1908 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



1135 



THE PLURAL-OUEEN SYSTEM. 



Is it Profitable for Bee-keepers to Practice 

 it? 



BY E. W. ALEXANDER. 



[The following article was written last March; but as we had 

 already decided to suspend further discussion on the plural-queen 

 subject for ihe lime bei"g, or until the following fall, we have 

 held it until now. It is not our purpose to reopen the discussion 

 if it is not desirable; but as Mr. .Alexander will probably never 

 b<» jble to write another article, on account of his health, we are 

 placing this b"fore uur readers at this time. We suggest that it 

 be given a careful and unprejudiced reading by those who may 

 be opposed to the practice. Observe he does not urge it for all 

 seasons and all conditions. — Ed.] 



It is now about 18 months since this new meth- 

 od of bee-iceeping dropped into our camp lilce a 

 bombshell. Duiing this time I have had but 

 little to say as to its merits or demerits. Some 

 endorsed it at once as another forward step, while 

 others \Tere ready to condemn it from the first. 

 It IS now of a proper age to bear some fruits 

 whereby it will be known. It is only natural 

 that I should be anxious to hear from others in 

 regard to the results derived from this system. 

 Like many other improvements it has come to 

 stay, and will be adopted in some ways by intelli- 

 gent bee-keepeis as long as bees are kept by man. 



In making our increase it has, in connection 

 with the nuclei system, enabled us to make more 

 increase with less expense and trouble than has 

 ever been made before. In forming nuclei here- 

 tofore, we have taken two or three frames of 

 brood and honey with adhering bees, and, after 

 puttinj them into an empty hive, set them otf to 

 one side, shut the bees up two or three days, and 

 then given ttiem a queen-cell, a virgin queen, or a 

 la) ing one, and left them to build up into a col- 

 ony of proper weight and strength for winter, not 

 expecting and seldom securing any surplus from 

 them. 



But how different now! All that is necessary 

 is to torm our nucleus over a queen-excluder on 

 any colony of medium strength, and the next day 

 introduce a laying queen to the nucleus; then in 

 about 25 days the hives can be separated. Each 

 hive will be full of bees and maturing brood; then 

 move the lower hive a little to one side, and set 

 the upper hive alongside so about an equal num- 

 ber of the working force will enter each hive. 



Here you now have two good strong colonies 

 in the place of one. Each has its laying queen, 

 its hive filled with brood, and a good working 

 force of bees. There has been no chilled or starv- 

 ed biood. 



Thi«, you will find, is the surest and best 

 method that has ever been practiced in order to 

 make a large increase in time for our early har- 

 vest. This one advantage of itself, which is easi- 

 ly secured by a plurality of queens in a colony 

 is worth hundreds of colonies and tons of honey 

 to the extensive honey-producer. 



I am sorry to see men ot experience in our 

 business condemn new methods before they have 

 given them due consideration. There are certain 

 seasons of the year and certain conditions a colo- 

 ny can be in when a plurality of queens is of no 

 paiticular btnefit; but because this is so, it is no 

 proof but that at other seasons, and under other 

 conditions, a plurality of queens in a colony is a 

 great help. There seems to be a tendency on the 



part of some bee-keepers to belittle this idea, and 

 make it appear of little value. This we must ex- 

 pect. It has always been so — one class trying to 

 pull down every thing of an advanced nature, 

 while others are trying to build up. This whole 

 question, like many others connected with our 

 business, must turn entirely on this one point — 

 does it pay.? If it pays to check the desire to 

 swarm in very strong colonies, then on that point 

 it does pay. If it is to our advantage to have un- 

 usually strong colonies just before our main har- 

 vest for surplus, then it pays on that point. If 

 there is any gain in superseding our undesirable 

 queens without an hour of lost time in egg-lay- 

 ing, then on that point it pays. If it pays to 

 have strong full colonies to put away into their 

 winter quarters, then it pays to have a plurality 

 of queens in your hives during the latter part of 

 brood-rearing. If it is worth any thing to have 

 a surplus of layingqueens four months of the sea- 

 son, so if one is accidentally killed, or you find a 

 queenless colony, you have a plenty to take her 

 place, then it pays to have a plurality of queens 

 in some of your colonies. If it pays to rear your 

 queens instead of buying them, then certainly it 

 pays to rear several in one colony instead ot only 

 one. If it pays to double the number of our col- 

 onies before our early harvest, and have each one 

 full and as strong in working force as one-half the 

 number would have been had we not practiced 

 this new system, then surely on that point it pays. 



Yes, my friends, this idea has come to stay; 

 and as the years go by there will be many advan- 

 tages derived from it that we little dream of now. 

 I think this new departure from the old rut of 

 the past has already borne some very good fruit 

 considering its age, and the fact that it was an 

 unwelcome visitor from the first with some. I 

 hope that many of our most experienced honey- 

 producers will give this subject a fair trial the 

 coming season, and then when we have heard 

 their verdict we will let this subject rest. 



Delanson, N. Y. 



GETTING RID OF OLD BEES FOR 

 WINTER. 



BY F. H. CYRENIUS. 



For a number of years I have wintered only 

 young bees in many hives, with satisfying re- 

 sults. The plan is, to move the hive to a new 

 stand at the close of the honey harvest in the 

 fall, which with me is about Sept. 20. 



The first experiment, more than ten years ago, 

 was made by removing one of two hives, stand- 

 ing side by side, to a new place in the bee-yard. 

 The remaining hive received all the old bees 

 from the hive removed. In January I made an 

 examination and found 22 dead bees on the bot- 

 tom-board of the removed hive, and about a 

 quart on the bottom-board of the hive that gave 

 shelter to the old bees of both hives. 



I have tried the experiment many times with 

 about the same results. I reason this way — 

 that those old bees are needed no longer, and 

 are only a detriment. They can be of no use 

 until next spring, and they are all dead before 

 that time. The time we want bees is about two 

 weeks after they begin to breed up in the spring; 



