1896. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



229 ■ 



swarm from one colony, and on the same day another colony 

 that I had helped with bees and brood twice, but they would 

 do nothing, so I caught and cut the head of the queen and in- 

 troduced a cell ready to hatch, from the other prolific queen, 

 and in from five to six weeks the hive was full of bees and 

 honey. 



While there are exceptions to all rules, as a general thing, 

 with proper management, any bee-keeper can do much better 

 than with a haphazard, go-as-you-please plan, whether it be the 

 swarming or non-swarming method. I have tried both 

 methods for eleven years, and the non-swarming system has 

 always paid me the best. 



Much has been written about a non-swarming strain of 

 bees. While I do not believe there is such a thing, I do be- 

 lieve that we can have our bees swarm or not swarm, as we 

 please, simply by the method of management. Under certain 

 conditions they will swarm, but under other conditions they 

 will not. We might run forever for extracted honey without 

 swarming, but we cannot always succeed in running for sec- 

 tion honey exclusively. Salt Lake City, Utah. 



The Colorado State Bee-Keepers' Couveutioii. 



EEPORTED BY F. L. THOMPSON. 

 (Continued from page 214.) 

 Pres. Aikin then read an essay on 



REARING QUEENS, ( 



of which the most essential parts follow : 



Since practicing the unqueening system I frequently use 

 cells started under the swarming impulse. Such cells are 

 much the safest, especially for the inexperienced. Two classes 

 ■ of cells are almost invariably good — those built for swarming, 

 and those for superseding. In either case they are started 

 from the egg, and if for swarming are well cared for, and from 

 vigorous colonies, when feed is plenty. Supersedure cells are 

 counted by Doolittle to be the very best. 1 think that such 

 are as good as any in most cases. The swarming cells are 

 always built under favorable circumstances, while there are 

 times that a very weak colony may be compelled to supersede 

 when no nectar is coming in, and so may not properly feed 

 the larva. But if superseding is done during the flow, and 

 when the colony is not weak, such cells ought to be good. 

 When superseding there are usually only two to four cells 

 built, hence better cared for. When swarming, they may 

 have 20 to 30, though usually about 10 to 15 cells. 



If you wish to get cells aside from the above, you can do 

 so by making a colony queenless; but this method requires 

 much more care to get good queens. They will force cells by 

 using larvaj as much as six and sometimes seven days from the 

 laying of the egg, which cannot give so well-fed aud vigorous 

 queens. While the swarming colony usually has but 10 or 15 

 cells, the forced colony will have often 15 to 30, and if this 

 be at a time when no nectar is coming in, there will be a lot of 

 starved queens. If we rear from forced cells, the colony 

 should be fed until they are in much the same condition as 

 during a honey-flow ; and unless you have a great lot of bees 

 it will be all right to give them no brood at all except some 

 fresh-laid eggs, and then you know there will be no building 

 from old or advanced larvfe, and all will be well fed the whole 

 time of their growth. After the cells are sealed, they can be 

 put in any nucleus that has sufficient bees to keep them prop- 

 erly warm. If the weather is warm, less bees will do, but if 

 cold, give more bees. A queen may be injured by being too 

 cold while developing. 



In transferring cells they should be handled very care- 

 fully, not shaken or turned over and about, or exposed to ex- 

 tremes of temperature. Just after the larva has spun its 

 cocoon and passed to the form of a bee, a very little shaking 

 will often destroy the embryo wings, and while you will most 

 likely have a perfect queen in other respects, her deformed 

 wings will prevent her mating. This I learned from experi- 

 ence. 



The use of cell-cups and transferring eggs or larvaj I have 



never tried ; but I have no doubt they will be all right in the 

 hands of experts. The average apiarist will seldom find any 

 use for these new methods. R. C. Aikin. 



N. C. Alford — I think that when queens are reared by 

 forcing, the bees will eventually run out. Last year I lost 

 one-third of my colonies in unqueening, even after putting an 

 extra cell in each hive. One apiary lost one-half. The loss 

 was greater than ever before. Some years the loss is not over 

 15 or 20 per cent. So much queenlessness causes trouble 

 from laying workers. I have found that combs which have 

 been used by laying workers are injured. The cells are 

 swelled, and the queen will not lay in them. 



