12 Farmers’ Bulletin 1216. 
reputable queen-breeders who have been engaged in breeding queens 
for sufficient time to establish their reliability and ability to breed 
good stock. The names of breeders may be obtained from .advertise- 
ments in the bee-journals. From queens thus purchased there may 
be chosen the one or ones suitable for breeding purposes, and the 
beekeeper should then plan to raise his own queens from this stock. 
The time and methods of queen-rearing will be discussed on later 
pages. 
ADAPTATIONS OF BEEKEEPING PRACTICE FOR THIS 
REGION. 
To obtain a crop of honey from buckwheat and at the same time 
have the colonies in such shape that they can overcome European 
foulbrood during the period of its prevalence in the spring and early 
summer, it is of the highest importance that the beekeeper begin the. 
work of preparation early. It will not do to wait until the buck- 
wheat is in bloom and then make the most of what the bees are able 
to do. This always results in a reduction of the crop, sometimes to 
the point where no surplus honey is obtained. The beekeeper of this 
region is extremely fortunate in that the late honey-flow practically 
insures sufficient brood-rearing to make a winter colony. 
OUTLINE OF THE ANNUAL CYCLE FOR THIS REGION. 
To have a good colony of bees at the beginning of the active 
season it is necessary that the beekeeper begin his preparation about 
August 15 of the previous year. This is during the period of nectar 
secretion from buckwheat, and he will still have honey to remove 
from the hives, but from this time on he should have constantly in 
mind the prosperity of the colony for the coming winter period. 
giving them during the ensuing six or eight weeks conditions favor- 
able for the rearing of brood for the winter colony. During the 
winter he should in every way conserve the energy of the bees so 
that they will not begin brood-rearing too early and so that they 
may also be able to do the work of brood-rearing to the fullest 
extent in the spring. During the spring they must be provided with 
abundant stores or brood-rearing will be curtailed at this critical 
time. These things will bring the colonies to full or approximately 
full strength at the time when alsike clover comes into bloom, en- 
abling the beekeeper to get the available crop from this source, which 
has been somewhat neglected in this region. The plan from the be- 
ginning of the alsike clover bloom until the beginning of the buck- 
wheat bloom will depend on whether the beekeeper desires to make 
increase in the number of his colonies before the buckwheat honey- 
flow. His decision in this matter will be determined by the import- 
ance of clover as a source of honey. 
