making up nucleus colonies.

All of my queens are hatched in nurseries and in such cages
as illustrated in fig. 6. The size of these cages is such that 35
of them just fill one standard Langstroth frame having a thin

30 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

top bar. ‘These cages are sawed and fitted so nicely that they will
stay in the frame without fastenings of any kind.

It will be seen that there are two holes in the edge of the
cage. One is for a queen-cell, the other for a small piece of
sponge which is filled with honey slightly diluted with water.
The water prevents the sponge drying too quickly and the
honey furnishes food for the young queens some two weeks. When
the cages are ready, and the cells in them, a frame is filled and
then is placed in the center of a large colony of bees, and between
two full combs of brood. This sort of hive-incubator works
splendidly and in the course of 48 hours all the young queens will
be hatched out, when the nursery should be removed and placed
in a queenless colony or in a colony nursing unhatched queens.

Before any young queens are introduced they should be
closely examined, and if any are found not up to the standard, or
in any way inferior, they should be destroyed. If any cells con-
taining inferior queens are given nucleus, or inferior queens intro-
duced, and not looked after until they have been in the hive long
enough to become fertile, it will be found that much valuable time

NT

Figure 6

has been lost. I cannot afford to take such chances, therefore I
want to see and examine all queens before giving them to colonies.

The above is one of the reasons why I use a queen nursery ;
another reason is that each nursery cage is equal to a nucleus
colony.

My plan has always been to have queens ready to give nuclei
in three days after removing a laying queen. ‘That is as soon as
a virgin queen can safely be introduced in such cases.

The queen nursery is one of the most valuable implements

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 31

any queen breeder can have in his apiary. Nothing has ever
been devised that equals its usefulness. I surely could not rear
and ship the large number of queens I do every year without
using a nursery, or going to the expense of running double the
number of nucleus colonies to take the places of the nursery
cages. The nursery saves about one half the expense in money
and bees, as well as much labor. I not only use the nursery for
virgin queens and cell-hatching, but for keeping a supply of fertile
queens allthrough the season.

The nursery illustrated in fig. 7 is of an old pattern, takes but
18 cages and accommodates only as many queens.

FORMING NUCLEI

This part of queen-rearing reminds me of the remark made by
Mr. S. M. Locke when he returned to Wenham after spending two
or three seasons with D. A. Jones and J. H. Nellis, both of whom
were engaged largely in the queen-rearing business.

I made up a lot of nuclei while Mr. L. looked on and saw ny
way of doing such things. ‘‘Well,’’ says Mr. L., ‘‘I never saw

Figure 7

nuclei made up in such a quick and easy way!’’ My way may
be better than some others doit. I plan to do all my work in the
easiest and quickest way. I find no time to waste in the queen-
rearing business.

In forming nucleus colonies I will first give a way that all
must practice when starting in on queen-rearing. All my
nucleus hives, or boxes, are the same as is illustrated in fig. 1. I

32 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

like this style far better than any I have ever tried. Always have
had the best of success in getting queens fertilized inthem, and, in
fact, never have had any trouble with these hives in any way.
Some people suppose, and naturally enough too, that where these
little colonies are kept in the same yard with strong colonies, that
much robbing would be going on. It is not so, and I never have
had any robbing in my apiary. No good bee-keeper, it seems to
me, so does his work in the apiary that robbing is induced. Of
course when putting up queens the nuclei must be opened in the
middle of the day. Sometimes robbers come around to see what
is going on. The work of removing a queen is quickly performed
and if strange bees appear the hive is closed; that is, combs re-
placed, cover put on and a handful of grass is thrown against the
entrance. While the bees of the colony can find their way out of
and into the hive, no strange bee dares to try to enter.

If I were about to start in queen-rearing I would form nuclei
in about this way: Rather than destroy the nice straight combs
of a standard hive I would just look around the country for some
box-hives. I really love to go through those back-number
things; they are an eye-sore to me.

Take the hive into the bee-room and treat the bees same as
in case of getting ‘‘bees for cell-building.’’

Take off side of hive, cut out the combs and brush all the
bees from them into a hive-cap. When all are out dump the bees
into the box used for confining bees for queen-rearing. Next
move is to cut the combs into the little frames. After first nailing
screens to cover entrance to the hives in such a way that the bees
will have plenty of fresh air, the boxes should each have three
combs put in them. One of the combs should be brood, the
others may be brood, honey, etc. One comb of honey may be
put in after the bees are in.

Have at hand all the covers so they can be put on quickly
after the bees are put in.

We return now to the bees in the confining box, and all is in
readiness for dividing them up in pint lots among the hives.

Next step is to get the bees in condition to be handled
without flying while they are being doled out to the several hives.
Blow tobacco smoke among them until they seem quiet. Now
this does not mean to keep up a flow of smoke until the bees drop
to the bottom of the box. Use but little smoke at any time, or
until the bees stop running about the box. In the course of 5
or 10 minutes they will be ready to handle. Strike the bees down .

