1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1007 



SIMPLIFIED OUEEN-REARING. 



A Plan Adapted to the Needs of the Small 

 Bee-keeper. 



BY C. O. FLUHARTY. 



I have frequently been interrogated on the 

 subject of queen-rearing by bee-keepers owning 

 perhaps half a dozen hives and desiring to increase 

 the number of their Colonies without having them 

 swarm. 



In most cases I find that persons keeping bees 

 on a small scale do not care to undertake queen- 

 rearing by the seemingly complicated and tedious 

 methods employed by professional queen-breed- 

 €rs; therefore after trying a number of plans for 

 simplifying this, so as to make it quite easy for 

 even a beginner to understand and execute, I have 

 concluded that the following will be found the 

 most satisfactory method, having thoroughly 

 tested it this season. 



Top Bar 





FIG. \. 



First, as to apparatus: A frame of the standard 

 ■dimensions, with the exception that the bars and 

 ends be constructed of one width of material, say 

 one inch. To one side of this frame, firmly 

 fasten with tacks a sheet of wire cloth, tacking 

 it down all around so as to make it "bee-proof;" 

 next prepare another wire cloth in like manner for 

 the other side, but do not tack it on, as it is to 

 be held in place by lumps of beeswax at each cor- 

 ner and at intervals between the corners. Thus 

 we have constructed a huge nursery cage with 



FIG. 2. 



one side stationary and the other held in place by 

 the wax. Next, fasten a small column of bees- 

 wax inside the frame, one end of which attach to 

 the under side of the top-bar while the other end 

 is made fast to the bottom-bar. Fix the ends 



firmly to the bars by pressing the wax with the 

 thumbs. The cells are to be attached to this lit- 

 tle wax column. See Fig. L 



Next, mold with a blunt stick or leadpencil 

 eraser some tiny wax cups as seen in Fig. 2, and 

 fasten to the bottom-bar as indicated in No. 2, 

 Fig. 3. These are food-cups. Now roll a piece 



FIG. 3. 



of wax quite thin, and convert it into a number 

 of little cones, as B and D, Fig. 4. These are to 

 hold the queen-cells as well as to suspend them 

 from the wax column. See Figs. 1 and 3. We 

 now have all the necessary apparatus with the ex- 

 ception of a -x^ery sharp and narrow-bladed knife 

 for removing cells from frames. 



To proceed, first remove the queen from a 

 " boiling-over " hive that you wish to breed from 

 (always select your best stock for this), and place 

 the queen with two frames of her own bees in a 

 new hive, and set it some distance from the old 

 hive. This will, of course, give you a new hive. 



The work is now over for about six days, after 

 which, on opening the queenless hive, you will 

 in most cases find from one to twenty queen-cells, 

 large and well drawn out. Now carefully brush 

 the bees from the frame containing the most cells, 

 and, with the knife, cut out all of the finished 

 ones; that is, those that are entirely closed. 

 Next, without shaking the cells, remove as much 

 of the adhering worker-cells as you safely can 

 without breaking the walls of the queen-cell; 



FIG. 4. 



then insert the cell in the cone which was prepar- 

 ed for it; after this, cement the rim of the cone 

 down tight to the cell with the point of the knife. 

 Now fasten the end of the cone to the wax col- 

 umn, leaving the cell suspended in the same fash- 

 ion that the bees build them. After preparing 

 as many cells in this way as you will require 

 queens, place the frame back in the queenless 

 hive and leave one side of wire cloth off. After 

 the fr?me has been in the hive 24 hours the bees 

 will have cemented over every chink quite nicely, 

 they being much better architects than we are. 



It is now time to fill the food-cups with honey, 

 and, after making sure that no bees are among the 

 cells, wax the other wire cloth in place; you may 



