T'H® m^iMmmicmn mmm jovmnmi^. 



417 



queen in her second year. For the 

 trade I would use only imported Ital- 

 ian queens. By getting new queens 

 every jear, there would be no danger 

 of inter-breeding. I do not want a 

 queen so unsatisfactory to the bees 

 that they are trying to supersede her, 

 either because she is too old or un- 

 proliflc, or for some unknown reason ; 

 for I believe in the law of heredity in 

 bees, as well as in man or the lower 

 animals, and I do not think it possible 

 (Mr. Doolittle to the contrarj', not- 

 withstanding) for a queen of the latter 

 sort to produce as hard}-, prolific 

 queen-progeny as the former. 



As soon as the apiarist sees anj- 

 drones, the apiary should be looked 

 over, and the drones iu each hive 

 graded; stimulated by feeding where 

 you see the best ones, and destroy all 

 others bj- cutting out drone-brood and 

 replacing it with, worker-comb. By 

 this time we have received notice that 

 the imj)orted queen will be here very 

 soon, and as I cannot afibrd to take 

 any chance of losing her, I am verj' 

 cai-eful to make the right preparation 

 to receive " her majesty." 



I pick out a wired frame containing 

 some honej- and hatching brood, and 

 one of worked-out foundation without 

 wires. B3- marking the latter " empty- 

 4-31," on top of the frame with a 

 crayon, I can tell how old the eggs are 

 when I take them away. I either pick 

 up one bj' one, or else shake into a 

 tin boiler (the old bees will fly away) 

 young bees enough to comfortably 

 cover the two combs, and empty them 

 on top of the frames. 



When the queen arrives, I clip her 

 wing, to prevent her flying away, 

 destroy her attendant bees, and in- 

 troduce her to her new home by letting 

 her run down ofi' of the top of the 

 frame, keeping watch to see how she 

 is received. I have never experienced 

 any trouble in this way, and in one 

 instance, the queen had commenced to 

 lay in less than an hour. If the bees 

 had not received her, 1 should have 

 put her into a combined shipping and 

 introducing cage, to be released at 

 their pleasure. I would not advise 

 this trouble of getting only young bees 

 for a nucleus, except iu the case of a 

 very valuable queen whose time was 

 precious. 



PREPARING FOR CELL-BUILDING. 



One of the strongest colonies in the 

 yard should then be prepared for cell- 

 building, by taking away the queen, 

 and distributing the unsealed brood 

 among weaker colonies, leaving only 

 three or four frames of sealed brood 

 and honey. 



I now look into the hive of the im- 

 ported queen, and if there are eggs in 

 the marked frame, I look for the 



queen ; if she sin mid be on that frame, 

 I take a small, soft twig, and place it 

 so that she will catch hold of it with 

 her feet, and lift her carefully off to 

 the other frame, then hang the frame 

 of eggs on the wire-nails in the side of 

 the hive, that were driven for that 

 purpose ; put in another frame without 

 wires, and with a turkey's-feather (1 

 have found nothing better) brush the 

 bees off and clos(! the hive. 



Take the frame of eggs and cut the 

 bottom of the comb close to the cells 

 containing eggs, and if there should 

 be many eggs in the center of the 

 comb, cut out one or two triangular 

 pieces with the point at the top of the 

 cut, leaving eggs around the opening, 

 as they are much more likely to build 

 queen-cells on the edge than in the 

 solid comb. The pieces can be used 

 for patching, and as I do not value 

 this kind of a frame for any other pur- 

 pose, I do not care how much thej* are 

 cut. 



Mark the top of the frame with the 

 name of the queen applied to the eggs, 

 giving the date, as " i-e-5-1," meaning 

 that they are " imported-queen's eggs, 

 Mny 1," which I consider the right 

 time to begin, and Sept. 1 the latest to 

 continue to "set" eggs for cell- 

 building. 



I use the oil-crayon for marking 

 frames and tablets. 