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 38
into the bottom of the box by dropping it on the floor. Witha

light measure (tin one is best) holding about a pint and having a
handle several inches long, divide the bees among the nucleus
hives in nearly equal parts as possible. Ifthe bees have been put
in the right condition by the tobacco, they can be handled just
about the same as so many beans.

Of course there will be a queen to look up. However, this is
an easy matter. Rather than spend the time to look her up she is

allowed to go in with the bees. When the nuclei are formed, the
bees in the hive in which the queen happens to be will be found
more quiet than those that have no queens. Unless I have some
use for such a queen she is allowed to remain with the bees and
build up a prosperous colony ; that is, prosperous for such a small
hive.

Sometimes I have as many as half a dozen queens caged in

-my bee-room. ‘They are placed on the bottom sash of the window

and all the bees in the room collect and cluster on the cages, at-
tracted and held there a long time by the queens. The bees feed
and otherwise take good care of them.

Another way to do, and a thing I often do is this: I some-
times purchase bees in box-hives, transfer the combs and then put
bees and combs ina hive that takes 13 of the frames, using two
sections fora large colony. ‘The 26 combs give a large amount
of breeding room and such a colony very quickly builds up toa
large and prosperous one. Such a hive is illustrated in fig. 8.

The bees thus treated soon repair the combs and get into fine
condition to be transferred to the small hives. Whennuclei are

34 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

formed as above, they should be kept confined in the hives from
24 to 48 hours before being released, then remove the screens at
night when too late for bees to fly. The next morning the colony
will be found ready for business.

By this time the bees will have more or less queen-cells, or
cell-cups started, and fully reconciled to the new state of things,
and only a few of the older bees will return to the stand they had
previously occupied.

The only thing that can be done with these hives is to set
them on the ground in any place in the apiary. Still, it is a good
idea to take them away from home for several weeks when
they may be returned to the home yard and no bees would return
to the old location.

I sometimes have several queen-rearing yards two miles apart
where my nuclei are kept during the entire season—several hun-
dred nucleus colonies are made up and at once taken away and
in this way out apiaries are established, but for nuclei only.

If more convenient to do so bees may be brought from a dis-
tance for forming nucleus colonies, and when this method is
practiced the bees can be placed in the home yard. This plan
works nicely as I have found when forming nuclei.

INTRODUCING QUEENS

We have now come to one of the most interesting parts of
apiculture, and that part of queen-rearing that has been the cause
of much trouble and a great deal of discussion for many years.
When it comes to the introduction of queens, either fertile or |
unfertile, nearly all bee-keepers, whether experts or novices, are
all at sea.

In the case of introducing unfertile queens, one thing should
be kept in mind, namely, the older the virgin queen the more
dificult and dangerous it is to safely introduce them. Virgin
queens, so far as bees are concerned, cease to be ‘‘baby’’ queens |
when they are three days old; after that it is very difficult to in- |
troduce them, though I have no trouble in introducing them suc-
cessfully by using tobacco smoke.

I cannot say which is the most difficult to introduce, virgin or |
fertile queens. It requires in either case some little experience in |
order to be successful. Some times bees will destroy a strange |
queen even when she is introduced under the most favorable con- |

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 35

ditions. No one can introduce a virgin queen successfully unless
the bees to receive her have been queenless at least three days.

In all my experience I have practiced but one method of in-
troducing queens. It is whatI term the three-day plan. I seldom
lose a queen by it. No doubt other bee-keepers have as good
methods of introducing queens as I have. But the first and last
queens I have introduced were by the system given below. I
cannot think of giving up asure thing for something I know
nothing about.

HOW TO INTRODUCE VIRGIN QUEENS

My plan is to let colonies, whether full stocks or nucleus,

_ remain queenless three days, or not far from 72 hours. Then just

—_———

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before dark the queens are given the bees by this process: I gen-
erally have from 25 to 50 virgin queens to introduce at one time.
The cages are placed in a convenient box having a handle. Then
as many plantain leaves as there are queens to introduce are
pulled and put in the box ready for use. ‘These leaves are for
closing the entrance to each hive in which queens are to be placed.
Armed with the pipe before mentioned, all is in readiness for in-
troducing the queens. The feeder used at the top of the hive is
removed, a good dose of smoke is blown in among the bees and
combs. The feeder replaced until the stopper in the cage 1s re-
moved, and then the queen by a quick motion is thrown out and
into the feeder hole. Then the feeder is again quickly put in

_ position, and no further attention is given the bees.

I have introduced successfully as many as fifty virgin queens

| in thirty minutes.

The art of introducing unfertile queens requires more experience
to be successful than it does to introduce fertile queens. In fact,
one must be very apt, possess a good deal of tact, and I can almost
say, must be very scientific. However, most any bee-keeper can
learn how to perform such work successfully. One may read how
others do these things, but practical knowledge, in order to know
al! the little details of such intricate and delicate work as intro-
ducing queens can only be had by long practice and experience.
Just how much tobacco smoke to give the bees when introducing
a queen is a point that requires more or less practice and good
judgment. .

