March 8, 19C6 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



215 



style of ventilation at B resulted in dryness, and that in 

 turn resulted in comfort. Time, according- to book, " slept 

 on flowers and lent his glass to hope." Next result was 

 that B was ready for the early and only harvest while A 

 was not. For A to get only 20 pounds of surplus while B 

 was getting 80 would not be remarkable under those condi- 

 tions. (Colony A splendidly strong and eager and ready a 

 few weeks later; but it's no use then.) 



Very improbable, I should say, that mere position of 

 entrance would make any material difference with an 

 August or September harvest. Bee-trees, I understand, 

 often have the entrances above the combs. Were it gen- 

 erally true that colonies so situated gather twice as much, 

 bee-hunters ought long ago to have noted and reported it. 

 Page 72. 



Southern 

 * 23ccbom * 



j 



Conducted by Louis H. Scholl. New Braunfels, Tex. 



They Say that so many beekeepers are behind the 

 times. Which should they do — push or pull ? 



The Trouble with a good many persons is, they want 

 to start in the bee-business at the boss end of the job. 



To Know how to do a thing is a main point towards 

 success, and the cheapest way to learn it is the best. An 

 excellent plan is to get all the information and experience 

 possible from others, and in the columns of the bee-papers 

 is where this can be found. Of course, you should be equally 

 willing to impart knowledge and experience. Some people 

 seem to be possessed with the idea that the way to learn is 

 by personal experience, but in this only too many times can 

 be applied Josh Billings' old saying, that "experience is a 

 mighty dear school." Only too many of us have found this 

 to be only too true, so let it be a warning to the inexperi- 

 enced who are after experience. 



Baby Nuclei and Queen-Rearing 



Right along the line of queen-rearing comes an enquiry 

 just to hand : 



Id the last American Bee Journal I have read with a good deal of 

 interest an article in " Southern Beedom " about •' baby nuclei." You 

 use the6e words, " A double screen is used over the brood-nest." 

 What do you mean by a " double screen?" Do you mean a sheet of 

 perforated zinc to prevent the queen from passing, or do you mean a 

 screen made of close-woven wire-cloth? Why should it be double? 

 Would not one thickness of wire-cloth answer? In placing the parti- 

 tions in the hive-body, of course you place them in the long way, and 

 not across the hive. I believe this plan of rearing and inating.queens 

 will work all right, and I intend to give it a trial. Akthuk Ott. 



As I think Mr. Laws' method of mating queens, as re- 

 ferred to on page 140, one of the best, if not the best, cheap- 

 est, and most practical for the honey-producer, I shall de- 

 scribe it more in detail. While with Mr. Laws in his api- 

 aries last fall, he described his methods right on the hives 

 in the yards, and I must say that I rather like the plan, and 

 I am now preparing to give it a thorough trial. 



The double screens used are made in *he following way : 

 A rim, the exact size and outside dimensions as the top of 

 the hive, is made of ! + -inch square stuff. In the middle, 

 between the side pieces of the rim and running: crosswise of 

 this, is nailed another piece of the same Vinch stuff, to 

 keep the wire-cloth from sagging and coming together. 

 Both sides of the partitioned rim are now covered with com- 

 mon screen wire-cloth. This is tacked on with a few tacks, 

 and on top of its edges all around are tacked strips % -inch 

 thick and ; 4 -inch wide, forming a shallow rim to allow a 

 bee-space between the screen and the frames. At the same 

 time it makes a stronger screen by holding the edges of the 

 wire-cloth down, and as the U -inch side-pieces of the main 

 rim are cut full length, and the end-cleats only the inside 

 length between these, the pieces of the '+-inch rims are cut 

 just in the opposite way. The end-cleats of these are cut 



full length, while the side-cleats are shorter. This forms a 

 sort of dovetailed, or, rather, a lock corner, which strength- 

 ens the screen and keeps it true. 