Put the frame of eggs in the center 

 of the colony you have prepared for 

 cell-building, leaving the space be- 

 tween it and the adjoining frames a 

 little larger than for other frames, and 

 unless honey is coming in freely, give 

 them a quart or two of thin feed in an 

 atmosperic feeder, inside the hive, and 

 cover with a cushion to keep them 

 warm. 



About the fifth day after, open the 

 hive, and if there should be any double 

 cells started, with the point of a knife 

 remove the larva from one, and break 

 down the cell. I think that this is 

 much easier than to fuss with picking 

 out eggs with a brimstone match, and 

 shaving combs, cutting into strips, 

 which must be dipped into a " mixture 

 of two parts rosia and one part bees- 

 wax ;" "being very careful not to 

 overheat it, as it will destroy the eggs 

 in the cells if used too hot, and if too 

 cold it will not adhere properly;" 

 " pressing it with the fingers gently 

 into place, taking care not to crush or 

 injure the cells in so doing," a la Alley; 

 or making "wax-cups" with "three 

 forming-sticks, a notched block, a dish 

 of cold water, a lamp with a dish of 

 wax on top, an ear-spoon for scooping 

 up the royal jelly, the stick to place 

 the royal jelly in a wax-cup, and the 

 tooth-pick for transferring the larvre " 

 — after the Doo-little plan. (I think 

 that is a misnomer.) 



On the ninth day break down all 

 unsealed or small mis-shaped cells if 

 there should be any such, and count 

 the number of the cells left. On the 

 tenth or eleventh day, form as many 

 nuclei as there are cells, by dividing 

 this building colony, and if necessary, 

 divide some of the weaker colonies in 

 order to make the number, giving to 

 each one a frame of unsealed brood, 

 marking the frame "c-e-5-11" (com- 

 mon eggs) ; also give a frame of honej', 

 being sure that there are bees enough 

 to cover the brood well. 



I like a good-sized nucleus, as I 

 think the queen gets to laying in bet- 

 ter shape than in a very small one, 

 and if I ever find a queen laying sev- 

 eral eggs in one cell, I conclude that 

 she has not had hq^jf a chance ; and if 

 I can increase her companj-, she will 

 get to laying all right. 



In making nuclei, if necessary to 

 divide a colony, always move the queen, 

 as the bees will stay better. I have 

 never, in making nuclei, shut bees up 

 or carried them to a dark room or 

 cellar, but I do make it a point to 

 have ever}' nucleus supplied with un- 

 sealed larvic at all times, both to hold 

 the bees and keep them in balance, 

 and to this I believe is due the fact 

 that I never have had the trouble with 

 laying workers that Mr. Alley and 

 others complain of. 



I am very careful not to let the cells 

 get chilled, either in or out of the 

 frame, and if the day is cool, I leave 

 the bees on the frame, and only cut the 

 cells as fast .as I use them. If the day 

 is warm enough, I take the frame of 

 cells, brush the bees oft" with a feather 

 (being very careful not to jar the 

 cells) then with the small, thin blade 

 of the knife, cut all but one of the 

 cells, and put the frame back into the 

 hive. 



I have a box lined to put the cells 

 in, and cover them with a piece of 

 soft flannel, but distribute as soon as 

 possible, by inserting one in the frame 

 containing larvos, and marking the 

 frame "i-c-S-ll," as well as the tablet, 

 making a combination of the two 

 marks, as "i-c and c-e-5-11" — (im- 

 ported cell and common eggs, Maj' 11) 

 until all are taken care of. 



Go on in this manner, having cells 

 built ; forming nuclei for them until 

 you have broken up all the colonies 

 that you wish, and as the bees increase, 

 unite nuclei to make strong colonies 

 with younger bees, for cell-building, 

 which are better for this purpose than 

 older ones ; then sub-divide these into 

 nuclei as needed, and so on indefinitely 

 until the close of the season. 



Some years I have numbered the 

 hives and kept a book of record, but 

 I always keep the record of the nuclei 

 marked on a tablet and fastened in 



