1875 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



minute, (you can bj' inserting a finger between 

 each two combs, raise four all at once just as 

 they hang in the hive) and with Italians, you 

 can scarcely fail of getting a good colony every 

 time, if the operation is performed in June. 

 Now, you may ask, if this is all, why in the 

 world are we given such long treatises on the 

 subject? Well, simply because the above plan 

 is in some respects a wasteful one. We did 

 not tell you to look for the Queen, for she must 

 be in one of the two hives, (queer isn't it ?) and 

 they would get along either way, providing 

 always that you have a hive of bees to start 

 with, that will cover 8 or 10 combs. We hard- 

 ly need tell any of j'ou, that it would be less 

 wasteful, to allow the Queen to remain on the 

 old stand, for they will get nearly all the flying 

 bees, while the new colony will have no bees 

 able to gather pollen etc., for nearly a week; 

 meanwhile, they must get along as best they 

 can in starting Queen cells, and taking care of 

 the brood, with what pollen happens to be 

 stored in their four combs. In fact they have 

 little use for a Queen if they had one for as 

 much as 5 or days, and if you have by acci- 

 dent taken combs, all of which contain eggs 

 and brood, they Avill very likely be unable to 

 nurse them all, and as a result, the brood in 

 the outside combs, and near the outside of the 

 central ones will much of it perish. This diffi- 

 culty is increased, on account of many of the 

 bees going home. Now various processes, have 

 been given, principally with a view of prevent- 

 ing this loss of brood ; as in all operations, we 

 should avoid killing a single bee, we should 

 also avoid wasting a single egg or larva. If 

 we should shake all the bees off rhe combs into 

 the new hive, there would be too few to care 

 for brood and eggs in the old hive, so it seems 

 that we should avoid both extremes, and as it 

 will require more bees to protect a given 

 amount of brood when placed in two hives, 

 than are requii'ed in one, if we are going 1o 

 have no loss, we must go somewhere else for 

 some bees. Hence our advice to make two or 

 more hives, contribute to our artificial colony. 

 Again if we take four combs out of a hive, 

 what is to fill this vacancy? Our opinion is, 

 that before attempting to increase your colo- 

 nies you should have a supply of empty combs 

 to be used in such emergencies. If you have 

 none, you will have to sel; the old stock build- 

 ing some, at once, and have the young one help 

 just as soon as their Queen begins to lay. And 

 now comes in the Queen rearing business. 

 This new colony may build a dozen Queen 

 colls, and good Queen cells in June, we can 

 hardly afford to waste ; and now as you know 

 l>retty nearly what we want to do we think we 

 can safely advise as follows: 



Provide yourself with a nice clean frame of 

 worker comb and put it in the middle of the 

 colony containing your best Queen, imported 

 if you can get one. Leave it there until the 

 eggs in it have just begun to hatch ; these are 

 to provide us with uood Queen cells. Lift the 

 comb out gentl}^ bees and all, (l)e sure not to 

 get the Queen) and set it in a new hive, now go 

 to your strongest stocks and gather up bees 

 enough to build a nice lot of Queen cells. As 

 we believe in doing every thing quietly, we 

 will get them by taking one or two combs 

 from a .^tock, bees and all, but carefully avoid 



getting any comb containing any eggs or brood, 

 or we might have an opi)osition lot of Queen 

 cells. About 4 combs, if they are well covered 

 with young bees will do. 



In getting these combs, if j'ou are using 

 frames that have to be pried loose, you may 

 frighten the bees so that they will leave the 

 combs you wish to take ; in that case set it 

 back in the centre of the hive a few momenta. 

 About five combs covered with bees mostly 

 young, will make a good colony for rearing 

 Queen cells. If you want as many cells as yo'i 

 can get, cut long strips horizontally out of 

 this comb containing the choice larva-, and in- 

 sert them in the combs next it so as to be all 

 oil a level as nearly as may be, with an open 

 space beneath each of the strips of larv;e. 

 Now you should on an average get 20 Queen 

 cells, from a colony prepared in this Avay in 

 the month of June, and we cannot afford after 

 we have gone thus far, to have any of these 

 cells torn down. Aside from the loss of the 

 cells, we are losing the time of the colonies. 

 Our plan for preventing the los.s of cells we 

 have given before, but it will bear repeating. 

 If your larvaj were very small, as we directed, 

 none of these cells will hatch under 12 days, 

 but about the tenth day, you are to count them, 

 and then go to strong colonies, and get as 

 many combs of brood having young bees just 

 hatching out, as you have Queen cells. Into 

 each one of these combs, insert a Queen cell 

 and put them all in the hive where the cells 

 were built. The bees that built the cells, of 

 course will not tear them down, and by the 

 twelfth day you will find all of them sound 

 and secure, even if you have not inserted them 

 all skilfully. If you found 20 cells, you must 

 of course have a 20 comb hive ; the Standard 

 answers this purpose excellently, but we pre- 

 sume a double story hive will do about as well 

 in very warm weather. If you took combs 

 containing hatching bees for all these cells, you 

 will have a rousing colony of young bees on 

 the twelfth day, and you can now make colo- 

 nies in short metre. Simply put one of the 

 combs containing a cell, bees and all, into your 

 new hive, and reinforce them with about two 

 more combs of brood with all adhering bees, 

 taken from any hive in the Apiary and the 

 work is done. The bees on their own comb 

 with their own cell will protect it, and the 

 others being strangers in a strange house will 

 soon join in. Colonies made in this way the 

 last of June, last season, were strong enough 

 before winter to assist in building up other 

 stocks, and are now among our very best ; all 

 made from only three combs each of brood and 

 bees. There is (juite a saving in using a Lamp 

 Nursery when we have a large number of cells, 

 but we will speak of this next month. 



If you have a Queenless colony, you can give 

 them one of these frames containing a Queen 

 cell, bees and all, and your Queen is introduced 

 witliout trouble. We have never known such 

 a cell destroyed. In making (■()lonies later in 

 the season, you will need to take more brood 

 and V)ees ; in fiict yon can make a large colony 

 at once if you choose by taking say (me comb 

 each from 10 hives. Also, if the new colony 

 has to build lis own combs, thev should 

 have more bees and brood given them. Make 

 all colonies help in comb building. 