The reason for having the screen double is that the bees 

 above and below are cut off more from communication, put- 

 ting them in a queenless condition better, which makes it 

 easier to introduce cells or virgins to the partitioned nuclei. 



Another important factor is, that if only a single wire- 

 screen is used the bees from below tantalize the virgin 

 queens above to such an extent that many queens are not 

 successfully mated. This trouble is obviated by having the 

 communication cut off by two screens with a \i -inch space 

 between them. 



The partitions in the hive-bodies run the long way, and 

 are simply solid board walls. Each of the partitions will 

 therefore admit the use of any standard frame from any 

 hive in the yard, and does not necessitate any special frame. 

 This is an important factor for the honey-producer. 



A 10 frame hive-body is divided into 3 parts, which 

 allows 3 nuclei of 3 combs each— generally one of honey, 

 one brood, and one of foundation. Such a body is placed 

 above one of the double screens over a brood-chamber con- 

 taining a colony of bees. Ripe queen-cells are introduced, 

 or virgins, and the queens allowed to mate, entrances being 

 provided to each partition for this by auger-holes through 

 the outside walls at different parts. A second screen and 

 another body thus partitioned can be used above. If the 

 brood-chamber below is made queenless this makes 7 nuclei 

 all in one, and a queen can be mated successfully in each. 

 The same combs can be used again for a second lot, but 

 Mr. Laws thinks it is better to start with a new lot of bees. 



After the queens are mated and removed, the whole lot 

 of nuclei are united into one colony. A new hive is placed 

 on the stand, after having removed the " nuclei colony," and 

 all the bees are shaken from the different partitions in front 

 of this new hive, and allowed to run in as a swarm. During 

 this the bees are handled rather roughly, and a good deal of 

 smoke is used, which permits of a queen being dropped 

 among them and allowed to enter the hive. 



It is not necessary to remove the queen from the lower 

 chamber, as queens are mated just the same above such a 

 colony, as there is no communication between the different 

 parts. This makes it valuable for the honey-producer, as 

 he can have his queens mated on any colony in the yard, 

 with very little trouble and expense. 



"The Rearing of Queen-Bees" 



Bulletin No. 55, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D. C, on "The Rear- 

 ing of Queen-Bees," has been read with much interest by 

 me. A delay in receiving a copy of this Bulletin was 

 caused by its being sent to my old address at College Sta- 

 tion, or mention of it would have been made of it ere this in 

 "Southern Beedom." It is something that I have long 

 wished for, namely, a bulletin giving in compact form the 

 latest methods and modus operandi for rearing queens. A 

 bulletin of this kind affords a most easy way of answering- 

 enquiries where the questioner asks a dozen, or sometimes 

 even more, questions that would consume much time to an- 

 swer. In the case of experiment station workers, who are 

 always more or less " kept busy " by being asked just such 

 questions, it is an easy matter to refer the enquirer to 

 " Bulletin No. so-and-so, which will give you the informa- 

 tion desired." 



Of many and more common subjects, a large number 

 of bulletins are kept on file of each in the different depart- 

 ments, and enquiries are answered simply by mailing one 

 of the bulletins giving the information. Hence, the reader 

 can easily understand the value of a bulletin containing in- 

 formation on queen-rearing, all in compact form, for the 

 enquirer of such information. 



Dr. E. F. Phillips, the writer of this Bulletin, has been 

 devoting much time and study to the subject of queen-rear- 

 ing, and he covers the subject quite thoroughly, aud in such 

 style that it is especially helpful to those bee-keepers who 

 wish to rear queens for their own use, and who are not 

 acquainted with the better methods of procedure in queen- 

 rearing. For this class this kind of bulletin is mainly in- 

 tended. The methods given have been tested, and success 

 has been obtained with them. To the advanced queen- 

 breeder there will be very little " new," yet there are often 

 points brought out in practical works of this kind that even 

 gray heads had not thought .iduut, or that were overlooked 

 or perhaps forgotten by them. 



The price of this Bulletin is 5 cents. 