I never have been so unfortunate as to give bees too”™much
smoke at such times. Am not certain that bees can be killed by

36 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

tobacco smoke if they can get fresh air soon after smoking them.
The effect of the smoke soon passes off and the bees resume a
normal condition.

Bear in mind that unless the work of introducing queens by
using tobacco is done very late in the day, or on some cool day
when bees cannot fly very much, your apiary will be ruined, as
robbing may be induced. ‘Tobacco smoke puts the bees in such
a condition they cannot defend their stores from robber bees, and
once robbing is commenced among the small nuclei it is almost
impossible to stop it. Should such a thing happen it would be
necessary to remove the entire nuclei to a distant location.

INTRODUCING “BERTILE OULE Ns

It requires some experience and practice to introduce fertile
queens. Allow all full colonies to be queenless three days before
giving them a strange queen. Even a queen removed from a
colony but twenty-fours, if returned would be received as a
strange queen. Now when the colony has been queenless
seventy-two hours, give the bees tobacco smoke and let the queen
in; or allow the bees to eat the candy-food out and liberate her.
The smoke from a cigar or pipe will do to introduce fertile queens,
but not virgin queens.

Never put a queen near the bees of a colony she is to be
‘given to until ready to introduce her. Many make this mistake.
Toward dark is the time to introduce queens whether or not to-
bacco is used. Certainly this has been my experience.

In introducing queens by using tobacco it is not necessary to
give the bees a powerful dose of smoke. Give enough smoke so
that the bees will feel the effects of it pretty well. The tobacco
sort of odorizes the combs, bees and queen, so that all are scented
alike. When the bees recover from the effects of the smoke they
really don’t remember whether they were ever without a queen, so
they take kindly to the new queen and no trouble ensues.

I once tried a ‘‘chew’’ of tobacco. Was on my way to school.
In a short time I didn’t care whether school kept or not, in fact,
I hardly knew anything about it I was so sick. That was my
first and last ‘“‘chew’’ of tobacco. Now I imagine the bees feel.
somewhat in that way when they are made sick by tobacco.

Bees cannot be killed by tobacco if they are given the air.
The plantain leaves by which the entrance hole is stopped is
thrown out, or so loosened before the next morning that the bees

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING a7
get all the air they need. One passing by the hives in which
queens were introduced the previous evening cannot discover that
such work was done by any indications about the hive or bees.

OBJECTIONAL DRONES;- HOW TO CATCH AND
DESTROY

If black bees, hybrid bees, or, in fact any bees that are to be
used in queen-rearing have undesirable drones among them they
can be easily caught and destroyed. ‘The most effective way of
doing this is when the bees are put to work building queen-cells.
My way of doing it is as follows: At the time the hive for cell-
building is prepared and is ready to place over the bees as given
on page 23, a metal division-board is put on the box and then the
hive containing the prepared strips, combs, etc., is quickly placed
onthe metal. Nearly all the worker bees at once go up into the
box above, leaving the drones below.

In placing the bees on the stand it is not necessary to use
smoke of any kind. First, place a bottom-board in position and

quietly raise the box containing the bees, letting the rear end
strike the bottom-board in such a way that the combs will not be
disturbed and gradually lowering the hive so as notto crush any
bees:

The box of drones may be so placed against the front end of
the bottom-board that all the young bees, if any are left in the box,
may run out, leaving the drones below the metal to perish.

Just such a frame as is used for the wire screen cover may be

38 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

used to nail the metal to, as the entire top of the box should be
covered in order to catch all the drones.

How to catch and destroy drones in full colonies will be ex-
plained under the head of ‘‘Drone and Queen-traps.’’

DESCRIPTION OF QUEEN-CELL FRAME
In my ‘early experience in rearing queens i used combs in
standard L, frames to attach the strips of comb containing the eggs

UA

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DORAN Y
weswanna Py
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Figure 11

for queen-cells. While such an arrangement wo1ked well in
3-frame nucleus colonies, there are disadvantages in so doing
when used in full colonies and by my present system of queen-
rearing ; therefore I adopted the all-wood frame and in combina-
tion with the wood-strips as shown in fig. 5 and it works nicely.

The frame is a standard I style into which are nailed two
pieces of wood A A. There are four notches cut in on the inner
edges two inches a part, into which the four pieces of wood are
placed and are thus held firmly in position.

By examining the queen-cells illustrated in fig. 5, it will be
seen that they are long and pointed, also very heavily waxed and
corrugated. They do not much resemble the row of queen-cells
lately illustrated in one of the bee-papers.

The heavy waxing and large, long cells are the strongest
indications that such cells contain very hardy and_ perfect

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 39

queens. Fig. 9 illustrates a perfect queen-cell, while fig. 10 shows
a queen-cell that always contains inferior queens.

Queen-cells that are short, blunt-end, thin-walled and thinly
waxed, as shown in fig. 10, contain very inferior queens, and all
such cells should be destroyed. They are just such queen-cells
as bees make when they have a queen of any kind in the hive.

