392 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15. 



Now, to bring this matter to a close, I will 

 say that I have had a number of letters this 

 spring, stating that the most of theii' Italians 

 were dead, and that the few Carniolans they 

 had were in fine condition. Now, what sug- 

 gestion does this give to the "average bee- 

 keeper"? Would he be better off with Italians? 

 Now, I wish to say here (and if the editors 

 think it is too much of an advertisement I will 

 pay for the space), I can get double the ex- 

 tracted honey with the Carniolans that I can 

 with the Italians; and I took a twelve-year 

 course with the Italians years ago; and, so 

 far as I can see, my bees now are in a fine con- 

 dition, and all of them too. 



John Andrews. 



Patten's Mills, N. Y., Apr. 5. 



REARING CHOICE ftUEENS. 



AN EASY AND SIMPLE WAY; WHEN AND HOW 



TO DO IT BY THE USE OF QUEEN -CELL PRO- 



TECTORS. 



When the swarming season arrives, hive a 

 few of the first swarms, and put them on their 

 original stands. Give them sections; and from 

 these young swarms, which will contain all the 

 field-workers, get all the honey possible. But 

 the hives that have cast these swarms, which 

 will contain only the young bees, the brood, and 

 all the queen-cells, move to new 

 stands; let them remain with- 

 out further attention for five, 

 six, or seven days (not long 

 enough for one queen-cell to 

 hatch, lest all the other cells be 

 destroyed), and then open each 

 hive; sort out and carefully 

 trim, and put in cell protectors 

 all Its queen-cells. Attach the 

 cages (see cut), and hang them 

 all back in the hive on the side 

 of one of the center combs. I 

 generally leave out one of the 

 combs, unless a follower is used, 

 when I thus put the cages in a 

 hive; but as the cages are in the 

 space between the combs, it is 

 not strictly necessary. After all 

 this has been done, close up the 

 hive and wait until the time for 

 all the cells to be hatched, and 

 then open the hive again; and, 

 if you find six or eight fine 

 young queens in the cages, 

 break up the colony and make 

 as many nuclei from it as you 

 have young queens. Put one 

 of the young queens into each 

 nucleus, and leave her there 

 until she lays: then do with her 

 what you please. The way to 

 make the nuclei is to put one 

 comb of these young adhering 

 bees and an empty comb at the f^yggT's queen 

 side of it in an empty hive, and 

 leave the entrance to the nucle- 

 us hive closed 24 hours; then open the same, 

 and, as all the inclosed bees are young, they 

 will stay, and all will be well. There is con- 

 siderable gained in using young bees to raise 

 queens, as the young bees will stay in a nucleus 

 better than old bees, and you can raise so many 

 yonng queens, and get them laying before the 

 young bees become field-workers. 



Queen-cells for a queen-nursery should be 

 taken from the best strains of bees; and if you 

 desire increase by natural swarming, destroy 

 the cells in inferior-blooded colonies that have 

 cast swarms, and give them a select young queen 



from one of the before-mentioned nuclei. You 

 can introduce the queen from the nucleus with 

 the nucleus bees if you wish to, by taking out a 

 frame from the hive in which you wish to intro- 

 duce the queen, and then taking the frame, con- 

 taining the queen and bees, from the nucleus 

 hive, and putting it in tlip place of the remov- 

 ed frame in the queenless colony. 



To introduce in this way, care must be used 

 not to frighten or get the queen to running; 

 then the queen will generally be received. 



I hatch a great many queens in the aforesaid 

 way, with great satisfaction, and always keep 

 through the swarming season a goodly number 

 of choice young queens in nurseries and nuclei 

 in each of my six bee-yards. 



By removing the queen from any colony you 

 can hang in as many caged cells as you please, 

 and the bees will care for the queens when they 

 hatch; and you may keep the same colony 

 raising young queens, using the queens wher- 

 ever you need them. You can also hatch young 

 queens in a colony that has a queen of its own; 

 but the bees will not nurse the new mothei'S 

 after they hatch; but, on the contrary, if they 

 could they would kill them; and queens allow- 

 ed to remain in such a colony a day or two aft- 

 er hatching are not as good as queens allowed 

 to remain after hatching in a queenless colony. 



Before I forget it I will tell you that, when I 

 introduce queens in the spiral wire cage, I crowd 

 two or three penny-shaped peppermint candies 



cell PROTECTORS AND CAGES. SHOWING HOW 

 ATTACHED TO THE COMB. 



(I buy them for this use) in between the coils on 

 the upper end of the cage for a stopper, and the 

 bees will eat out these candies and liberate the 

 queen. 



Much more might be said about introducing 

 queens, but I will leave that now and tell you 

 something about introducing queen-cells. 



If an increase in colonies is not desired, in the 

 swarming season, when good queen-cells are 

 plentiful, cut out such cells as yon want to save, 

 and put them in queen-cell protectors (great 

 care must be taken in handling cells or they will 

 not hatch). Now, suppose you have eight cells. 



