260 



TMS ffiME'KICMlf MMm JQjlffKKSIr. 



MR. DOOL,ITTL,E'S ISEW BOOK. 



"Scientific Queen-Rearing, as Practicallj- Applied " is its 

 title, and it contains 176 pages. It is nicely printed on good 

 paper, and contains 20 illustrations besides a portrait of the 

 author. The latter is very good, and we reproduce it here 

 for the benefit of our readers. 



^- M.^^^UyM. 



The first Chapter is devoted to the author's first interest 

 in bee-keeping. The second Chapter dwells upon the 

 importance of good Queens. Chapter III and VI describe 

 Nature's way of rearing Queens. The fifth Chapter details 

 the old methods, pointing out their imperfections. Chapter 

 VI enumerates later methods, as steps to the " new way," 

 which fill the next 20 pages with very interesting details. 



" Getting the Bees off the Cells," is the subject matter of 

 Chapter VIII ; followed by chapters devoted to " What to 

 do with Queen-Cells" — "The Queen-Cell Protectors" — 

 " How to Form Nuclei " — " How to Multiply Nuclei " — and 

 the methods used by the author to have "Queens Fertilized 

 in the Same Hive where there is a Laying Queen." 



This is followed by a chapter on Bee-Feeders and Bee 

 Feeding, and then the author deals with the all-important 

 matters of " Securing Good Drones," and the " Introduction 

 of Queens," in the following language : 



SECURING GOOD DRONES. 

 It is my belief that we, as apiarists of the Nineteenth 

 Century, do not look to the high qualities of our drones as 

 much as we ought, or as much as we do to these qualities in 

 our Queens. To me, it seems that the matter of good 

 drones is of greater value, if possible, than is that of good 

 Queens ; for I believe that the father has as much, or more, 

 to do with the impress left on the offspring, than does the 



mother. We select our Queens with great care, but leave 

 them to mate Avith drones of a promiscuous rearing from all 

 of the colonies in our bee-yard, as well as with the " scrubs " 

 reared by our neighbors, or from such swarms as may be in 

 the woods near us. Now this ought uot so to be ; for if we 

 would have the best of bees, our Queens must mate with 

 the best of drones. 



To this end, it seemed to me that one of the most desira- 

 ble things possible about Queen-Rearing, would be the fer- 

 tilizing of Queens in confinement. For this reason I have 

 tried every plan given to the public, for the accomplishment 

 of this object," but, as I said in a previous chapter, I have 

 so far nothing to record but failures. I would willingly 

 give $500 for a plan by which I could mate the Queens that 

 Irear, to selected drones as I wish, and do this with the 

 same ease and assurance that our other work about the 

 apiary is carried on. 



As we cannot as yet, do this, I find that the next best 

 thing that I can do, is to set apart two or three of my very 

 best Queens for drone-rearing, causing them, as far as may 

 be, to rear all of the drones in tlie apiary. I do this by giv- 

 ing these colonies a large amount of drone-comb, and keep- 

 ing up their strength, if need be, bj- giving them worker- 

 brood from other colonies. 



The other colonies are largely kept from rearing drones, 

 by allowing only worker-combs in their hives, and by giving 

 them a comb of drone-brood occasionally from one of the 

 colonies rearing drones, just when thej^ want drones the 

 most ; for if this is not done, they will have drones anyway, 

 even if they have to tear down worker-comb to build such 

 as is needed to rear them in. As soon as the major part of 

 the drones from this comb have hatched, it is taken away, 

 before the inferior drone-brood (if any is placed in the 

 comb) has time to mature. In this waj' I get all the drones 

 reared from my best Queens, and only fail in not being able 

 to sort out the weak and feeble ones, or, in not being able 

 to select the most robust drones for the Queens. 



To be sure, we can use the drone-traps now before the 

 public, to keep the drones of the poorer colonies from flj-- 

 ing ; but to me, this causes more work and more disturb- 

 ance with the bees, than the plan outlined. 



Again, the rearing of drones, causes a great consumption 

 of honej-, and it seems foolish to be wasting honej- in rear- 

 ing drones, only for the sake of killing them afterward. 



Beside knowing how to rear mostly good drones, we want 

 to know how to get them early in the spring. Tliis is some- 

 thing not often spoken of, but it is one of the things which 

 must be done by the Queen-Rearer who would please his 

 customers. To do tliis, I place drone-comb in the center of 

 the hives having my drone-rearing Queens, doing this in the 

 fall, so that whenever the bees have any desire for drones, 

 such comb will be handy for the Queen. 



If these colonies are not very strong in the spring, I make 

 them so, by giving hatching brood from other colonies, till 

 thej' are running over with bees, while in addition to this, I 

 often insert a drone-comb full of honey, right in the center 

 of the brood-nest ; for in the removing of a part of all this 

 honey, the bees coax the Queen to lay in this drone-comb, 

 to a degree that otherwise could not be attained. In this 

 way I usually succeed in getting drones from one to three 

 weeks earlier than I otherwise would. 



To keep drones late in the fall, I make a strong colonj- 

 queenless, at the close of the honey-harvest, and in this 

 colony I put all of the drone-brood that I can find in my 

 drone-rearing colonies at this time. As much of this brood 

 is in the egg and larval form, when given to the queenless 

 colony, I have tliem hatching after all the other drones are 

 killed off', for ijueenless colonies which are strong, arc very 

 choice of drone-brood. In this way I generally have a hive 

 full of nice drones, as late as I desire to rear Queens, keep- 

 ing them frequently into October. 