The cells shown in fig. 5 were built in a powerful queenless
colony late in September, 1902, and were the last lot of cells built
in my apiary that season, consequently not as many cells were
built as would have been the case had the season not been quite

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Figure 12

so far advanced, yet the number of cells are as many as the
strongest colony of bees should be allowed to build or finish up
from the 24-hour cell-cups. The mistake many queen-breeders
make is in permitting one colony of bees to build so many cells in
one batch.

A colony that has cast a swarm seldom leaves over eight or

40 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

ten queen-cells. In rearing queens it seems to me the breeder
might be governed somewhat as to the number of cells a colony
should build by the judgment of the bees when working as Nature
designed them to work. However, bees do not do things as we
think they should, therefore many try to improve matters, and I
freely admit that I think in some cases man has made the bees
do many good things they would not have done had they not been
compelled to, or been assisted to do in their work.

For instance, let us take up the way bees construct queen-
cells when left to do it in their way, or, in the natural way.
Fig. 11 illustrates how bees build queen-cells when they have their
way in the matter. Now how can cells built in that manner be
cut out without destroying many of them? It cannot be done.
The cells are built in a cluster and all fastened to each other.
Some of them could be patched up as described on another page,
and many good queens would be reared. The very best queens
are produced by the cells built as shown in the cluster, neverthe-
less. Fig. 12 illustrates the improved way of compelling bees to
construct queen-cells. It will be seen that all the seven cells can
be separated without destroying any of them when necessary to
cut them out to place in the nursery or in nuclei.

TRANSFERRING CELLS TO NUCLEI OR TO THE
QUEEN-NURSERY

As queen-cells are now built so that they are easily cut out
and separated without destroying any of them, the work of trans-
ferring them to nuclei or to the queen-nursery is not difficult, nor
does it require much time or labor to complete the work. Put all
the cells in the nursery and allow them to hatch and then after
selecting the best queens introduce them to nucleus colonies
prepared as given on another page. Sometimes there is difficulty
in separating all the cells without cutting into the side of a few of
them. Excepting-the time required to patch them up, no great
harm is done.

When the cells are ripe, and that is on the twelfth day from
the day the cells were started, remove from the hive, brush the
bees from them and at once take them into a warm room, providing
the weather is cool, and ‘tis most always cool in the months of
May and June.

The knife used to separate the cells should be very thin,
sharp and warm. If a cell is cut into, just take a piece of thin

ee

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 41

foundation, slightly warm it, place it over the aperture and at
once smooth it down with a warm knife so that it will be perfectly
air-tight, if not so done, the queen might not hatch out, and she
certainly would not if she is not within six hours of being ready to.
If a patched cell is given toa nucleus colony, and not made per-
fectly air-tight, the bees would quickly destroy it. Bees will not
accept any inferior work about queen-cells. Perfection is their
motto. Nevertheless, I sometimes think bees lack in judgment in
many things; such for instance as in destroying a fine young
queen when they seem badly in need of one. But they lack in
judgment very much when they use their stings to their own des-
truction.

DESCRIPTION OF PIPE FOR BURNING TOBACCO

I have always used tobacco smoke for light handling of bees,
but more particularly for introducing queens.

I shall state here that for general use in the apiary tobacco is
not the thing to burn. Doing light work and temporary use the
tin pipe can be made to work all right. As I am constantly work-
ing in my aueen-rearing apiary, I find tobacco smoke much
the handiest, as well as the most convenient.

I do not wish any reader to think I recommend the filthy
weed because I am a tobacco fiend. Although I have used the
vile stuff in my apiary more than forty years, I have not been able
to acquire the tobacco habit. So it will be seen that in order for
me to use tobacco about my bees, I must have some special device
to burn the stuff in.

I devised the pipe illustrated in fig. 13 many years ago.

Body of pipe is about 6 inches long x % in. in diameter and made
si tin. Ateach end isa wooden stopper, one a mouth piece, the

Figure 15

other has a 14 in. tin tube running through it and projecting about
an inch beyond the wood through which the smoke is direct-
ed among the bees.

The pipe is filled with fine, dry tobacco, and is lighted by
placing the small tube in the mouth and puffing away the same as
any old smoker does when he puts fire to his old T. D. When the
pipe is well fired up, the mouth piece is putin and all that is

42 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

needed to break up a town meeting is to blow the breath through
the pipe.

Full colonies of bees can be handled by using tobacco smoke,
but they do not take kindly to it, and sometimes resent the insult
with a vengeance.

A good bellows smoker filled with dry, rotten wood is much
the best thing to use when opening a hive of bees. - But in intro-
ducing queens and light work, in the apiary, the tin pipe will be
found very valuable. Of course no one would think of using
tobacco when extracting. In putting up queens I find the pipe
very handy. It is held between the teeth, the cage in the left
hand and the queen and bees handled with the right hand, as
both hands are at liberty. Well, how handy!

WHAT TO DO WITH -SMALL NUCLEI, UN ae:
FALL

If the queens are allowed to stay in the little hives late in the
season and long enough to fill the combs with brood, and the
colonies are well fed, there will be a fine lot of bees in the fall
when all the queens have been taken away, and they may be
united and wintered in good condition.

