14 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



[July, 



[For tlie Araericau Bee Juuiual.] 



Eaising Queens. 



I 



3Iy cxpcrioiice agrees with that of most bee- 

 keepers, tlmt WG can raise better queens in full 

 colonies than in small nuclei. 



I select a populous stock, containing a queen 

 that I wish to breed from. After removing the 

 queen, when queen cells are capped, or a few 

 days before they are hatched, I cut them out and 

 ]ilace them in nuclei, or take a 1| inch board, 

 make it same size of the frame in the hive, and 

 Ijore 1| inch holes through tliis board, tack on 

 one side wire-cloth, covering the other side with 

 the same, but in ])ieces about 1^ inch square, 

 and cover the holes after putting one sealed cell 

 in each. 



Remove one of the frames in the hive, and 

 put this board into the hive near the centre. If 

 done early in the season, the cells will hatch as 

 well as if left on the comb. 



I have had good success this way, having as 

 many as twelve or fifteen queens in at one time. 

 They were fed by the bees, and sometimes there 

 has been a fertile queen laying in the combs at 

 the same time. These queens can be kept here 

 till a nucleus ispre2:>aredfor them, or some other 

 disposal is made of them. 



I do not claim that this idea originated with 

 me, for I think the same piinciple has been re- 

 commended before. I think Dr. Davids nursery 

 has some of the same features. My first expe- 

 rience with this method was two years ago. 



C. B. BiGLOW. 



PerkinsnUe, Vt., May, 1871. 



[We have been iisinij a nearly similar device, for tlie same 

 purjios'', four or five years pas. Ii is a rectanL:uIar block, 

 or \nt-vc of pue plank, 1,^ inclifs thick, and only about two- 

 third'- as lung as the frames i)i our hives, and is screwe I fast 

 to a top bar equi-distant from its ends. The block is perfora- 

 ted by fourteen holes bored through with a brace liit. These 

 holes are 1}/^ inches in diameter, and are lined on the inner 

 surface with a yliized card board. M'ithin them are ioKerted 

 oylinilers of card Ijoard, slightly smaller in diameter and \]A 

 inches lonjr, with removable wire jrauze caps fitted to each 

 end These are intended for queen ca>.'es ; and when queen 

 cells for hatctiin:^. or queen for proservalion, are put in. the 

 block is suspended in a stronur colony, between two combs of 

 maiurin<,' brood, wlien practicable. .Any ctijre coutaininir a 

 ce 1 or queen may be readily taken out or inserted, at pleas- 

 ure. — Ea.] 



[For the American Bee .Tonrnal.] 



Queen Eaising on the outside of the Hive. 



A somewhat novel circumstance occurred in 

 my apiai-y last summer, showing how strongly 

 the instinct to replace a queen upon the throne, 

 pervades a colony when her m.ajesty is destroyed. 



In looking over a colony of "black bees for the 

 qaeen, I noticed in one frame a portion of drone 

 comb, containing drone larvte indifferent stages. 

 I removed it ; and, in cutting it out, cut with it 

 •A few cells containing worker larvae and some 

 cells filled with honey. I placed it reclining 

 against one corner of the projecting ends or por- 

 tico of a Langstroth hive from which it was 

 taken, that the bees might take out the honey, 

 (I feared no robbers then.) At the same time I 

 took out the queen, and next day put in a sealed 



Italian queen cell. I neglected taking tlie piece 

 of comb away for several days— a week or more. 

 I had previously destroyed all the queen cells 

 that had been started in the hive. Noticing >ne 

 day a number of bees on said piece of comb ou 

 the outside, I took it up, brushed off the bees, 

 and there was a beautifid sealed queen cell, iu 

 which was a living queen ! 



J. S. Flort, 

 Fayetieville, West Va. 



[For the American Bee Journal.] 



A Lady Beginner's Notes.— No. 2. 



Dear Bee Journal :— Like everybody else 

 who embarks in a new enterprise, we are fond 

 of talking about our successes, and the encourag- 

 ing aspect of things generally, in our particular 

 line of business. 



Is industry contagious? Guess not, or else the 

 case of the man who was so indolent that his 

 bees would not work, would have been reversed. 



Well, we are determined that our bees shall 

 not catch the idle in this quarter. The 13th 

 of March we added six swarms to the four we told 

 us, and then we had eiglit swarms in bo.v hives. 

 We had movable frame hives waiting to receive 

 them, but the cold weather compelled us to put 

 off transferring till the 27th. 



We'll coniess, in a whisper though, we did 

 begin before that, and the first move we made 

 was a mistake — gave the bees too large a dose of 

 sijioke, and consequently they were in the same 

 condition we would be, under like circumstances. 

 —Couldn't get them up into the drum box, drum 

 we ever so vigorously. 



When we began to work right, we got so inter- 

 ested and excited that fatigue and bee-stings were 

 forgotten, till four swarms had taken possession 

 of their new homes. Wonder if all beginners 

 know how much better strips of cane are than 

 strings, for holding combs in the frames ? They 

 are easily and quickly put on, with very small 

 tacks ; and the bees let tliem alone till the 

 proper time for cutting them off. 



Bad weather prevented our opening the hives 

 till the fifth day after transferring,* when we 

 found combs all repaired and fastened to the 

 frames, corners filled with comb, and in several 

 places three and four inches square of new comb, 

 already filled with honey. 



If any one has a more encouraging report for 

 the 1st of April, let him stand up. We are 

 rtsing two kinds of movable frame hives, and 

 when experience shall entitle us to an expression 

 of opinion already formed, we'll talk of their 

 relative merits. 



Our enthusiasm on the subject of extracted 

 honey found quite a cooler the other day. We 

 were visiting a thriving town in southwestern 

 Missouri — (the place, too, where we expected to 

 find a market for almost any amount of honey ;) 

 and while talking about honey, our hostess 

 informed us that, a short time before, she had 

 bought a jar of white clover honey and as an 

 article of diet she thought it about equal to 

 varnish ! Iloney iu the honey comb for her, after 



