206 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



the introduction of the Italian bee created 

 so much excitement tliroughout the 

 world. At that time a demand for Italian 

 queen bees sprang up, and several par- 

 ties beside myself commenced rearing 

 them to supply the trade. Since that 

 time — somewhat over twenty-nine years 

 ago — I have given my whole time to 

 this branch of beekeeping. 



With the above brief introduction, I 

 will try to explain the several methods for 

 rearing queens that have been practised 

 in the Bay State apiary since its estab- 

 lishment. Any of the methods given 

 will be found practical, and may be re- 

 lied upon by those who use them for 

 producing queens that are equal to those 

 reared in full colonies under the swarm- 

 ing impulse. 



How to rear queens. 



We will now suppose that the reader 

 has had a proper amount of practical 

 experience in the early branches of bee- 

 keeping to fit him for queen-rearing and 

 is ready to take up this branch of bee- 

 culture and attempt to make it a success. 



Those who intend to make the rear- 

 ing of queens a business will find it 

 necessary to commence early in the 

 spring to prepare the colonies for cell 

 building. Here let me say that unless 

 one can have queens ready to ship as 

 early as May 20, or certainly by June i, 

 he should not attempt queen-rearing 

 as a means of livelihood. 



In the north there is but one way to 

 get colonies in the swarming condition 

 as early in the season as is desirable, and 

 that is by liberal feeding. This will, of 

 course, stimulate the bees to brood- 

 rearing. The proper time to l)egin feed- 

 ing is when the bees commence to carry 

 in pollen. 



I have found that the best way to 

 feed in the spring is to use a wire- 

 cloth honey-board (described on another 

 page) and have also discovered that pow- 

 dered sugar — the same as confection- 

 ers use to frost cake — and honey mixed, 

 say twenty-four ounces of honey to five 

 pounds of sugar, is an excellent food for 

 stimulative feeding. The mixture should 



be thoroughly kneaded and worked 

 about the same as a good bread-maker 

 prepares the sponge for a batch of bread. 

 When the food is ready, raise the cush- 

 ion and place it on the wirecloth di- 

 rectly over the cluster, and cover up 

 warm. The bees will soon take all the 

 food through the wire and place it in the 

 combs. About one pound of such food 

 should be used each week.i 



I am partial to the double-walled hive 

 for obtaining large colonies and rapid 

 increase early in the spring. 



Those colonies that have wintered in 

 the best condition should be selected to 

 rear the first queens. 



When the bees begin to gather honey 

 from natural sources, any further feed- 

 ing will be unnecessary and should be 

 discontinued. By May 5 th to the loth, 

 the colonies fed should be strong and 

 have the appearance of being ready to 

 swarm . The winter packing should not be 

 removed, however, until the sections are 

 placed on the hive, and that should not 

 be done until there is plenty of forage 

 for the bees and the weather is quite 

 warm. The entrance to the hive should 

 be kept contracted to about two inches 

 for the largest colonies. This will pre- 

 vent the escape of heat from the brood- 

 chamber. I like to keep the interior of 

 the hive as warm as possible. If the 

 combs of a colony that has been treated 

 as above for several weeks are examined, 

 they will be found full of brood in all 

 stages. There should be more or less 

 capped drone brood and perhaps some 

 drones. This is just the condition in 

 which a colony should be before it is 

 used for cell building. 



The selection of a queen mother. 



Now we have reached a point where 

 all is ready to commence queen-rear- 



1 If queens are not be reareil until .ifter the 

 honey harvest has commenced, no such prepa- 

 ration as fjiven above will be ne<'.essary, and the 

 method for rearina; queens in full colonies with- 

 out removing, or casing the queen, will be found 

 tlio most iH'actical one to use after the '20th of May 

 and up to tlie end ol llie lioney harvest. This 

 mctliod will not he given liere nor will it bo made 

 l>ul)lic. It is my intention to publisli it in pam- 

 jihlet form and present a copy to each purchaser 

 of this boolc. and to each suljscribcr to the Amer. 

 loan ApicuUurist, 



