1%S 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



693 



QUEEN-REARING FOR WOMEN. 



Many Queens Lost at the Second Introduc- 

 tion in Baby Nuclei. 



BY MRS. J. \V. BACON. 



I have been rearing queens for the last ten years, 

 at first for my own use and then selling a few. 

 .About three years ago I sent for the book 

 "Modern Queen-rearing," and a queen-rearing 

 outfit, and have raised and sold some very nice 

 queens. The small nuclei boxes that are seen on 

 the fences are home-made, each holding two 

 Danzenbaker sections fastened to the cover. We 

 always have some partly filled sections that we 

 can use in this way. This saves the time, trou- 

 ble, and expense of having the small frames filled 

 by the bees. It does not pay to try to start these 

 small boxes too early or before there is a honey- 

 flaw; and a good teacupful of bees should be 

 used in each one. I have some of these boxes 

 hung in a hedge. Of the first lot of queens 

 introduced I lose very few. It is not so easy to 

 introduce the second queen. 



The plan of caging a virgin queen for a few 

 d.iys in the nuchus before taking the laying queen 

 away is but a beautiful romance. How I do 

 wish it would work! but I find her dead nine 

 times out of ten. I have the best luck with the 

 ripe cells put in a few hours after taking the lay- 

 ing queen away; but I use what I have at the 

 time. If I have virgin queens in the nursery 

 cages I put them in just at night of the day I take 

 the queen away. 



However, I introduce the second queen to these 

 little boxes; and when I take these out I let these 

 boxes go for the season, as they will all be robbed 

 out as soon as the honey-flow ceases. I 

 have always lost about half of this second lot. 

 They may be too near the old hives; but it is a 



very handy place to have them. We have a 

 number of dovetailed hive-bodies with a division- 

 board in the center, and an opening at the back 

 of one side. This makes two three-frame nuclei. 

 I hardly ever lose a queen from these. They 

 are the best for early and late queens. 



I hear some one ask if it pays. If you count 

 the satisfaction of being master of the situation, 

 the benefit of outdoor exercise, and if you love 

 to work with your bees, it pays well; but if you 

 are looking only for the dollars and cents you 

 had better let some one else raise the queens, and 

 run your bees for honey. 



Waterloo, N. Y. ' 



EXTRACTED-HONEY PRODUCTION. 



Getting the Honey off the Hives; the Lo- 

 cality and Method Whereby Large Quan- 

 tities of a Superior Article May be Se- 

 cured in a Leisurely Fashion at a Low 

 Cost. 



BY W. Z. HUTCHINSON. 

 Continued from last issue, 



I have already mentioned the use of escapes in 

 the removal of the honey; but when ten-frame 

 Langstroth hives are piled up four and five high, 

 the putting-in of the escape-boards is no light 

 task, especially for one man; and I have tried to 

 plan all of my work so that one man can go to 

 an outyard, all alone, go on a wheel or in a trol- 

 ley car, or in some such manner, and go on and 

 do the work to advantage without any assistance. 

 I would have a honey-house and full complement 

 of tools and appliances at each yard; then, during 

 the working season, all that has to be carried 

 from one yard to another is simply the man him- 

 self. But, to return to the insertion of the es- 



MRS. J. W. bacon's queen-rearing yard, WATERLOO, N. Y. 



