2l6 



THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



T) to a i^ by '/& piece (stem of T), 

 length of post to be a little greater than 

 height of hive, upper story and rim for 

 screen, will be dropped down into these 

 holes in such a manner that the stem of 

 the T (the %x>^ piece) will be between 

 the sides of the adjacent hives, and the 

 top of the T will catch over the ends of 

 the hives, i. e., the corners of two adja- 

 cent hives will fit snugly into the corners 

 of the T-shaped post. A light frame, 

 having holes to correspond with the tops 

 of these posts, will be placed on top of 

 the group of hives and drawn down tight 

 against the top of the screens by means 

 of wire loops with sticks. These groups, 

 or clamps, of hives will be placed on the 

 wagon-rack crosswise; which will make 

 the combs run lengthwise of the wagon. 

 This will permit a greater number of 

 hives on the rack one tier high. I would 

 not expect any damage to the combs by 

 being placed lengthwise on the wagon. 

 When placed in a car they will be right. 

 Peru, Ind., July 6, 1900. 



ETTING GOOD QUEEN 

 CELLS EVEN DURING A 

 DEARTH OF HONEY. BY 

 H. H. HYDE. 

 During the last few years queen rearing 

 has been my hobby, and one of the facts 

 on which I have studied and experi- 

 mented most is 

 the securing of 

 large, well - fed 

 cells; and I have 

 succeeded in 

 doing so even in 

 a dearth. T h e 

 m e t h o (1 I use 

 most, the one I 

 use when honey 

 is coming in, is 

 as follows: I 

 get a set of 

 combs of honey (no brood) and put them 

 in a hive-body. One of these combs, 

 which must be empty, I fill with water, 



and set next to the wall' I put this set 

 of combs over a bottom-board having an 

 entrance at least "s of an inch deep. 

 Over this entrance is put wire cloth or a 

 piece of tin filled full of nail holes. About 

 10 a. m. I go to a strong colony, find the 

 queen and set her comb by the side of the 

 hive. I then shake all the bees I can get, 

 and not depopulate the hive too much> 

 onto the frames of honey. An oilcloth 

 and cover is put on, and, if in hot weather, 

 a shade-board also. About 4 p. rn I graft 

 my cells, usually 36 of them, using drone 

 comb in preference to Doolittle cups. 

 These are given to the cell-builders which 

 will, with me, on an average, start 30 

 cells — often the entire lot. On the day I 

 graft the cells I go to two strong colonies, 

 place a queen excluder over each, and 

 put two frames of unsealed brood in the 

 top stories, so as to call up plenty of 

 nurse bees. The next day, or 24 hours 

 after the cells were started, I go and 

 gently lift the frames containing the 

 cells, allowing as many bees to adhere as 

 will, and place one in each hive, above 

 the excluder, and between the frames of 

 brood, to have the cells built out; the 

 cell-starters being returned to their own 

 hive. This has never failed to give me 

 fine cells when there was any honey com- 

 ing in. The cell-starters, after being left 

 for six hours queenless and broodless are 

 ready for work when cells are given. By 

 giving each cell a large suppl}' of roj'al 

 jelly, and starting them nicely, when 

 everything is exceptionally favorable, I 

 can use the Doolittle method strictly; but 

 unless everything is favorable, I get bet- 

 ter and larger cells by having them start- 

 ed by queenless bees. 



I have another method which I use 

 when there is a dearth, and it is almost 

 impossible to get cells by any other 

 method. lust before nightfall I go to a 

 strong colony, remove a frame of brood 

 with the queen and set it in an empty 

 nucleus; the other combs containing 

 brood are given to some other colonies to 

 care for. By morning, the bees, being 

 queenless and broodless, are ready for the 