Make hives in two sections same as illustrated in fig. 8.
These hives are the same in every way as the little boxes except-
ing they are made to take 13 combs instead of four combs. Use
two sections in winter as this gives sufficient capacity for wintering
a large numbers of bees. In three days after the queens are re-
moved from the nuclei, they are in condition to be safely united
with little or no trouble. Get the winter hive ready, give ita
stand near the nucleus the queen isin that is to be given the
united colonies, and then take the queenless nuclei to that stand
and at once place bees, combs and allin the large hive. Putin
as much brood as possible, placing it in the center of the hive.

Now the tobacco pipe described above comes in here pretty
handily. Just give each small colony a puff of smoke before
starting them, and all the bees and queen will at once adapt them-
selves to their new home. Few if any bees will return to the old
stand. Feed the newly formed colonies about 20 lbs. syrup to
which several pounds of good honey has been added to prevent
granulation.

When cold weather sets in, put the colonies in the cellar. In
the spring when placed on the stand, put on outside cases, fix

Above illustration gives a partial view of the author’s queen-
rearing apiary. ‘The person on the left is S. M. Locke,
former editor of the American Apiculturist; on the
right is the author. This photo was taken in
the summer of 1882. There has been
but little change in my aplary
since the picture was

made.

44 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

them up warm and if need be feed more syrup, and my word for it,
you will have some fine colonies with which to form early nuclei
when needed.

I had nuclei enough in the fall of 1892 to form 21 strong
colonies of the kind above mentioned.

TO ‘GET DRONES AND PRESERVE TERE MEY Pigs
ENTIRE SEASON,

Much has been said in the various bee-papers as to how
drones can best be obtained and preserved the entire queen:
rearing season. Here is how it is done in the Bay State Aptary.
When I have settled upon the colony that it is most desirable to
rear drones from, a full sheet of drone comb is placed in the
centre of the brood-nest. There being no drone comb of any
amount in the hive, the queen at once puts an egg in each cell.
This comb is allowed to remain in the colony till most of the drone
brood is capped, then it is removed and placed in a queenless
colony, or one that is caring for queen-cells, or has a lot of virgin
queens in the nursery. Another frame of drone comb is at once
placed in the same hive. ‘The bees, finding they have no drones
or drone-brood, at once commence to rear another lot. This goes
on all through the season. I have found that one colony of bees
will supply all the drones needed for the entire queen- rearing
season, or for many thousands of queens.

Please understand that when forage is cut off, the colony
must be fed in order to stimulate drone brood-rearing.

If the reader knows of any better way to get drones for queen-
rearing or for doing any of the things on the foregoing pages, by
all means adopt and practice them. I have given you methods
that have been successful many years.

WHEN, WHAT AND HOW “DO FEED NUCEERI

I think I can save all who use my system of nuclei very
much trouble by giving instructions how to care for such colonies,
and to make the method a success, and prevent robbing in the
apiary. Under no circumstances ever feed anything but plain
sugar syrup to the small colonies. If you use honey your entire
nucleus apiary will be ruined within a few hours, providing there
are any full colonies of bees near them. Sugar syrup is all that is
needed to keep the nuclei up to the highest standard of prosperity.

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 45

There are a a reasons why such small a should be fed

as above stated.} 1. To keep them in food. To prevent the
bees from deser ing the hives and 3, to Gate the bees and
cause the queens to fly and mate promptly. Now the last

reason is very important. Unless these little families of bees are
fed as often as each five days, the bees will desert the hive (swarm
out), even though they have plenty of stores and brood. Of
course they. will not ‘‘swarm out’’ unless there is a queen to go
with them. |

Make the syrup as follows: i’ut 13 lbs. of granulated sugar
in a ro quart bucket and add enough w ater to fill the receptacle.
This is about right—not too thin nor too heavy. See that all the
sugar is dissoly ed before using.

The feeder illustrated in fig. 15 1s cone- shaped, made of tin and
is atmospheric in principle. When filled it is inverted; the open-
ing covered by a piece of thin cloth, the collar (a) put on to keep
the cloth in place, and -when thus prepared the food will not leak
out. An aperture, an inch in diameter, is made in the cover of

f!

Figure 14 Figure 15

the hive about an inch from the front edge; and as the apex of the
feeder is but seven-eighths of an inch in diameter, is held firmly in
place, and no amount of heavy wind will dislodge it.

The small quantity of syrup placed in the feeder is sufficient
to encourage the bees for about five days, when more food should
be supplied. It is understood, of course, that no feeding is neces-
sary when there is plenty of natural forage for the bees to gather.
I know of no other feeder, or system of feeding that can be ap-—
plied to work so well as the one above described.

Figure 14 represents one of the small nucleus hives with

46 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

the cone-feeder in position. As water during a rain may leak in-
to the hive around the feeder, it is always placed in the front part
of the cover. Always place the hive in such a position that the
rear end is slightly elevated. This keeps the water from running
in at the entrance, and if any water gets in at the top it quickly
runs out.

