49-: 



(".LEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



Aug. 1 



Two of Tlie A. L Hoot Company's Warehouses with a lloor space of TOUO square feet. 



See Special Notices. 



any exi^erience with American or European 

 foul brood agrees that the disease is distrib- 

 uted by germs in the honey or by the 

 combs. Many bee-keepers have rei)orted 

 buying honey on the open market and in- 

 fecting every colony in the yard. This is 

 certainly proof enough to show that danger 

 lurks in the honey. With the queenless 

 plan for treating this disease, is it possible 

 to expect a cure if there are ten or fifteen 

 pounds of infected honey in tlie hive? 



If a colony is dequeened during the hon- 

 ey-rtow, as soon as the young bees emerge 

 from the cells such cells will be at once fill- 

 ed with honey, and also those from which 

 the dead larvie were removed. This certain- 

 ly means that the honey will contain the 

 germs of the disease. 



Elmendorf, Texas. 



MATING QUEENS FROM UPPER STORIES. 



BY C. S. HARRIS. 



In the June loth issue, page ;>91, I note a 

 (juestion from Arthur M. Wheeler, .Ir., in 

 regard to replacing an old queen with a 

 young one mated from an upper story. Dr. 

 Miller replies, but is not sure of the result. 

 I can say that, unless it is a case where lo- 

 cality cuts a figure, it will work all right. 

 VoT twelve or fifteen years I have been rear- 

 ing queens in upper stories, in some degree, 

 although not i)articularly for the purpose 

 desired by Mr. Wheeler. I have always 

 found these queens accepted in any part of 

 the hive just as readily as the old queen; 

 and, still further, I find it is not even nec- 

 essary that they be reared in the up])erstory 

 of the hive, for I can take a queen from else- 

 where, introduce her in an upper story over 

 a single thickness of wire netting, within a 

 few days remo\e the netting, and as soon as 



the bees from below have freely intermin- 

 gled with those above the queen, if transfer- 

 red upon a frame of brood they can be safe- 

 ly placed below if the old cjueen is at the 

 same time removed. 1 have never tried 

 running the two queens together, being sat- 

 isfied that, in such a case, one or both would 

 be killed in the fight which would be sure 

 to ensue. 



I give the colony queen the range of two 

 ten-frame bodies, and over these I place 

 another full body with a queen-excluder 

 both above antl below it, the young queen 

 being reared in still another full body on top 

 of this. The flight-hole may be either at 

 the side or rear. 



Except when a queen is to be mated, I 

 raise this top super, or body, a bee-space at 

 the rear to allow air and lUght; but as my 

 supers used for this purpose have an exclud- 

 er attached to the bottom I find it necessary 

 to close this opening when a virgin is ready 

 to make her flight. With a loose excluder 

 the super might be raised a bee-space above 

 it, and no other entrance would be necessary. 



Under favorable conditions a queen can 

 be reared and mated from this upper story 

 without the use of any thing but the queen- 

 excluding metal between it and the lower 

 story; but I find one thickness of wire net- 

 ting in addition to the excluder is necessary 

 much of the time when a queen is to be 

 mated. As .soon as she is laying, this wire 

 netting may be removed. 



I have been rearing queens for a number 

 of years, and my cells are accepted and built 

 out in the top story of a hive having two 

 queens, one in the lower and one in the toj)- 

 most. In this way I secure extra strong 

 colonies, and always have V)rood when and 

 where I want it. This i)lan as I use it gives 

 me fine cells with less work than any meth- 

 od I have ever tried or seen used by others. 



Holly Hill, Fla. 



