VOL. IV. 



NOVEMBER, 1894. 



NO. II. 



Queen Rearing Hives. 



r.Y ilIAS II. THIES. 



This topic may look a little out of 

 the season, but now is the time to pre- 

 pare for next season's work among the 

 bees. A suitable hive for the rearing 

 of queen bees was for a long time a 

 problem for me, and may be today for 

 some, hence these remarks ; and while 

 I have found a hive for the purpose 

 that just suits me, I do not say that 

 they will please you, but at any rate I 

 think it would pay you to give them 

 a trial. The small 3 and 4 frame 

 hives made for that purpose are all 

 right in some respects, but they do not 

 please me at all in other respects. 



First, it takes but a very little wind 

 to blow them over, if the wind just 

 comes right, particularly when they 

 are not heavy with honey which they 

 usually are not. These small hives 

 will need to be fastened down some 

 way, or every light wind will have 

 them over on one side, often killing a 

 lot of bees, and sometimes a queen by 

 the combs coming together. Again 

 there is quite a lot of work in uniting 

 these small colonies for winter. The 

 hive I use for this purpose is the reg- 

 ular 8 frame Langstroth or Simplicity 



hive, with throe saw kerfs sawed on 

 the inside of each end about \x\ in- 

 ches ; one I saw right straight down 

 through the center ; the other two 

 about 2 inches from each side wall. 

 Now I have thin boards as deep as the 

 hive and just thick and long enough to 

 slide down in these kerfs easily. One 

 of these boards is slid down in the 

 center kerf, which divides the hive in 

 two nice 3 frame Nuclei hive. En- 

 trances should be made on opposite 

 ends. This I do by nailing § inch 

 strips all around the hive, except 

 where the entrance is to be ; these 

 strips need only be tacked on, so they 

 can be easily removed when the hive 

 is wanted for usual purposes. These 

 thin division boards serve another pur- 

 pose in cold weather : these two nuclei 

 help to keep each other warm, each 

 nucleus having only one side exposed 

 to the outside temperature. Then 

 again when you wish to unite just sim- 

 ply draw r out the division board, (but 

 better first take out one of the queens) 

 now take two of these thin boards, slide 

 one down in each kerf next to the side 

 walls, and you have a double walled 

 hive at least on each side, close one 

 entrance and you have your uniting 

 done. If your nuclei are very strong 



