166 



THE AMERICAIT APICULTURIST. 



will you j>ive us your views regardiug 

 this matter? 



(5. Would you advise beekeepers to 

 purciiase what queens tliey need, or to 

 rear tiiein ; aud what woukl you sugi-est 

 as the simplest aud best method of rear- 

 ing- queens where one wishes to rear 

 only a few? 



ANSWKRS BY J K. POND, JU. 



1. My colonies are fully as strong at 

 the present time, as at any previous 

 season. I do not think they ai'e any 

 stronger than at last season. Although 

 this season has been colder and more 

 rainy than usual, brood-rearing has 

 been well kept up. One colony gave 

 me seventy-two lbs. of extracted honey 

 from apple bloom, and others quite a 

 considerable amount also. 



2. Tlie outlook for the honey crop 

 is favorable in my own vicinity. The 

 main stay is white clover, and the 

 rainy reason of early spring will have 

 a tendency, unless very dry weather 

 ensues in late .June, to give a large 

 crop. I market my honey at hoine, 

 and have always found a ready sale for 

 all I have, at remunerative pi'iccs. So 

 far as the general market is concerned, 

 I know nothing of it, for the reason 

 given above. 



3. I feed regularly whenever the 

 natural flow of honey slackens, and 

 thus k(?ep brood-rearing in progress. 

 If I desire early drones, I put drone 

 comb in centre of brood chamber, 

 which, with regular feeding, has a ten- 

 dency to deceive the bees into thinking 

 the natural flow of honey has not at 

 all diminisiied. My rule is to keep all 

 colonies strong, and 1 have found that 

 regular feeding during times of scarc- 

 ity will bring about such results. 



4. I have not. The most I do is to 

 draw on them for frames of brood, 

 replacing with frames of empty comb 

 or foundation. This will sometimes 

 work well; at other times does )iot 

 seem to have any efle'ct at all. I have 

 tried casing the queen on a full sheet 

 of empty comb; this of course will 

 prevent her leaving with a swarm, but 

 at times I have" found queen cells 

 stftrted. I have also tried confining 

 the queen to the hive by contracting 

 the entrance, but having lost one; or 

 two nice queens l)y the bees killing 

 them while thus confined, I do so no 

 more. 



5. I have known queens to make 



excursions from the hive during the 

 summer, and returnii g again, but I 

 liave no direct eviden ie of a second 

 mating. 1 have one c ueeu now, that 

 produced all last seas >n as flue three 

 banded queens as I evnr saw, that this 

 season shows plenty o 'hybrids among 

 her progeny. This, a'nong other rea- 

 sons, has caused me to conclude that 

 queens do sometimes mate a second 

 time, after having once been fecun- 

 dated successfully. 



6. My ailvice is for all beekeepers to 

 learn to rear queens, in order that they 

 may be prepared for all emergencies. 

 I would advise, however, that small 

 beekeepers purchase their queens, 

 rather than raise them, as a matter 

 of economy. I think the simplest and 

 best method of rearing queens will be 

 better learned from " Alley's Handy 

 Book for Beekeepers," than from such 

 directions as can be given in the lim- 

 ited space that can be devoted to this 

 answer. 



ANSWERS BY G. W. DKMAKKK. 



1. My apiary, as pertains to working 

 strength, is ten days behind a corres- 

 ponding date of last season. But the 

 season is also behind. 



2. The wliite clover is yielding pro- 

 fusely when the weather is favorable, 

 but excessive rainfall casts a shadow 

 of doubt over the future. Judging 

 from the increasing demand for honey 

 in my home market, the prospects are 

 fair for ready sales at remunerating 

 prices. 



3. My method for obtaining early 

 drones is as follows : I select the 

 colonies which I wish to produce 

 drones, and insert a comb containing 

 drone cells in the centre of the brood 

 nest, i. e., in the centre of that part of 

 the brood nest where he most brood 

 is located. It is best to have the patch 

 of drone cells entirely surrounded by 

 worker cells, as I think the queens are 

 tempted to lay in the drone cells, by 

 having them surround 3d with worker 

 brood. By this management, I had 

 some queens mated very early the 

 present season. It will not do to trust 

 to just one single colony to rear 

 drones: the queen may fail to respond 

 to your wish. It is best to prepare 

 several in that way to be sure of suc- 

 cess. 



4. The only method I know of is to 

 submit to reasonable increase, and 