The success of my nucleus system depends largely upon the
matnner of feeding. ‘These little miniature colonies are unlike
large colonies. They can only care for themselves when forage is
abundant. Feed them liberally and success will follow.

THE DRONE-TRAP IN CONNECTION WITH QUEEN-
REARING

The reader’s attention is called to the utility of the drone-trap
in queen-rearing. It’s a wonder to me how it is that anv queen
breeder can produce queens that can be called pure in the same

hi Sa. Ci ry =
AUN NS 2

Figure 16

apiary where there are anywhere from ten to forty iull colonies of
bees sending out their millions of drones every fine day through-
out the season. It has always been my practice to use the drones
from only one colony for mating young queens to. How else can
any queen-breeder know by what strain of bees his young queens
are mated to? Drone-traps are kept at the entrance of my hives
the entire season, excepting on the hive from which the drones are

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 47
allowed to fly. I donot hkea haphazzard way of mating queens.
There is no way by which the queen breeder can have absolute
control of the fertilization of his queens as can be done by using
the trap. If you come into my apiary between May 20 and Oct. 1,
you will find traps on every hive in the yard. The trap in con-
trolling swarming and catching the thousands of useless drones has
a world-wide reputation as all practical bee-keepers well know.

I regret very much to have to say that few if any of the supply

Figure 17

dealers are sending out queen-traps that are of any value. About
all who use the traps have an idea that they cati improve its con-
struction. Few of these people realize that all those supposed im-
provements were testedin my yard years before they ever saw the
trap. Yet many of these useless and needless improvements have
been attached to the trap by those who are selling them, render-
ing the trap almost worthless.

An improved queen and drone-trap is illustrated in fig. 16.
‘This trap is so constructed that no bees are destroyed by smother-
ing. The trap does not clog and the bees have a clear and easy
way through it, in and out of the hive. Three sides are covered
by perforated metal, thus affording abundance of ventilation to
the hive at all times.

The trap prevents any bees from decamping either before or
after a swarm has issued or has been hived. When a swarm
issues, all that need be done is to move the hive the bees issue
from to a new location, and put an empty hive in its place; take
the trap and place it at the entrance of the new hive; the swarm
soon returns, and while the bees are running in, draw the top
slide to release the queen, and she will enter with the bees. Then
stand. back and see the swarm rush in pell-mell and take posses-
sion of the hive. Whew! what fun on a hot day to have all this

48 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

work done without any effort on your part; no climbing trees,
fretting, worry or loss of bees.

Last season I sawatrap in Boston that was put up by one of
the largest supply dealers in the world. J was amazed when in-
formed that any man who ever kept bees would send out such a
thing. ‘The dealer who had it called it the ‘‘Alley’’ trap. I saidI
invented the Alley trap, but I would not own up as the inventor of
a thing like the one in question.

I have not dealt in the traps for many years. But I am so
disgusted by what I have seen of the worthless things manufac-
tured by other people, I shall take up the manufacture of them
again. Fig. 17 represents old style trap.

BROOM FOR BRUSHING BEES

The first year I had bees I found that feathers were not just
the thing with which to brush bees, so a corn broom, such as 1s
used for clothing was utilized, but not until more than one-half
the broom was cut out. Witha sharp knife cut out nearly two-
thirds of the straw material just under the binding. ‘Then when
the bees are brushed off the combs none will be destroyed if any
are half way in the cells.

This kind of a brush is called the ‘‘Coggswell broom.’’ I
creatly mistake if I did not sell the Coggswell Brothers of Groton,

Figure 18

N. Y., the first broom they ever used. ‘he one I use and the
so-called Coggswell brush are quite different. ‘There is stock
enough in the Coggswell to make a dozen of the kind used by me.
See Fig. 18 for illustration of broom.

POINTS IN QUEEN-REARING
TO INSERT A QUEEN-CELL

When a cell is introduced, it is not necessary, nor is it prac-
tical, to cut the comb to insert the cell in, as recommended by some
bee-keepers. When a queen has been removed and the combs re-

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 49

placed in the hive, just thrust your little finger down between the
combs near the top-bars, and thus make room for the cell and im-
mediately place it inthe opening made. ‘The bees will not destroy
the cell if it contains a healthy queen. Ifit is late in the season
and the colony from which the queen is taken is weak in numbers,
it will be necessary to place the cell in the middle of the cluster.
Even in this case, you will not be obliged to do any cutting as
room can be made for the cell by pushing the finger through one
of the combs. Place the cell, small end downwards, in the aper-
ture and close the hive.

