OR, MANUAl* OF THB APIARY. 273 



CHAPTER IX. 



QUEEN-REARING. 



Suppose the queen is laying two thousand eggs a day, and 

 that the full number of bees is forty thousand, or even more— 

 though as the bees are liable to so many accidents, and as the 

 queen does not always lay to her full capacity, it is quite 

 probable -that this is about an average number — it will be seen 

 that each day that a colony is without a queen there is a loss 

 equal to about one-twentieth of the working force of the colony, 

 and this a compound loss, as the aggregate loss of any day is 

 its special loss augmented by the several losses of the previous 

 days. Now, as queens are liable to die or to become impotent, 

 and as the work of increasing colonies demands the absence of 

 queens, unless the apiarist has extra ones at his command, it 

 is imperative, would we secure the best results, ever to have at 

 hand extra queens. Queen-rearing for the market is often 

 very remunerative, and often may well engage the apiarist's 

 exclusive attention. So the young apiarist must learn early 



HOW TO REAR QUEENS. 



As queens may be needed early in the spring, preparations 

 looking to the rearing of queens must commence early. As 

 soon as the bees are able to fly regularly, we must see that 

 they have a supply of bee-bread. If there is not a supply from 

 the past season, and the locality of the bee-keeper does not 

 furnish an early supply, then place unbolted flour (that of rye 

 or oats is best) in shallow troughs near the hives. It may be 

 well to give the whole apiary the benefit of such feeding before 

 the flowers yield pollen. If the bees are not attracted to this 

 we need not add honey, etc., to induce them to take it. This 

 is a sure sign that it is not needed. I found that in Central 

 Michigan bees can usually gather pollen by the first week of 

 April, which, I think, is as early as they should be allowed to 

 fly, and, in fact, as early as they will fly with sufficient 



