April 26, 



06 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL 



363 



* Contributed -f 

 Special Ctrttcles 



1 



^ 



Methods of Rearing Queen-Bees 



BY J. L. STROM.. 



IN 186S mi a farm in Henry County, towa, my father bought 

 his firsi colony of bees, in compliance with my request. 



We knew but little about hers then, but being anxious to 

 learn. I began hunting for articles on bees m hack numbers 

 of the American Apiculturist, in which M. Quinbj had an 

 article every month. He spoke of the Italians as being fai 

 superior to the common bees, and being anxious to secure the 

 best, 1 bought a colons the following season and began to 

 stud) queen-rearing. About this time Quinby's "Mysteries ol 

 Bee-Keeping Explained" fell into my hands. This book had 

 a fascination for me that no novel ever possessed. This 

 author said that just as good queens could be produced in 

 small boxes 3 or 4 inches square as in full-sized hives. So I 

 made a few of the ho.xes and began queen-rearing. 



It is needless to say that in\ first efforts were failures, from 

 want of experience, and from using too small boxes. Not 

 being inclined to give up here, 1 made some larger hives as 

 described by the Rev. E. L. Briggs in our local paper, who 

 was afterward my partner in queen-rearing. This hive wa 

 7J4 inches deep and 13 inches long inside, and held 8 or 10 

 combs, with just one-half the comb surface of the standard 

 Langstroth. and was designed to he used in connection with 

 one that held 3 combs for a mating-box. With this outfit I 

 was more successful and reared a few nice queens, as I then 



thought. Untested queens were then selling at $10 each, 

 warranted purely mated. A year or two later I wanted more 

 mating-boxes. and conceived the idea of dividing these 8-conih 

 hives with a hoard, with an entrance for one part on the south 

 and the other on the east side. This was my first experience 

 with twin mating-boxes. 



1 have reared queens in this way ever since, and see no 

 need of a change. I now use hives large enough for 6 combs 

 and a division-hoard, and when I want to close up in the 

 fall 1 dispose of the surplus queens, draw out the division 

 board, and unite two or more of these colonies until there 

 are hers enough for winter; then supply the necessary honey. 



I usually winter these colonies in the cellar one story, 

 hut have wintered them successfully on the summer stands 

 two stories high. I now have about 60 of these hives in the 

 cellar on top of a pile of 10-frame Langstroth hives, and thej 

 usually come out in good condition in the spring, and arc 

 quite handy to furnish tested queens early in the spring, and 

 also to divide up for queen-rearing nuclei. I do not want 

 less than 3 combs in a hive, so that I can have one empty 

 comb or sheet of foundation for the bees to fill. This makes 

 thrui better satisfied and less inclined to abscond; and I fee! 

 better when 1 know each colony in the yard has room enough 

 to st., re what honey they can gather for a few days. 



I find that when a queen begins to lay in One of tl 

 twin-hives, if the weather is cool, she often lays in the comli 



next to the division first. This diows that the cluster on the 

 other side helps to maintain thi requisite heat. 



\ Ill-frame Langstroth hivc-bodj can be easily changed 



to take these combs bj fitting ' inch hoards 7 inches wid< in 



,, long -ides to form the rabbets; tlten hang the combs 



crosswise Make 3 entrances, in each of the 3 sides 



. i west and south. Hive a .warm in this, and it the bees 

 work from each of the entrance about equal until thei 

 J combs with brood, remove the queen. Make -3 divisions 

 with a comb of brood in each, and give each part a ripe cell 

 or virgin queen to become fertile. 



Forming Ni - lei in T\a ix-lh 



Go to a stron when the bees are flying freely 



from 10 a m to 2 p. m. hirst find the queen, put her comb 

 and all into a comb-baskel Now take out the combs one 

 after another, shake and brush the bees into this twm-hive 

 until there are enough to stock both sides; then close up this 

 hive so that no bees can get out or pass from one side to the 

 other; for if they can there will be but one queen; the other 

 side will be used for surplus honey. 



Now set this hive in the cellar or m some other cool 

 place for 4 to 6 hours, when the bees will be ready to accept 

 any queen that may he yiven to them. I usually give a virgin 

 at 'this time, and with better success than when I give a virgin 

 where a hiving queen has been removed. This hive must be 

 furnished with combs and honey, hut no brood. 



I have had some experience with baby nuclei the past 

 two seasons, hut they have not been a success with me. 

 Thev do very well during the hot months, hut for the season 

 through I think more work is required to produce queens with 

 them than with the permanent nuclei. 



Feeding Syrup in Winter. 



This can be done, but it is not advisable. I will give my 

 experience. , ., , , 



\ few years ago there was a failure in the honey crop. 

 and I had 2 queen-rearing colonies without honey enough to 

 last until time to put them into the cellar. I had not intended 

 to try to winter them, as I had no combs of sealed honey to 

 give "them, but as there appeared to be plenty of bees, I con- 

 cluded to try feeding sugar syrup. So I. tilled a fruit-) ar with 

 syrup, put on a perforated cover, and inverted it above the 

 cluster These colonies were wintered in the cellar, and had 

 nothing but sugar syrup and came out in fairly good condition 

 in the spring They had soiled their hives a little, but not as 

 badlv as I have seen those do that were wintered on natural 

 stor 4 ~ Clar.nda, Iowa. 



Internal Hive Temperature- Some Experi- 

 ments 



BY G. M. DOOL1TTI.K. 



ON page 123 "Wisconsin" asks Dr. Miller some questions 

 regarding the 'internal hive temperature" that may be 

 expected inside the brood-nest, and above the same. 

 These questions, together with Dr. Miller's answers, led me 

 to think of some of the experiments I have conducted, and 

 as Dr Miller does not seem to have the exact figures at hand, 

 to fully answer "Wisconsin's" query, I trust he will excuse 

 me for giving the results of the experiments which I con-, 

 ducted, and in trying to answer his ("Wisconsin's ) ques- 

 tions, as well. 



The first question is, "How many degrees of temperature 

 is there in a bee-hive, in the brood-nest, or above the brood- 

 nest?" I found that, with my self-registering spirit ther- 

 mometer, it was very easy to get the highest temperature ever 

 obtained in the brood-nest; but not so easy to ascertain the 

 very lowest. From repeated trials during several years, I find 

 that 98 degrees is the greatest heat that is ever allowed by 

 the bees while rearing brood, unless the outside temperature 

 is so hot that the bees are all driven out from the hive, which 

 is never the case in this locality. And this was proven by an 

 experiment conducted on a day in which the mercury rose to 

 97 degrees in the shade, and 130 degrees in the sun, with the 

 hives all standing in the sun. Just how it was possible for 

 the bees to keep the temperature down to the brood-rearing 

 point is something I can only guess at; but I know that they 

 did it. My guess is, thai h was done through their ventilating 

 the hive from the entrance, with fanning wings, and the 

 evaporation or making of moisture through "boiling down" 

 thin nectar or water, or both, which, was brought in. I hardly 

 think it could have been done by ventilation alone, for on a 

 day when the air outside is within one degree of the limit 



