THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL AND GAZETTE. 



229 



^Froni the BienenzcituDg ] 



Italianizing Stocks. 



Whoever keeps and cultivates bees, does so 

 ■either lor pleasure or profit, or for both, and 

 cannot iu any way so certainly attain his object 

 as by the introduction of the Italian bee in his 

 apiary. It will be a gratification to him to be 

 able to verify experiment-ally the various facts 

 in the natural history and habits of the bee by 

 which the mystery in which the subject was for 

 ages involved has been elucidated. An assiircd 

 knowledge of these facts will also render the 

 intelligent application of them to the purpose 

 he has in view all the more easy and make suc- 

 cess more certain, as he will be able to substi- 

 tute principles for mere empirical processes. 

 He becomes emphatically master of the situa- 

 tion, has his forces completely under control, 

 and can direct their energies as an enlightened 

 judgment dictates. For the speedy acquisition 

 of this knowledge, the Italian bees are of the 

 utmost importance, and thus possess a specific 

 -scientific value, apart from their superix)rity as 

 honey-gatherers which renders them so desirable 

 to those who aim to secure pecuniary profit also. 

 Thus, in either view the Italianizing of an 

 apiary is a matter of special interest. How is 

 it to be accomplished ? 



The speediest mode certainly is to piT)cnre as 

 many Ital au queens as we have common stocks, 

 and substitute these for those of the common 

 race. But this is an expensive mode, and not 

 always feasible even where operations may be 

 conducted without much regard to cost. 



The more common practice is to purchase one 

 or more Italian cjueens, rear young queens from 

 these in nuclei hives, and gradually build up the 

 latter by introducing brood from common stocks 

 till they have become sufficiently strong to 

 maintain themselves as independent colonies. 

 If this be undertaken during the same season 

 when the Italian queen was procured, all or 

 nearly all of the young queens thus reared will 

 be impurely fertilized, from the want of pure 

 drones and the superabundance of common 

 drones in the apiary and neighborhood. These 

 bastardized queens have subsequently to be 

 superseded by others purely fertilized, which 

 can rarely be effected till tlie following year, 

 especially if the bee-keeper is still a novice ; 

 and I therefore preferred modilying tlie process, 

 and hastening more slowly. 



I procured and introduced an Italian queen 

 in an ordinary stock of common bees, and then 

 took care to get it iu good wintering condition by 

 inserting occasionally combs containing brood, 

 pollen, and honey. The following spring, as 

 soon as it conta ued plenty of worker brood and 

 some drones had made their appearance, I 

 formed a small artificial colony by means of the 

 queen — proceeding thus : 1 part the hive 

 thoroughly, examining each comb as I take it 

 out and loolving lor the queen. Finding her, I 

 set the <;omb on which she is aside temporarily. 

 I then select a comb composed iu the main or 

 altogether of worker brood nearly mature, place 

 the queen among the bees adhering to it, and 

 set it iu a nucleus hive. To this I add a comb 

 containing honey and pollen, setting it at one 



side of the brood comb, and placing an empty 

 comb on the other. I now return the remaining 

 combs to the parent h.ve in order due, after 

 running a portion of the bees from each into 

 the nucleus hive, then close the hive and replace 

 it on its original stand. I supply the nucleus 

 with water in a feeding trough, and set it in any 

 convenieut place in the apiary. Though crowded 

 with bees at first, most of the old ones will 

 leave and rejoin the parent stock, but the young 

 ones will remain in sufficient numters to protect 

 the maturing brood, from which they will be 

 rapidl}^ re-entbrced, and their hive contains all 

 the requisites for the sustenance of the larvae, 

 which will,m a few days, be hatched from the egga 

 laid by the queen. By introducing additional 

 worker brood from other stocks this artificial 

 colony may very soon be made strong enough 

 to bear dividing in the same manner, and the 

 queen made to contribute to anew the multipli- 

 cation of stock. 



The bees of the parent hive will soon become 

 aware of their queenless state, and proclaim it 

 by their restlessness. But conscious of possess- 

 ing the means of supplying their loss, they will 

 so(>n become reconciled and proceed to apply 

 the remedy by erecting queen cells over a select 

 number of worker larvae. On the ninth day 

 after forming the nucleus I open the i^arent hive 

 again and ajjportion among theeombs the queen 

 cells then lound, inserting one of the>e in each 

 of the combs, if a sufficient number have been 

 started. If I have more queen cells than can 

 thus be disposed of, I take as many combs from 

 other hives as I can use, shake off the iidhering 

 bees, insert a queen cell in each, and plaee them 

 in the queenless hive. In a fewliours all these 

 cells will be properly fastened by the bees, and 

 the business of multiplying stock may now be 

 resumed. For this purpose I have in readiness 

 as many nucleus hives, less one, as I have queen 

 cells available These little hives areof various 

 sizes ; some fitted to receive one, some two, and 

 some three combs. I prefer those suited lor two 

 combs. Into each of these nuclei liives I plice 

 a comb containiug a queen cell, with ad the ad- 

 hering bees, and add to it a comb at least 

 half filled with hone}^ One brood comb with 

 a queen cell and one comb Avith honey will re- 

 main in tlie parent hive, into which a dividing 

 board is to be set so as to contract the space to the 

 wants of the now reduced colony. Tlus opera- 

 tion must be performed veiy carefully., so that 

 the entire population of the parent liive may be 

 equally apportioned among the nuclei. Tliese 

 should now be closed, and carried to a new 

 location, a. mile or two dist^int from the old 

 stand, and remain there till the young queens 

 have been hatched and fertilized. They may 

 then be brought back and built up by adding 

 worker brood from other stocksin such quautily 

 from time to time as can be well coveied and 

 protected by the recipients of the bounty. 



A second process wiiich I sometimes emiJloy, 

 is as follows: I remove from a stock of comipou 

 or hybr d bees, one or more combs containing 

 sealed brood, with all the adhering bees, place 

 them in a nucleus hive and carry this to a dis- 

 tant locality. Kext day after the bees have 

 become conscious of their queenless and help- 

 less condition— lor there must be none but sealed 



