10 THE REARING OF QUEEN BEES. 



is opened, the bees shaken out in front of their old hive, and the cells 

 on bars hung in any colony which will complete cells. By this method 

 a much larger proportion of cells will be accepted, and the time 

 required is very small. A schedule, which is in use in the Department 

 apiar}^ during the queen-rearing season, for the use of the swarm box, 

 may not be out of place here to illustrate the small amount of time 

 required for this manipulation, and to be used as a working plan: 

 9 a. m. Shake bees into swarm Ixjx. (About 5 minutes. ) 

 3 p.m. Insert royal jelly and transfer larvte to cell cups. (About 10-15 



minutes. ) 

 9 a. m. (next day). Shake out bees and place cells in colony to be completed. 

 (About 5 minutes.) 



While the construction of a special box and this manipulation may 

 seem like an undue amount of labor, the schedule shows that such is 

 not the case. In actual use in the apiary of the Department of Agri- 

 culture, it has been found not only to save time, l>ut to be more satis- 

 factory in every other way, particular!}^ in the larger number and 

 more uniform feeding of the cells accepted. 



The swarm box has been criticised in various quarters as being 

 opposed to the natural habits of the bees, and it is supposed that this 

 is a valid reason for condemning it. It is a popular fallacv among 

 some bee keepers that there must be absolutely no departure from the 

 natural instincts of the bees, and a new or strange idea is frequently 

 condemned on these false grounds. The same men will use movable 

 frame hives and queen mailing cages, and will remove honey from the 

 hives either by extracting or in the far more unnatural section. We 

 must, as pointed out previously, « know the habits of the bees; but 

 equally important in practical work is a knowledge of the amount of 

 flexibility in the instinct. In fact, modern apiculture has come to be 

 a study of the modification of conditions under which bees can thrive 

 to bring about the best results for the bee keeper. 



ALLEY SYSTEM OF CELL STARTING. 



There is another method of starting queen cells which gives very 

 good results. Mr. Henry Alley recommends that a strip of comb, 

 with young larvae from the breeding queen, be cut wide enough for 

 one row of complete cells to remain intact. The outer portions of the 

 cells on one side are cut away and every second larva is killed or 

 removed. This strip is then fastened to the bottom of a comb with 

 the open ends pointing downward, and the whole put in an}^ colony 

 used for cell building. The queen cells are built very regularlv and 

 a large proportion are accepted. In the apiary of the Bureau it has 

 been found easier. to use partly drawn out foundation in which are 

 young larvfe, as shown in figure 8, thus avoiding the cutting away of 



O'See "Natural queen rearing," p. 9. 