QUEENS, HOW TO PRESERVE AND CARE FOR THEM

At the swarming season many bee-keepers have more or less
queen-cells, and sometimes young queens, they would like to
_ preserve if possible to do so and if proper fixtures were at hand
‘to aid them in carrying out their desires. At just that time
several cages, such as are described on a previous page and are
| used in the queen-nursery, would be the right thing to have.
' Remove the cells from the hive at the proper time, place them in
_the nursery-cages and after supplying each cage with food
| sufficient for a week, or longer, place the nursery in some full
' colony, according to directions given on another page in connec-
tion with the description of the nursery. A much better way for
{the novice to dispose of queen-cells would be to supersede old
queens and at once insert the queen-cells. If this seems too risky,
| dequeen the hive a few days before the cells are matured, say on
the fifth day after a swarm issues. This method of dequeening
would do away with the necessity of nucleus colonies which one
| would be obliged to have in order to preserve young queens until
) fertilized.

AGE AT WHICH QUEENS MATE

The readers of the different bee-periodicals have not failed to
inotice the reports, from time to time, of queens being fertilized
{when two or three daysold.

Iam inclined to think that all who make reports of queens
being fertilized when under five days old must be mistaken. I
never knew such a thing to happen in my apiary. Have had
jthousands of young queens take the mating flight when but five
days old, but never knew one to do so when under that age.

The fact that I spend all my time during the queen-rearing

SE —_—

50 IMPROVED: QUEEN-REARING

season in the yard among my nucleus colonies, and that every
means is used to force the young queens to fly and become fertile
at the earliest moment possible, should be sufficient to satisfy the
reader that I am making no wild statement in this matter.

FORCING QUEENS TO MAKE THE MATING FLIGHT
AND TO COMMENCE TO LAY PROMPTLY

The queen dealer is anxious to have his queens mate as soon
as possible after they arrive at the proper age. No special pains
need be taken while there is a flow of honey to force the queens to
take a flight, as they readily do so themselves. After the honey
harvest is over, it is quite another affair. At this time a young
unfertile queen will not leave the hive, unless encouraged to do so
by feeding, when under ten or twelve days old.,~ Yet, 1f the
weather is favorable, that is, if the day is clear and warm, and
but little wind, ninety-nine out of every hundred queens can be
forced to fly on the fifth day after they emerge from the cell.
Feeding for this purpose has been an important feature for years

in my apiary.
HOW TO KNOW A FERTILE QUEEN FROM AN
UNFERTILE ONE

One who has any considerable experience in queen-rearing
has no trouble in distinguishing a fertile queen from one that is
unfertile. In twelve hours after a queen has mated there is a
perceptible increase in her size. Not only is her abdomen larger

around, but it is also longer. ‘These conditions are noticeable in |

the early part of the season, but at the last of September and

during the month of October some other way of judging and |
knowing whether or not a queen has been fertilized must ©
be adopted. While queens that are fertilized early in the jj
season will at once make preparations to deposit eggs, the late |

fertilized queens do not. That is, the late fertilized queens will

not as quickly increase in size after becoming fertile, as they do |
earlier in the season. Now to decide positively that a queen is j}
fertile I have tested the matter in this way: About half a pint of |
bees are taken from a colony having an unfertile queen and |)

allowed to run in the hive of the fertile one.

If the queen in the latter hive proves to be fertile, the strange |

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 51

bees will not molest her; if unfertile, the bees introduced may at
once ball and eventually destroy her. ‘This is a simple and quick
way to test the matter, and applies only to nucleus colonies,
though it may be practiced more or less successfully in full
colonies.

Another way to decide whether or not a queen is fertile is to
feed honey for a day or so. If fertile she will deposit a few eggs,
and lay while the feeding is continued.

AGE WHEN YOUNG QUEENS COMMENCE TO LAY
APLAR BECOMING FERTILE

} Young queeus, as a rule, commence to Jay from thirty-six to

forty-eight hours after they become fertile. |

The time varies according to the season. During the honey
harvest nearly every young queen will commence to lay in about
thirty-six hours after mating. Later in the season, when no
honey is being gathered, it will be from forty-eight hours to three
days.

I never have found a young queen laying when less than
seven days old.

FERTILIZING IN CONFINEMENT

I believe there is not a well authenticated case recorded
wheré a queen was ever fertilized in confinement. Why should
any one desire to have queens fertilized in any other way than the
one provided by nature? By the use of the improved appliances
for controlling and destroying useless and worthless drones, it is
an easy matter to have any and all queens mated to any strain of
drones desired.

A practical method of having queens fertilized in confine-
ment will not be devised for a long time to come. However, no
one can tell what a day may bring forth. There are a good many
wise heads at work upon the knotty questions connected with
bee-culture.

RESPECT BEES SHOW THEIR QUEEN

When a fertile queen moves about the combs her subjects al-

/ ways open a way for her to pass, and the bees seem to vie with

each other in the respect they show their ruler.
The virgin queen never has much respect shown her, The

52 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

workers do not even trouble themselves to get out of her way
when she moves about the cluster. She must run over the bees
and get about the best she can.

When a hive is opened and combs removed, a virgin queen is
pretty sure to take wing, especially if the operation of removing
the frames is not performed quietly, or late in the day. However,
there is no danger of the queen being lost as she will fly buta
short distance from the hive and immediately return.

