THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



219 



feediiior the larv;^ and completinj^ the 

 cells; and last the queen approves it, and, 

 so, does not destroy them. 



To get cells built in colonies other than 

 those naturally preparing to supersede, 

 or swarm, we create the impulse in the 

 bees to supersede by placing a comb con- 

 taining only eggs and just hatched larvae 

 between combs of hatching brood (which 

 is the most natural place to expect a 

 queen to lay) in the second story over a 

 zinc where the queen can not get to it. 

 The bees, not realizing that it is the zinc 

 that prevents the queen from coming 

 up there to lay, very naturally suspect 

 that their queen is failing, and prepare 

 the cups for her to lay iu, which she 

 always does do in case of natural super- 

 seding. But the queen is 7iot failing and 

 zuould not lay in the cups if she could get 

 to them; so we perform the qiieen's part 

 by budding some cell-cups with ^-oimg 

 larvLc, and place them between the combs 

 of hatching brood, when the bees will 

 complete their part by feeding the larvte 

 and completing the cells; and the queen 

 (with an excluder between her and the 

 cells) doesn't do a thing but approve it. 

 But I hear considerable complaint that 

 the bees will accept only a few cells over 

 a laying queen and a zinc. Yes, and two 

 j'ears ago I visited a young, vigorous, en- 

 thusiastic bee-keeper, who numbered his 

 colonies by the hundred, and who had 

 recently concluded to become a modern 

 queen breeder, and I had been there but 

 a short time when he said: "Jones, I 

 want you to look at these four colonies 

 and tell me what is the matter. I've been 

 trying to get some cells built in upper 

 stories, but they won't do a thing for 

 me." He had already told me that they 

 had got no honey for about a month. 

 'Have you teen feeding them any? " 

 "No." "Well, I don't have to look at 

 them to tell one thing that is the matter. " 

 But I looked at them, and found only a 

 fair force of bees with but very little 

 brood; they were on the decline, both 

 numerically and in stores. Would any 

 experienced queen breeder expect such 



colonies to start cell.s? I think not. But 

 I return to those who get a few cells ac- 

 cepted but not as many as they think 

 there should be. Examine your colonies 

 and see if you, too, are not expecting 

 something unreasonable. If considera- 

 ble honey is coming in, and your colonies 

 are properly prepared, they will accept 

 some cells, but the number will be in pro- 

 portion to the number of nurse bees and 

 the amount of brood to be fed. See to it 

 that your cell-building colonies have a 

 strong force of just hatched and hatching 

 bees, and a small amount of unsealed 

 brood at the time you give them the 

 grafted cups, and your experience will be 

 different from mine if you do not get a 

 good catch. With a strong colony of 

 Holy-Land bees I have taken sixty -three 

 perfect cells from one setting of sixty-five 

 cups; but I can not do that well with any 

 other race. 



The idea seems to be prevalent among 

 some of our queen-breeders that the un- 

 sealed brood on either side of the cell 

 cups is necessary to draw (?) the nurse 

 bees. Mr. Pridgen once said something 

 about cows and milk. Well, if I wanted 

 lots of milk I would want lots of cows, 

 but I would expect to get more milk if 

 their calves were weaned than I would if 

 the calves run at liberty with the cows. 

 You catch? A little young brood and 

 eggs between combs of hatching bees is 

 very essential, because it is in just these 

 comVjs where the bees expect the queen 

 to lay; and the fact that she does not 

 causes them to think she is failing, and 

 the cell-cups with young larvee in them 

 are essential, too, because they are the 

 next thing that you will find in a colony 

 when its queen is failing. 



You can also bring about the impulse 

 to supersede, and get cells built in single- 

 story colonies, by using a zinc queen-ex- 

 cluding division-board; using one side as 

 a brood-chamber with the queen in it, 

 and the other side the same as a second 

 story to get the cells built in. 



Shall we prime the cups with royal 

 jelly before furnishing them with larvae? 



