92 SOUTHERN BEE CULTURE 



is affected by them it can be easily examined ; and if there is no queen 

 present, there are fertile workers. It is useless to try to introduce laying 

 queens to colonies thus affected, for the bees will kill them, and they 

 wiir not always accept a queen-cell, especially if the colony has been affected 

 by them for some time; but if not, they may accept a ripe queen-cell (one 

 nearly ready to hatch), and the colony be saved; otherwise it had better be 

 broken up and the combs given to colonies, for the bees are very old, and 

 will soon die, and not be of much value anyway; but if the colony is strong, 

 exchange the frames for hatching brood from strong colonies, and in a few 

 days there will be many young bees in the hive, and they will accept a 

 queen or a queen-cell, and perhaps already have cells started, if there 

 should be any very young bees in the cell of the proper age to raise a queen 

 from. 



Fertile or laying workers are a pest, and no apiary or colony of bees 

 should be so neglected as to be become affected by them. 



QUEEN-REARING. 



Queen-rearing is a very important part of bee-keeping, but comes on 

 later, after the bee-keeper has done considerable practical work among 

 his bees and has ' given them much thought, and has his apiary in a 

 progressive condition. If queen-rearing is taken up at the same time bee- 

 keeping is, you have bitten off too much at one time, for it is enough to 

 study and care for your bees at first, and, later, you will gradually grow 

 into queen-rearing anyway. But 'don't wait until you acquire this knowledge 

 before you supply your colonies with good queens, select yourself a queen- 

 breeder or a bee-keeper who raises a surplus of queens, and has some to 

 sell. He will furnish you with good queens at a reasonable price, and at the 

 same time give you all needed instructions to introduce them successfully 

 to the colonies. 



It is not a good idea to buy queens from different queen-breeders, for 

 you are likely to get your stock mixed, and it will give you a lot of trouble. 

 So it is best to select yourself a queen-breeder who is making a specialty of 

 the strain of bees you wish to keep. 



It is poor policy to begin bee-keeping with an inferior or run-down 

 strain of bees to practice with, or to gain knowledge from, for it is uphill, 

 and steep at that, and results are not at all satisfactory; and I want to 

 emphasize this fact, because it is the cause of there being no more progressive 

 apiaries in the South than there are. So it is very necessary to have a good 

 tested queen in each hive as soon as we start bee-keeping. 



But going back to the subject of raising queens, it will be noticed that, 

 under the heading of "Honey-bees," a queen bee is developed by the 

 worker bees by highly feeding her, and by the care they give it, and, of 