DESTROYING: QUEEN-CELLS WHEN INTRODUCING
QUEENS
As stated on a previous page, some queen-cells will be built
on the combs that have brood in them. It will not be necessary
to look the combs over and destroy those cells if a young queen is
introduced. In the course of twenty-four hours after the queen
gets possession of the combs, she will destroy the cells, that is, the
queen will open them near the base and sting the nymph, or
nearly matured queen as the case may be, and the bees will soon
finish the work of destroying the cell, and removing the dead
queen. ‘There are, however, exceptions to this rule, and once in
a while a young queen is permitted to ‘‘hatch out’’ and* take
possession of the colony. In that case, the queen just introduced
is destroyed. This so seldom happens, and does not happen at all
except in cases where an o/d queen is introduced, that it is not
worth while to spend time in looking the combs over for queen-
cells.

THE OBSERVATORY HIVE FOR SiPUDYING, iis
HABITS OF BEES

I know of no better way for the novice to study the habits of
the honey-bee than can be done by an observation hive, such as is
illustrated in fig. 19. This hive has but one comb which is in-
serted between two plates of glass. Anyone can make such a
hive at small expense. Get out a frame, groove for the glass to
slide in, leaving an inch and a quarter between the glass for the
comb and frame. Wooden covers are used to keep out the light.
Arrange it so that the bees pass to and from the hive under the
bottom sash of a window, and in such away that no bees can
enter the room.

When thus arranged there is no danger of anyone being
stung while observing the bees work. Here every movement of

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING 53

the colony and queen can be seen, and all work from the laying of
the egg to the sealed brood may be seen at any time; how the
bees remove pollen from their legs; how they behave when de-

ih

in in
I ah i |

Figure 19
prived of their queen, and how they start and build a queen-cell,
store honey in the combs, etc.

It the observation hive contains a small colony of bees and an
unfertile queen, it will be seen that the bees do not take the least
notice of her. Apparently she is of no more consequence before
becoming fertile than other bees in the hive; yet should she be
removed from the colony, the bees would soon miss her, and make
as much fuss over her loss as they would had she been a fertile
queen. The fact that bees pay no attention to a queen, is the
best evidence that she is not fertile.

Figure 20 iene 21
COMPARATIVE SIZE OF QUEENS

Figure 20 nicely and accurately represents a large, fine and
well-developed fertile queen bee. I have reared many queens
equally as large as the one illustrated in above cut.

Figure 21 is a good and life-size view of an unfertile queen,
Such queens vary much in size.

54 IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING

No one should judge of the size of a queen until she is given
a chance to develop in a full colony of bees.

Queens kept in small nucleus colonies never reach full
development. They must be given larger quarters in order to
show to what size they will attain.

PREVENTING, HONEY, FROM (CANDVYING

Some years ago I accidentally discovered a process by which
honey that has once candied can be preserved in the liquid state
for a long time.

It is my opinion that it is much the best plan to let all honey
candy and then liquify it. Possibly there are some kinds of

honey that if treated by the process below given, would not remain ~

in the liquid state only a short time. But for most kinds the
treatment will be a success, and preserve it many months.

Several years ago I received some honey in sixty-pound cans
that was nearly as hard as sugar. It was melted and put in
half-pound bottles. ‘To keep it from candying again before I
could dispose of it, the bottles were placed on a shelf over the
kitchen stove, where the tetnperature would rise to 110 degrees
during the day and would not go below 60 degrees at night. This
same lot of honey stood zero weather for two winters without
going back.

The above is the entire process. It is heat for a long time
that does the business. Honey in large cans would need to be
kept in a high temperature at least a month, but the process will
surely prevent it from candying after it is once liquified.

Arrange the details of heating to suit your conditions. Large
quantities of honey can be kept in a room well up from the floor,
and a good hot fire running for a long time.

Steam heat, if convenient to use, is the proper thing. Small
quantities of honey can be treated about as mentioned in my own
case,

TO THLE, ESD ES

If the methodg herein given for rearing queens is not made
clear I shall be glad at any time to give personal explanation.
Later on I may issue a ‘‘supplement’’ in which many of the parts
of my system of queen-rearing will be illustrated and more
minutely explained, Send in the questions and they shall receive
attention,

a

SS

IMPROVED QUEEN-REARING be

THE QUEEN-REARING OUTFIT

There are certain necessary things used in queen-rearing

which I can supply at the prices given opposite each article
named.

The queen nursery, 35 cages, $1.50.

The tin pipe for burning tobacco when introducing queens,
50 cents.

Small hive, four frames, nailed ready for use, including cone-
feeder, 50 cents.

Small hive complete, including pint of bees, one best Adel
breeding queen, $5.00.

Same with select tested Adel queen, $4.00.
All the above, and one of the latest improved queen-traps,

sent for $9.00. These goods must go by express, as they are too
large to go by mail.

A successful swarm-catcher. Used in the Bay State Apiary
with great success many years. It consists of a
brood-box in front of the hive in con-
nection with the queen-trap.

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In a notice of this kind it is impossible to give
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Being mainly personal items and miscellaneous matters
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