371 



American Hee JonrnalJ 



vided for the demonstrator, in order 

 that he might show what could be 

 done. 



The interest of the spectators was 

 plainly evident, and to the uninitiated 

 it seemed miraculous that a man could 

 handle so many thousands of bees and 

 not get stung. Many of the people 

 wanted to know how they were tamed, 

 or how the stings were taken away 

 from the bees; another would ask 

 what we put on our arms, etc. 



Sensational methods were discarded, 

 such as appearing half-naked; our aim 

 was to show people that any one with 

 a sufficient interest and courage can 

 handle bees without getting too badly 

 stung. Interesting points of the life 

 of the bee and work of the bees were 

 explained, and their usefulness demon- 

 strated. 



At every demonstration we drew a 

 crowd of from 50 to 100 people, and 

 many enquiries were made as to keep- 

 ing bees both as a hobby and as a 

 business. 



Guelph, Ont. 



— ^^^-♦^^^^ 



Queen-Rearing Pointers 



BY FR.\NK F. FR.\NCE. 



Is not the subject of bee-keeping like 

 a game of checkers ? Are there not 

 certain moves to make to get to the 

 king row ? I would say yes in both 

 cases. The first and best move to 

 make is to provide each colony with a 

 good, young, laying queen. A queen 

 that does good work is one that pro- 

 duces a hive full of bees that zcoi-k. I 

 once had a queen, and one of a high 

 type of breeding, that produced a 

 strong colony, but her bees did not 

 secure more than enough honey — the 

 whole summer long — to live on, while 

 colonies all around her filled three and 

 four supers. Such a queen should be 

 killed at once, even though she ap- 

 peared good. 



There is a great study before us 

 when we work out and compare the 

 lives of different queens. There is as 

 much difference in -the personality of 

 bees as there is in people. It is won- 

 derful to watch half a dozen colonies 

 and observe their differences and like- 

 nesses. 



One of the most important features 

 is to have your queens as nearly alike as 

 possible, both as to breed and age by 

 securing them from some reliable 

 breeder. Breeding queens should be 

 changed every year to secure the best 

 results. 



I have been asked by many bee-keep- 

 ers to explain some of the methods I 

 use in queen-rearing ; also to explain 

 how I use a little device to do away 

 with a large share of queen book- 

 keeping. This device, as pictured 

 here, is the invention of Mr. H. Per- 

 kins, of Artesia, Calif., and is the best 

 device I have yet seen to do the work 

 required. 



To begin with, I secure good breed- 

 ing queens from excellent stock, and if 

 they come up to my standard as 

 good layers, with well-marked bees 

 that ziork, such are used for breeders. 

 By importing new stock and changing 

 breeders every year, and also testing 

 them for honey gathering, I have stock 

 that is worth while. 



As the temperature here in the North 

 is generally cold, I do not begin my 

 cell building until the latter part of 

 May or the first of June, when drones 

 are plenty and there is little dandelion 

 honey coming in. From this time on 

 until the middle of August I put out 

 cells on the average every other day, 

 but in the height of the flow I put out 

 cells every day. 



To produce the best, long-lived 

 queens that bring results, larva; not 

 more than 24 hours old must be used 



division-boards and a super, thus mak- 

 ing four (two-full-Langstroth) frame 

 nuclei, each division having a separate 

 entrance and cover. The entrances 

 are so arranged as to have one on 

 each side and end. Over all is placed 

 a full cover. Figure No. 1 will illus- 

 trate this point more fully. 



As the season advances and the 

 weather becomes warm and settled, I 

 use a twin nucleus hive. This hive is 

 made on ih^ same principle as the 

 Root twin hive, only the frames are 



KiG. I.— Regti-ak Super Arranged to Make Fotr Two-Frame Ntclei. 



for starting cells. All cells are raised 

 in full colonies under the swarming 

 or supersedure impulse. These cell- 

 builders are made extra strong with 

 brood from other colonies, so that 

 there is an over supply of nurse-bees 

 that will thus provide the proper 

 amount of royal jelly for each cell. All 

 colonies and nuclei are fed to imitate 

 a good honey-flow (if there be none) ; 



made one-half a standard frame instead 

 of one-third. I have a great many 

 more bees to keep the brood warm, a 

 larger space for the queen to lay in, 

 and I have less swarming. The divis- 

 ion-board is made of plate tin with an 

 oilcloth fastened to the top to overlap 

 each side. Over all is placed a tele- 

 scope cover. 



Fig. 4, next page, will show how the 



Fig. 2.— View Showing Side of Frames. 



about half a quart of feed in the eve- 

 ning of each day. The best results 

 cannot be expected unless this is done. 

 The subject of the proper sized nu- 

 cleus here in the North is of greatlim- 

 portance. During the earliest and 

 latest periods of the year I use a com- 

 mon lO-frame super with three tight 



frames fit in a standard frame, and can 

 be used as such if need be, also for the 

 purpose of drawing out e.xtra comb for 

 more nuclei. 



One of the most important features 

 of queen-rearing is the book-keeping, 

 especially if a record is kept of each 

 individual nucleus. The little device 



