THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



221 



BEE-CULTURE IN THE 

 SOUTH. 



By G. W. Demaree. 



HONEY PRODUCED BY QUEENLESS 

 BEES. 



The question has often been 

 asked, "Will queenless bees work ?" 

 I have alvvaj'S answered that they 

 always work for me, but the re- 

 moval of the queen from a colony 

 during the swarming season nearly 

 always results in several after 

 swarms, which is sure to make 

 honey-gathering out of the ques- 

 tion. 



Well, now, after quite extensive 

 experiments, I venture to suggest 

 that in the near future, in large 

 apiaries where increase is undesi- 

 rable, the present S3-stem of obtain- 

 ing surplus honey will be entirely 

 revolutionized, and a new system 

 called Demaree's system, bah ! — 

 will take its place, and every apia- 

 rist will be master of his own busi- 

 ness, and master of his bees. 



In the first place, I found by 

 practical test that queenless bees, 

 when properly managed, would 

 gather honey, in the surplus honey 

 season, with all the energy, and 

 with a much larger proportion of 

 the inmates of the hive, than is 

 usually the case with colonies 

 provided with a queen. This led 

 me to experimenting further, and 

 I progressed as follows. First, I 

 moved the parent hive from its 

 stand, and set a new hive in its 

 place. This I filled with empty 

 combs, one or two of which con- 

 tained honey, and in one of which 



was grafted a piece of comb con- 

 taining larvas just hatched from 

 the eggs. Now, the queen was 

 looked up, and the comb on which 

 she was found was set in a comb 

 box, to make sure of her where- 

 abouts, after which the bees 

 were shaken from the combs in 

 front of the new hive, and made 

 to enter it by way of a slanting 

 board. The queen was then re- 

 stored to her place, and the hive 

 set at right angles with the new 

 one which contained the queenless 

 " swarm." Formerl^*^ I carried the 

 old hive to a new position in the 

 apiary somewhat remote from 

 the old one, but of late I have 

 adopted the method as here de- 

 scribed. Enough bees are made to 

 enter the new hive to constitute a 

 good swarm, while all the brood, 

 the queen, and enough bees are 

 left in the old hive to build up 

 rapidly into a strong colonj^ The 

 queenless bees will start queen 

 cells and fill up the combs rap- 

 idly with hone}-, which is extracted 

 as fast as they are tilled, taking 

 care not to take the whole of the 

 honey from them at once, and thus 

 fill them with consternation. 



In about six or seven days after 

 the operation is commenced, the 

 old hive is gradually turned so as 

 to face the same way as the new 

 one does on the old stand, and on. 

 the tenth or eleventh day the queen 

 cells are removed and substituted 

 with a piece of comb containing 

 larvae. Now suflUcient bees are 

 shaken from the combs of the old 

 hive to make a good second swarm 

 and are made to unite with the 



