THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER 



Dectmber 



the combs from which all the brood has 

 hatched, are replaced with others con- 

 taining brood, from time to time, both 

 stories never contain unsealed brood 

 at any one time, and the one is placed 

 on the ventihitor that contains none. 

 When this is done, a comb, containing 

 water, is given; as many spaces between 

 tlie combs provided as batches, of cups 

 are to be given ; the bees shaken from 

 some of the combs in the hive left above 

 the excluder into the one of cell-starters 

 and the latter securely covered to pre- 

 vent the escape of the bees. 



Do tliis early in the day ; four to six 

 lioui's later give the prepared cups and 

 just before night the cups can be given 

 to any bees prepared for cell-building. 

 and the queenless bees placed bacl< 

 over the excluder by simply handling 

 the hive.^ 



The plan here given luii- been in prac- 

 tice for two seasons with satisfactory 

 results. 



Of course, some of the bees escape 

 when the hive is opened to insert the 

 cups, but this has not proven to be a 

 serious matter, as with the arrangement 

 given, they are attempting at the time 

 to escape at the bottom, and by having 

 a cloth between the frames and the 

 cover, it can be gently rolled back and 

 the bees slightly smoked down until the 

 spaces are reached. Am glad to note; 

 that tiie editor has contrived a plan fcjr 

 overcoming this objection. 



Creek. N. C. 



QUEEN-REARING AND QUEEN- 

 BUYING. 



From the Standpoint of a Honey 

 Producer. 



HV I''. UKKINJSK. 



Til!'] averajre bi-e-kisepfa- needs a 

 few queens from day to -xiay; 

 some days he may not need any at 

 all -at least so I find it in my experi- 

 rnce. Accordingly I start a new batch 

 of queen-cells every three dayss, A 

 colony nearly ready to swarm, or one 



about to supersede their old queen are 

 just the thing to rear queens. If a 

 cjlony of this kind is deprived of the 

 queen and is given a frame of brood 

 every four or live days, (juite a number 

 of batches of cells may be built by it, 

 and I think all the queens thus roared 

 will be good. 



As to the artificial cells, it matters 

 little of what material tiiey are made: 

 the shape also may be varied consider- 

 ably. One may form them of those 

 lumps accumulating along the edges of 

 real old combs. Of course it will 

 facilitate the work if the cells are made 

 as advised by Doolittle. I use a litth- 

 six-toothed rake with teeth about one- 

 inch apart, left in a dish of water for a 

 while so as to become saturated, then dip 

 into melted beeswax or resin and bees- 

 wax. I prefer to make the cups rather 

 shallow and thick at l!he edges, dipping 

 them about the same depth each time. 

 There is no use having the cell-moutli 

 thin and feathery. Cells made heavy 

 can be handled roughly without being 

 in any way mutilated. They can be 

 made quickly and I hardly think there 

 will be any need of their being offered 

 for sale. The bee-keepers can make 

 them so easily themselves. 



Small larvie, about twenty-four hours 

 old, are easily transferred with a fine 

 camel-hair brush and the royal jelly 

 may also be distributed and placed into 

 the cells by it. Thes(> ar(^ all vei'y 

 simple operations and (|uickly per- 

 formed. By means of the little brush! 

 am enabled to remove and transfer 

 larvie. from drone and worker cells 

 without tearing down the side walls of 

 the cells. It recpiires a steady hand 

 and sharp eyes, and it may be easier 

 performed by first cutting down the 

 cells. ■ 



If I have no royal jelly on hand I 

 make the lirst transfer without it. 

 After two or tliree days, and for the 

 second batch, a cell of the first lot is 

 sacrificed to obtain the necessary jelly 

 to properly prepare the cups for the 



