I}e (5ee-J\eepeps' jAe\^ie(i) 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL 



Devoted to tl^e Iqterests of Hoiqey Producers. 



$1,00 A YEAR. 



W. Z. HDTCHINSON, Editor and Proprietor. 



VOL XI. FLINT. MICHIGAN, AUGUST 10, 1898. NO. 



QUEEN REARING. 



Some of the Ingenious Plans and Devices now 

 Emplojed in tlie Business. 



W. H. PRIDGEN. 



^^' 

 & 



m HIS article will 

 ^ not treat of all 

 the ways b}' which 

 queens can be 

 reared; nor of such 

 as work well un- 

 der the most fa- 

 vorable circum- 

 stances, with the 

 least labor, but, at 

 other times, are 

 attended with a partial or total failure. 

 Instead, it will give a sure way of secur- 

 ing good ones and having cell-cups in- 

 variably accepted, whether the honey 

 flow is continuous, or feeding has to be 

 resorted to; and it is suited to the rearing 

 of a few or to queen rearing on an exten- 

 sive scale. 



The preparation of the cell-builders is 

 an important factor. To begin with, we 

 will fill a hive with combs of brood, with- 

 out bees, taken from the colonies that 

 can best spare them, substituting empty 

 combs or frames filled with foundation. 



Place this brood over a populous colony 

 with a queenex-cluder between. Ten 

 days later remove all queen-cells, if any; 

 give the hive-body a top and bottom, set 

 the lower hive containing the queen off a 

 few feet, and the other in its place. If 

 the bees are flying freely the queenless 

 half will be ready to accept a batch of 

 cells in four or five hours. 



This plan has the advantage of having 

 young bees added to the cell-builders, for 

 a day or two, from the part containing 

 the queen and brood, and adds much to 

 the quality of the young queens. 



When the batch of queen-cells are re- 

 moved, select the next colony for cell 

 building; find the queen and hang the 

 comb she is on in an empty hive near by. 

 Set her hive off its stand and the former 

 cell builders on it with an empty body 

 over the latter. Now shake the bees from 

 nearly all the combs in among the queen- 

 less bees; return the comb and queen, 

 'and place her hive where the queenless 

 one stood. In a few hours, or as soon as 

 the bees become restless, or show the 

 queenless sign, they will be ready for cell- 

 building. As they have no brood, we 

 must not forget to place a comb on each 

 side of the cells as soon as they are seal- 

 ed; as it has a good effect generally and 

 prevents the bees from gnawing off the 



