AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



495 



Report of the Indiana Stale 

 Bee-Keepers' Convention. 



Written for the American B^« Journal 

 BY WALTER S. POUDEK. 



(Continued from page 465. ) 

 We will now proceed with our regular 

 programme, which is an essay by Mr. J. 

 F. Michael, of German, Ohio, on 



The Rearing of Q,ueen-Bees. 



I esteem it quite an honor to be called 

 upon to contribute my. mite towards 

 making this meeting a grand success, 

 regretting, however, my inability to grap- 

 ple with a question of such magnitude. 



W. Z. Hutchinson, Editor of the Bee- 

 Keepers' Review, says in the November 

 number, " I feel safe in saying that in 

 all probability the queen-trade of 1892 

 was not less than 20,000 queens. This 

 estimate is based upon the queens reared 

 in the United States alone." As the 

 profits of the apiary depend largely 

 upon the quality of the queens used, we, 

 as queen-rearers, should try to maintain 

 a high standard for the queens we place 

 upon the market. The object, then, of 

 this article will be, in a measure, 

 to show how to rear good queens, as 

 poor ones are dear at any price. 



Remember not to crowd the capacity of 

 the queen-rearing colony ; if you do, 

 poor queens will be the result. The 

 condition of the queen-rearing colony 

 must be good, whether this method, or 

 some others are used. If queens are 

 reared before swarming time is at hand, 

 artificial means must be resorted to, so 

 as to place the colony in a normal con- 

 dition ; but I very much doubt whether 

 any financial benefit will be the result 

 in trying to get ahead of the season. 

 When warm weather has come to stay, 

 and honey is coming in freely, select a 

 colony whose queen is a good layer, and 

 average in size — one whose bees will 

 stand tumbling to the ground occasion- 

 ally without becoming angry — and place 

 a queen-excluding honey-board over the 

 brood-cbamber. 



A second story, filled with frames of 

 honey, hatching brood and frames con- 

 taining figgs and larvEe can now be 

 placed upon the brood-chamber, pre- 

 pared as described above. These frames 

 of honey, brood and larvfe should be 

 taken from colonies that can spare them. 

 If the proper conditions have been 

 observed, in a few days several queen- 

 cells may be found upon the combs con- 

 taining larvfe. Artificial queen-cells 

 can now be made, and the royal jelly 

 taken from these cells and a small por- 

 tion placed in each of the artificial cells. 

 Now procure a larva for each cell, of 

 the queen from which you wish to rear 

 queens, and with a quill tooth-pick 

 transfer the larvae to the cells ; this 

 being done, with the open end of the cell 

 downward, push it into the comb near 

 where the cells of royal jelly were found. 

 Or, a still better way is to remove a por- 

 tion of comb from the center of a frame, 

 and while holding the frame bottom side 

 up, fasten the cells by means of melted 

 wax in the center of the comb. 



These cells are to be placed between 

 frames containing brood in all stages 

 or the bees will pay no attention to 

 them. If the larvte used are of the 

 right age, the queens will hatch in 11 

 or 12 days. Experience will soon teach 

 you the kind of larvse to use. When 

 the larvEB are too old, the queens are in- 

 ferior in quality and about worthless. 

 By using a sharp knife in reducing the 

 comb to 3^ of an inch of the septum, the 

 minute grub can be transferred to the 

 cells without much trouble. 



Nuclei colonies must be made three or 

 four days before the queens will hatch • 

 and about one or two days before the 

 queens are expected to hatch, give each 

 nucleus a cell. If queen-rearing is ex- 

 tensively followed, the lamp-nurserv 

 may be brought into service. When re- 

 moving cells from the queen-rearing 

 colony, examine every comb carefully 

 for the bees often build queen-cells 

 where they ought not to, and these will 

 hatch out and do much mischief. 



Frames containing brood in all stages 

 must>be kept on each side of the cells 

 or the bees may leave the cell and find 

 work below with "mother and older sis- 

 ters." The queen from which you rear 

 queens should be in her prime, medium 

 in size, a good layer, and her progenv 

 good workers, as well as amiable in dis 

 position. Late in the season, when 

 nights become cool, the queens are smal 

 ler and darker. 



One very important matter seems tn 

 have passed the notice of queen-rearers 

 and that is, to have an^abundance of 



