190 STATE BOAKD OF AGRICULTURE. 



ing, — and this very thought and study will yield a double blessing, in that it 

 brings rich entertainment, — he will be almost sure to win success, and that too 

 with but little labor. 



There are many breakers that stand in the way of the ignorant and unthought- 

 ful apiarist, two of which it is my purpose to present on this occasion. And 

 first I will speak of 



Queeriless Colotiies. 



It is well known that a good queen will lay upwards of 2,000 eggs daily; and 

 as 20,000 to 30,000 bees make a strong colony, it at once appears that the loss 

 of a queen in a full, strong colony for ten or fifteen days is equivalent to the 

 loss of a good stock of bees. That there is this loss in bees is not always true, 

 for with loss of queen the work sometimes ceases in part, and the mortality with 

 the old bees is less ; but this lack is of course met by the diminished stores of 

 honey. I have no hesitation in affirming that the loss of a queen in a good 

 colony for fifteen days in the gathering season means the loss of a good colony 

 of bees. But is this common, — this loss of a queen, — Avith our apiarists? I 

 reply that with most of them it is not only common but universal. 



Let us suppose that colonies are allowed to take their natural course ni swarm- 

 ing. The bees almost invariably leave the hive before the queen cells are capped. 

 Suppose in one day these are capped. In seven days the queen comes forth. 

 For five days she remains a virgin, while unfavorable weather or other misfor- 

 tune may prolong this for two or three days. From two to five more days must 

 elapse before she commences her life's work, and thus we have at least fifteen 

 days with our colony destitute of a queen. Hence I affirm that bees are left to 

 take their natural course, in increasing, at a necessary sacrifice of one good 

 stock of bees. 



Suppose the apiarist commences the season Avith twenty colonies, follows 

 natural swarming in its entirety, and values his stocks at $8 each. His total 

 loss will be S160. 



The remedy for this is known, of course, to every intelligent, well-informed 

 apiarist. We have only to raise, early in the season, a good supply of extra 

 queens, which will be kept in nuclei, and used as occasion requires. Then, 

 when a colouy swarms, — which is almost sure to be when gathering is most 

 active, and when loss of a queen will be most felt^ — a new quetjn will be given 

 at once to the old colony, and there will be no cessation in its prosperity. Or, 

 still better, new colonies will bo formed artificially, and given a queen at once, 

 in which case we can secure agiunst too great depletion of bees, which is quite 

 sure to result, unless much caution is exercised, if natural swarming is per- 

 mitted. 



By thus keeping a good supply of young, fertile, and prolific queens ever in 

 readiness, we may not only prevent expensive delay in time of swarming or of 

 increasing, but may supply the place of any queens which may be lost or killed 

 in handling our bees ; or we may supersede any queen which from age or other 

 reason seems to lack in fecundity. 



The rule, then, which I would state and enforce, but which is now so gen- 

 erally disregarded, either from ignorance or still more culpable indolence, and 

 which no apiarist can afford to neglect, is : Never permit a colony to he without 

 a prolific cjuee)i. 



The second error to which I would call attention is enforced idleness of the 

 bees, consequent upon ill-management on the part of the apiarist. This may 



