146 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



that every one of these coml)s should be 

 halved perpendicularly, and a top bar 

 nailed to the raw edge of each piece. The 

 same was accordingly done, as follows: 

 After forty two-story hives had been pre- 

 pared, made especially to hold these 

 square, half-size hanging frames cross- 

 wise, the bees were all shaken from the 

 combs of hive No. i, the combs carried 

 into the honey-house, each frame had its 

 projecting ends of the top-bar sawed off, 

 then laid flat on a bench, and, with a 

 board measure of proper size laid directly 

 on the comb, the saw was made to cut 

 square across the center, through wood, 

 comb, brood, honey and all. Top-bars 

 were then nailed on as before indicated, 

 all hung in the hives, which now held 13 

 of these frames in each story, and re- 

 turned to the bees. Each of the forty 

 colonies were thus treated, and at the 

 proper time these colonies w-ere made 

 into nuclei by taking two frames (one of 

 bees and brood and one of hone}^ and 

 bees) and placing the same in little hives 

 specially prepared for holding two of 

 these nuclei. Of course, there was some 

 destruction of brood, but with plenty of 

 honey, the loss was soon repaired, and 

 the bees adapted themselves to the change 

 immediately, as might have been ex- 

 pected, and now we have an ideal frame 

 for queen rearing. 



After a good many years' use of this 

 size of frame in full colonies, in connec- 

 tion with the standard frame. I find it 

 handles well for almost all purposes, as 

 well as filling the bill for making good 

 nucleus colonies with fewer bees than by 

 any other method or size of frame. .After 

 a thorough trial I was convinced that the 

 proper thing had been found. Hives 

 were made, swarms were hived, and 

 whole apiaries have been kept on this 

 size of frame made especially for queen 

 rearing. They can be used two, three, or 

 four stories high, when necessar}-, honey 

 extracted, and there is nothing nicer 

 than several hundred of these full combs 

 carried over, one for each nucleus the 

 following season. In this way I have 



formed twenty-four nucleus colonies from 

 one hive of bees in one season. 



One lesson learned, worth remember- 

 ing, is that no queen rearing frame, or 

 nucleus, or method, can be a success with- 

 out bees in full colonies on the same size 

 of frame as that used in the nucleus, pro- 

 vided they are to be used the entire 

 season for queen rearing. My nucleus 

 boxes have room for five frames each, and 

 I havcr known a two-frame nucleus to 

 build three additional combs, and store 

 enough honey for their winter's supply. 

 After the season for queen rearing is past, 

 the nuclei can be all united into full 

 colonies, and can be used again the fol- 

 lowing season. 



Round Rock, Texas, March 19, 1900. 



rn<^>s:^k^ 



OMMERCIAL OUEEN REAR- 

 ING IN ALL OF ITS DE- 

 TAILS. BY W. H. PRID- 



GEN. 



( The Prize Article. 1 



\'erv few queen breeders now allow the 



bees to construct their own queen-cells. 



The cells are dipped, and fastened in 



.some way to a stick 



^ -^ ^jj^l ^jjgjj supplied 



with just hatched 

 larvie. If only a 

 few cell cups are 

 needed they may 

 be dipped by using 

 ^.^^^^ a single dipping- 



^^^^Mr^^^^l a 



I^^^^HI^^^^^H slow work 



where there are 

 many cells to be dipped. The dipping- 

 stick .should be not larger than five-six- 

 teenths of an inch in diameter. The 

 tapering part should be five-sixteenths of 

 an inch long; reduced rapidly the first 

 one-eighth of an inch, and then gradually 

 reduced to the end. It should slip into a 

 worker cell one-eighth of an inch before 



