744 



TmM mmtSMi^MM mmw j^-iswrnrnt^. 



QUEEN-EXCLUDERS. 



ISeariiig Queens Above a Queen. 

 Exel tiding Huney-Board. 



ll'rttten for the. American Bee Journal 



BY HENRY ALLEY. 



It may be fair for Mr. Doolittle to 

 describe nij' oldest metliod of rearing 

 queens (page 663) in comparison with 

 what he terms the latest and only 

 practical method of rearing queens ; 

 yet the fair-minded will hardly so con- 

 sider it. On the same principle, if Mr. 

 D. desired to show the good points of 

 the hive he is using, in comparison 

 with the one I am using, he would 

 bring forward the old box-hive that I 

 used 30 years ago. 



As Mr. Doolittle made no allusion 

 in his article to my latest method of 

 rearing queens above the queen-ex- 

 cluder (not honey-board), I must 

 think that he is unacquainted with my 

 very latest methods for rearing queens. 

 For the sake of Mr. Doolittle's credit 

 for fairness, let us suppose he has read 

 nothing in the bee-papers since August, 

 1888. 



Mr. D. has labored hard, as will be 

 observed by his very thin argument, 

 to make the readei's believe that his 

 method is not a " fussy" one. Mr. D. 

 says: "Certainly the making of the 

 cell-cups cannot be what is alluded to 

 as ' fussy,' for these can be made 

 during winter evenings." 



Well, if making cell-cups as de- 

 scribed by Mr. D. is not a "fussy" 

 job, pray tell what is, properly speak- 

 ing, "a fussy job." Considering the 

 fact that the comb containing eggs 

 can be used in separate cells, prepared 

 and fastened to the comb, or upon a 

 stick, much quicker and easier than 

 the cell-cups are prepared by Mr. D., 

 is my reason for applying the word 

 "fussy" to Mr. Doolittle's method. 



For years I have used single cells, 

 and the eggs in them for cell-cups. 

 This year I have had wonderful suc- 

 cess by that method of having queen- 

 cells built. Twenty- five cells can be 

 attached in a row to the bottom of the 

 comb of one Langstroth frame ; be- 

 tween each cell there will be a space 

 not less than one-fourth of an inch. 

 Does not Mr. D. think that this method 

 is far more in accordance with nature, 

 than the artificial cell-cups that he 

 makes ? The labor can be performed 

 in less than one-lialf the time required 

 to make the artificial cell-cups. 



One other point that should be 

 noticed here, is this : " Next we have 

 the getting of the larvte for the cups, 

 and the two cells which contain the 

 royal jelly, which is to be put into 

 each of the cups." It seems strange 

 that Mr. D. has ready-made queen-cells 



on hand at all times, and never has any 

 queenless colonies. I stated in the 

 " Handj--Book," that I have no queen- 

 less colonies in my apiarj'. I meant 

 it, and renew the' statement here. 

 The only thing we shall differ upon, is 

 as to what constitutes a colony of bees. 



When a colony of bees has been de- 

 prived of its queen while the combs are 

 full of brood, it is, properly speaking, 

 a queenless colony ; but when the bees 

 arc taken from the queen and brood, 

 thut, then, is not a queenless colony — 

 these are queenless bees, and nothing 

 more. Now a queenless colony is 

 never found in my apiarj'. I know 

 too well the importance of having a 

 queen in each hive. 



Having made that matter plain, let 

 us look again at what Mr. D. says in 

 commendation of his method of rear- 

 ing queens. Mr. D. produces figures 

 to show with how much less time and 

 expense he can rear queens by his 

 method, than I can by that old-fash- 

 ioned method of mine. 



Does Mr. D. really suppose that it 

 takes me one hour to do the same 

 work that he says he performs in 3J 

 minutes ? What an idea ! Let us see : 

 I reared ji,500 queens between May 20 

 and Sept. 25 — that is, that number of 

 cells were started in that time. This 

 made 17 weeks, and 1 devoted less 

 than one hour each week in the prep- 

 aration of these cells or cell-cups. 