H. Rauchfuss — The loss is light when virgin queens are 

 reared and introduced. We reared our virgin queens in upper 

 stories, by the Doolittle method. The cells were put in nur- 

 sery cages. 



Mr. Alford — That is a good deal of work. 



Pres. Aikin— Loss of queens depends largely upon the 

 way an apiary is marked by trees, etc. In one apiary, which 

 was well marked, I lost only 4 out of 50 or 60. In another, 

 which was not well marked, I lost one-third. But there is a 

 considerable per cent, of loss from chilling, or knocking about 

 too much. I found lots of queens with deformed wings. 



W. L. Porter — Isn't there danger in leaving queen-cells on 

 the bottoms of combs from drafts of air from the entrance '? 



Pres. Aikin — In warm weather, and with strong colonies, 

 cells at the bottom are all right; otherwise not. 



H. Rauchfuss — Cells should not be cut out until they are 

 ripe. They are ripe when the bees begin to gnaw ofif the end. 

 Or, in using the Doolittle plan, we can distinguish the color of 

 the queen through the cell, by holding it up to the light. The 

 darker the queen, the closer the maturity of the cell. Some- 

 times the motions of the queen can be thus seen. 



R. Patterson — Are queens reared artificially as good as 

 those reared naturally? 



S. M. Carlzen — I got some queen-cells from Rauchfuss 

 Bros. The queens were good, and their progeny developed 

 into strong colonies. 



Pres. Aikin — If bees commence with the egg, or with the 

 just-hatched larva}, aud they are fed well, the queens are just 

 as good. 



Mr. Alford — In forcing, how can you tell between good 

 and poor cells ? 



Pres. Aikin — You can't tell except by results. 



H. Rauchfuss — Forcing ought not to be practiced. Even 

 swarming-cells are sometimes inferior. Even if the bees only 

 have eggs to start with, some of the queens will be poor, be- 

 cause some cells are started six days after the egg, and they 

 cannot be distinguished, because they hatch at the same time. 

 Our bought queens never lived more than two years ; most of 

 them only through one summer. It was not from mailing, be- 

 cause the queens we reared from them were not good, either. 

 But our imported queens, from Italy or Carniola, were always 

 good. 



Mr. Alford, who had been put down for the subject, 



FALL, WINTER AND SPRING MANAGEMENT, 



had not prepared an essay, but gave a short talk on the sub- 

 ject. The following were his chief points : 



I have gone to a good deal of trouble to pack my bees well 

 in straw, with plenty of chaff above, but my neighbors' bees 

 in single-walled hives, without special care, always wintered 

 as well as mine, and were as strong in bees on the 1st of April. 

 Colorado wintering does not require packing. But after the 

 1st of April, the case is different. Spring management is 

 everything in this climate, on account of the sudden changes 

 of weather. From the 1st of April to the 15th of June is the 

 whole secret. The bees should be stimulated and kept warm. 



N. C. Alford. 



E Milleson — Look out for mice in packing. This climate 

 is hard on lumber. The hives should be thoroughly seasoned, 

 with no cracks. The first thing to remember is to keep the 

 bees dry. Don't let the quilt stick out from under the cover. 

 The moisture from rain and snow will soak in. 



D. L. Tracy — Is it altogether the moisture from outside 

 which is seen in hives? 



Mr. Milleson — In extremely cold weather, there is inter- 

 nal moisture under an oilcloth or a propollzed and water-tight 

 quilt. 



W. L. Porter — That kind of moisture is also caused by 

 the kind of hive. That is why I do not like the flat cover of 

 the dovetailed hive. In cold weather it is moist every time. 

 I prefer to make a little ventilation by putting strips under, 

 above the quilt, rather than have them too tight. 



Rev. F. 0. Blair, of Trinidad, and Mrs. Shute, Secretary 



