THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



117 



■prototypes among us, they have their use 

 an the economy of iJieir society. 



You next examine the comb. You dis- 

 •cover tliat some cells are much larger than 

 others. In these the drones are reared, 

 while in the smaller cells the queen only 

 places worker eggs, from which only 

 workers will develop. Bending closely to 

 the comb, in your eagerness to see all, you 

 behold the long, cylindrical, slightly curved 

 •eggs, fastened to the very bottom of the 

 smaller cells, for so early — in April — no 

 drone eggs are to be seen. At the to}^ of 

 the cards of comb you note considerable 

 •capped honey, and so sharp has become 

 your observation that you even observe 

 that the caps are light colored, and slightly 

 <;oucave. Lower down on the cards you 

 «ee patches of small cells capped over, but 

 the caps are darker and convex. While 

 looking at one of these cells, you behold 

 with utter astonishment the emergence of a 

 young bee all fresh and wrinkled. This, 

 then, is the brood, and you are in raptures 

 to see the large amount of it, and lisp 

 something about the profit of early stimula- 

 tive feeding. 



Along the last of May, perhaps not till 

 June, though the experience has been mine 

 ■even the first week in May, you behold 

 'drone brood, in the large cells of course, 

 and here the caps are not only convex, but 

 •even project, so that drone brood is a 

 marked feature of the hive. Happy are 

 you if you find very little of this. If there 

 is much, cut it out and cast it away, for 

 more than a very few drones are worse 

 than useless. Now you must watch very 

 closely, for soon there will be built from 

 the face or edge of the comb great queen 

 cells looking like wax thimbles. Now let 

 your sharpened observation have its perfect 

 work. Note which of your colonies is 

 strongest in bees and brood, and cut all 

 drone brood and queen cells from the other 

 hives. Here is your opportunity to select 

 in breeding bees. 



TO REAR QUEENS. 



Now watch for queen cells in your best 

 colony, and so soon as you see them, with 

 a creamy looking substance at the bottom, 

 or at the risk of the bees swarming you can 

 wait for them to be capped over, take one 

 good one on each of four frames, or if this 

 is not possible, cut out of the comb con- 

 taining the cell a wedge-shaped piece, 

 widest above, and place in an opening cut 

 in other combs, being very careful not to 

 press or injure the cell. And thus with 

 four frames each containing a capped 

 queen cell you can proceed. Now if you 

 have a hive with frames a foot square, that 

 will take twelve, divide the hive into four 

 separate apartments, entirely close, by in- 

 serting division boards, and cover each 

 apartment with a separate quilt. Place this 



on a bottom board so cut that the bees can 

 pass out of and into each apartment from 

 dillerent sides of the hive — to the end 

 apartments from the ends, to the middle 

 from the sides. Now take the frames with 

 the queen cells, also well covered with bees, 

 but in no case containing the (jueen, and 

 place one in each apartment, (to to the 

 other hives and lake four frames with nmcli 

 brood and some honey, and also (covered 

 with bees. Put one of these into each of 

 the apartments. The old bees will return 

 to the old hives, while the young bees will 

 not quarrel, and will be sufficient in num- 

 bers to cover and care for the brood. Thus 

 in about sixteen days you will probably 

 have four good queens, and will be prepared 

 for artificial swarming, which I will de- 

 scribe in good time. Of course you will 

 insert empty frames in the old hives, four 

 in each, and destroy all the queen cells ex- 

 cept the four you used. With the added 

 room the old colonies will not probably 

 build more queen cells. If they do build 

 more, destroy them. 



Be very careful that the bees in your nu- 

 cleus hives cannot pass from one apartment 

 to another under the quilts, else the first 

 queen hatched will destroy all the others. 



If before cutting out the queen cells the 

 bees should swarm, you can hive them in 

 another hive — which of course you have 

 all ready — by shaking or brushing them 

 into a box or basket, and emptying them 

 on a board in front of the hive. In all 

 such cases put at least one comb of brood 

 in the new hive, for then they will scarce 

 ever go oft', but in this particular case it 

 would be better to take from their old hive 

 four frames containing the least brood, also 

 four frames from the other hive containing 

 brood — though in this case shake off all the 

 bees — and give them to the new colony 

 with four empty frames, and make the four 

 nuclei in the old hive. The convenient 

 form for nuclei is another recommendation 

 in favor of the Gallup frame. Thus well 

 started in queen raising, we will read the 

 old Journal, study our book, and by all 

 means not forget to look very often at the 

 bees, and wait for further instruction. 



S. R. Peck, Newport, Ky., writes :— •' The 

 April number of the American Bee Jour- 

 sal contains an Editorial on the subject of 

 hee-stings and their remedies, and concludes 

 thus : " But we have discarded every other 

 application since beconiing acquainted with a 

 Oerman remedy lately introduced. A drop 

 or two will remove all trace and effect of a 

 sting in a very few minutes. It costs but a 

 trifle per bottle, and a single bottle will last 

 a bee-keeper for a life-time." Please inform 

 us in the May number of the American Bee 

 Journal where, and of whom, the remedy 

 can be obtained, and oblige a subscriber." 