Mr. D. should know that I do not 

 confine bees in a swarm-box ten hours 

 in order to prepare them for cell-build- 

 ing. Then, again, suppose I do — 

 what can be the harm ? Is any time 

 lost in the operation ? Can there be 

 any objection to keeping kees so con- 

 fined for any length of time ? So far 

 as spending any time in putting bees 

 confined in the swarm-box into the 

 cellar, I will say that I never found it 

 necessary to do that in all my 30 years' 

 experience, anj' more than I have 

 found it necessary to make artificial 

 cell-cups. I prefer to let the bees do 

 the latter work for me ; and the former 

 need not be done unless one chooses 

 to do it. 



Mr. Doolittle must find no fault if I 

 express an opinion of the quality of 

 the queens reared by the methods he 

 recommends. With 30 years' experi- 

 ence, wholly devoted to rearing queen- 

 bees, I feel able to give an opinion 

 as to what are the best methods for 

 producing queens. I am sure that 

 queens reared above a queen-excluding 

 "honey-board" when no hatching 

 brood, and but a few young bees, and 

 only those that happen to stray into 

 the chamber are present, are not first- 

 class queens. Does not every man 

 who has had any experience in bee- 

 culture, know that young bees will not 

 leave the brood-nest and take up 



quarters on cold, drj' combs ? You 

 might as well expect a small chicken 

 to desert the old hen at night and 

 nestle under a block of ice. If there 

 are no young bees to build the cells 

 and nurse the larvs6, how can good 

 queens be reared ? Mr. J. A. Green, 

 one of the best authorities on bee- 

 matters, saj's this on page 805 of 

 Oleanings for 1889 : 



A gi-eat deal of experimentiug has m> 

 doubt been done this season with the new 

 methods of having queen-cells built and 

 queens fertilized above perforated metal. 

 So far as my experience goes, it is easy to 

 get cells built while there is a queen in full 

 vigor below, though these cells are by no 

 means of the first quality, except under 

 favorable conditions. 



What are those favorable conditions? 

 Why, young bees by the thousands, 

 and stores in abundance. Or, in other 

 words, just the conditions that the 

 colony is in when about ready to cast 

 a swarm, and not dry combs and old 

 bees. I have always made it a prac- 

 tice to put my colonies in the swarm- 

 ing condition before using them for 

 cell-building. The proper way to put 

 a colony in that condition is by liberal 

 feeding when natural forage is not 

 abundant ; any other method does not 

 come under the head of queen-rearing. 



We all know that there is a demand 

 for queens when bees are not in a con- 

 dition to swarm ; henee we must devise 

 the best means to procure queen-cells. 

 I know of no better way to rear queens 

 than by having the cells built in a hive 

 that is solid full of brood, young bees, 

 and with a laying queen present. 



Wenham, Mass.. Oct. 21, 1889. 



COMB HONEY. 



The Proper Way lo Produce 

 Honey in the Comb, etc. 



Written for the American Bee Journal 



BY FRANK COVERDALE. 



It often occurs to me how particular 

 we are to secure nice, white sections, 

 and this is right ; but what kind of a 

 section-case should be used ? We have 

 been in the habit (at least a great 

 many of us) of placing the sections on 

 the hives with the top and bottom ex- 

 posed to the bees, getting them colored 

 and propolized, and waxy and sticky 

 they are, for a knife will not clean 

 them. Not only is it much more un- 

 pleasant to handle them, but it shows 

 a great loss in appearance, which is of 

 so much importance in the grocery 

 store, or our city market ; for the eye 

 must be pleased first. 



The foregoing state of affairs, along 

 with breaking and leaking of sections, 

 is very detrimental to our comb honey 

 market. As I chanced to be at Clin- 



