124 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



brood will be reared ; and of course 

 the proper time to make the change 

 will be when the least loss will re- 

 sult thereby. My opinion is that 

 the time to make such changes is 

 just at the close of the summer 

 honey season ; not before the bees 

 cease entirely to gather honey, but 

 just when the crop begins to di- 

 minish perceptibly. As this opin- 

 ion is to a certain extent a matter 

 of theory, I will give my reasons 

 for forming this opinion, and it can 

 then be accepted or rejected as the 

 reader may choose. In the first 

 place it is well understood that 

 queens will be more readily ac- 

 cepted when they are busily en- 

 gaged in gathering honey, than at 

 any other time ; consequently that 

 time is the best in which to make 

 changes. Again, the crop depends 

 upon the number of foragers con- 

 tained in the hive during its period 

 of secretion. Now it is presumed 

 that a large force of foragers have 

 been reared to work during the 

 season, and at its close we shall 

 have no use for them, till the fall 

 crop is ready to be gathered. If 

 then we make such changes of 

 queens as seem desirable just at 

 the close of the summer season, 

 our new queens are not only ac- 

 cepted readily, but they will begin 

 laying freely in ample season to 

 allow of a large force of foragers 

 when we need them in the fall, and 

 besides we get rid of quite a large 

 number of bees that would other- 

 wise be a detriment by consuming a 

 large amount of stores when there 

 was nothing for them to do in the 

 way of labor. By adopting this 



plan, we simply follow the rule of 

 the successful farmer ; he, if eco- 

 nomical, will hire a force of men 

 to harvest his early crops and dis- 

 pense with their services when this 

 is done, employing them again 

 when needed for fall w^ork. Of 

 course in the above matter I am 

 referring to changes that one can 

 take his own time in making. 

 When, however, a queen suddenly 

 dies or becomes incapacitated for 

 her work, then a new queen should 

 at once be introduced or exchanged 

 for the one played out, no matter 

 what the season and without re- 

 gard to the honey crop. By this 

 plan I have been able to obtain 

 large crops of honey and also have 

 my colonies strong for winter, and 

 I believe the plan the best that can 

 possibly be adopted. 



I may incidentally say there is 

 another reason for making changes 

 at the time I have indicated, viz., 

 by delaying thus long we are more 

 apt to procure A No. 1 queens, 

 whether we rear them ourselves or 

 procure them of breeders. -I need 

 not give any reasons for this 

 opinion, for every - beekeeper of 

 experience knows that such is the 

 case, and that the best queens we 

 can procure are those reared during 

 the months of June and July. 

 Not that good queens are not 

 reared in other months, but that 

 those months are the time of nat- 

 ural swarming, and per se better 

 queens can ordinarily be reared 

 then than at any other period of 

 the year. In introducing queens 

 at this period, I simply remove 

 the old queen about the middle of 



