48 



GLExVNINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



with an exhibit that will show to the world 

 that we are able to grasp an oi^portunity 

 presented at our door. Every beekeeper 

 in California could set aside at least one 

 case of honey or the proceeds from a case 

 to help with the exhibit. We also must 

 have the finest of comb honey in liberal 

 quantities. Begin your plans now for help- 

 ing to make it a grand success, for it will 

 be a monument not only to our industry 

 but to the State as well. 



During convention time I busied myself 

 talking with members regarding the flora 

 of various parts of the State, and the qual- 

 ity of honey produced from diffeient flow- 

 ers. I was especially anxious to learn, if 

 possible, whether alfalfa produced different 

 colors of honey in different regions, or 

 whether the difference in color is due to the 

 mixing of darker grades with the alfalfa. 

 I have always doubted the claim of some 

 that it produced different colors in different 

 soils. The opinions of those I questioned 

 were about evenly divided, but several to 

 whom I spoke wei"e emphatic in saying that 

 it is other darker grades mixed in the al- 

 falfa that give it the darker color, so until 

 I have stronger evidence on the question I 

 will remain of the oiDinion that it is no more 

 inclined to do so than is the button sage, 

 the orange, carpet grass, or any other of 

 our forage plants. 



A NEW PLAN FOR REQUEENING 



Allowing Oueenless Bees from a Strong Colony to 



Unite Slowly with a Nucleus Containing 



the Young Queen 



BY A. V. SMALL 



It is often desirable to requeen a good 

 many colonies late in August or early in 

 ■September — first, because the ajDiarist has 

 "more time to give to queen-rearing at that 

 season ; and, second, because the Augiist- 

 reared queens usually jirove vigorous lay- 

 ers the following year. But at such a time 

 as this, when the best of the smartweed is 

 iione, and there is a hint of fall in the air, 

 the bees sometimes refuse to accejit a queen 

 Introduced by the ordinary cage plan; also 

 some colonies are very irritable when tlie 

 late honey-flow tapers off; and to hunt for 

 queens when bees are cross is a disagTeeable 



The following plan is original with me; 

 ard while I have ised it only one season 

 the results have been vei'y satisfactory: My 

 queers aie mated in nuclei of from two to 

 five full-depth frames. After the young 



(jueen has begun to lay, and some of the 

 larvse have hatched, I lift out one or more 

 of the frames with brood, adhering bees, 

 and the (|ueen, and place them in a hive- 

 body on the stand of the hive I want to re- 

 queen, putting over it a screen with a spool 

 l)luggecl with queen-cage candy tacked to 

 the under side of the center of the screen, 

 Avliere there is a hole t:he same size as the 

 liole in the spool. ■ On this I put an empty 

 brood-chamber with a feedei' of thin syrup. 

 This I cover with a bee-escape board, and 

 finally I set on the full colony that is to be 

 vequeened. Tliis is done in the evening 

 after the l)ees have stopped flying. 



The next morning, when the bees of the 

 full colony i^ass down through the bee- 

 escape, they find themselves with a feeder 

 of thin syrup in the empty hive-body, sep- 

 arated from the full colony and old queen 

 by the escape-board above, and from the 

 nucleus below, containing the brood and 

 young laying queen, by the screen Avire with 

 the candy spool. In this queenless, brood- 

 less, combless condition they realize that 

 there is something wrong. They have lost 

 tlieir old home and their old queen. By the 

 lime they have eaten their Avay through the 

 candy spool they are fairly crying for a 

 new queen, and are more than willing to 

 unite with the nucleus. The strong point 

 in this i)lan is that the bees are made to 

 feel the desire for and the need of a queen; 

 also notice that this large force of bees 

 from the old colony is composed of the 

 strangers, and that the little nucleus force 

 is at home in the sense of possession. 



In a day or two the old colony on top 

 will have only a few bees, and the old queen 

 can be found easily, and removed, after 

 which the combs and what bees are on them 

 may be put in the lower hive, the two 

 empty hive-bodies removed, and the work 

 is done. One colony that was requeened 

 by this plan had been queenless for nearly 

 three weeks. No fertile workers, however, 

 had appeared. I should like very much to 

 try this on a colony that did have laying 

 workers. 



At a time when there is no honey to 

 gather, and the bees are loafing instead of 

 going to the field, they are slow to pass 

 through the escape. At such times they can 

 usually be induced to pass the bee-escape, 

 in an attempt to go to the field, by placing 

 a small feeder of thin syrup in an empty 

 super above the full colony. 



From my experience last fall, this plan 

 will work up to the time it is too cold for 

 the bees to pass readily through the bee- 

 escape. 



North Topeka, Kans. 



