1897. 



THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



439 



tious each. I have one hive tiered up four stories high — 32 

 LaiiRslroth frames. 



I have a queen in one of my hives that lays two, three, 

 and sometimes four and five eggs in each ceil ; sometime two 

 and three of the eggs will hatch and grow about half size, 

 then the bees take out all but one and seal it over. Any one 

 to look at it would call it the work of a laying worker, but it 

 is not, as all the bees hatch out workers. The queen Is as 

 large as any I ever had. This queen was hatcht last fall, and 

 didn't lay till this spring. I saw Mr. L. C. Root two weeks 

 ago, and spoke to him about it. He said she was something 

 of a freak, as he had never seen nor heard of one before. May 

 be Dr. Miller can tell something about it. 



I am trying to get ready to go to the bee-keepers' conven- 

 tion at Buffalo. I have never attended any yet. 



New York. 



Answer.— Mr. Root is right in considering the case very 

 unusual, provided the queen has plenty of room to lay. Some- 

 times when a queen is crowded for room she will put more 

 than one egg in a cell, but the probability is that in your case 

 there is plenty of room. 



Do Swarms Is§uc Willioiit Drones? 



Do drones go with a swarm when they leave for parts un- 

 known ? Missouri. 



Answer. — It is possible that a swarm of bees might issue 

 without any drones, but it is doubtful whether such swarm 

 ever does issue, whether it absconds or not. 



^ 



Perhaps Cro^vded Out. 



I have a good many colonies, and the bees of one all con- 

 gregate on the outside of the hive and cover it all over, and 

 have done so for 8 or 10 days. It is a swarm that came from 

 another hive. What is the matter with them ? 



Ml.SSOURI. 



Answer. — The probability is that there is not room 

 enough in the hive, and not ventilation enough. Raise the 

 hive half an inch or so by putting blocks under the corners, 

 and give additional room by means of supers or otherwise. If 



in the sun, shade. 



^ ■ — ^ 



Qiieen.Rearing and Dividing Colonies. 



1. I would like some information about rearing queens. 



2. What can I do with them after I rear them, until I 

 wish to sell or use them ? The •' A B C of Bee-Culture " gives 

 two or three ways, but it only gives them as new ideas to ex- 

 perienced queen-rearers, but does not tell how to start, or 

 what to do, or how to keep them until used ? 



3. Would you divide new swarms this year '? 



4. What time should I divide ? 



5. In dividing, how many colonies ought J to get out of 

 every six colonies ? 



6. I have one common box-hive, with a large swarm in it 

 working well. Would you divide it ? Virginia. 



Answers. — 1. If you are thinking of going into the busi- 

 ness of rearing queens for the market, it will be quite desir- 

 able to inform yourself in the fullest possible manner as to 

 the details of the business, and you cannot well afford to do 

 without Doolittle's book on queen-rearing. You say that the 

 information given in Root's "A B C of Bee-Culture" is rather 

 for experienced queen-rearers, so you probably want some- 

 thing more elementary in character. In the limited space 

 here allowed, a few hints may be given to help you and others 

 without experience, at least some of the most important points 

 to keep in mind. 



A colony whose queen is taken away will rear a queen if 

 it has present eggs or larvfe not more than two or three days 

 old. Even a mere handful of bees on a single comb will 

 promptly go to work to repair their loss, and a strong colony 

 may be divided up into a dozen nuclei to start queen-cells. 

 But if you want good queens for yourself and others, put it 

 down as your first rule that under no consideration will you 



have queen-cells started in anything but strong colonies. You 

 may take any plan you like as to getting the cells, using arti- 

 ficial cell-cups after Doolittle, using Alley's plan of having 

 strips of cells with young worker-brood, every alternate cell 

 having its larva killed by a match, using drone-cells for cell- 

 cups, or you may leave the bees to their own sweet will as to 

 starting cells wherever they like, but in all cases you must 

 have your cells reared in full, strong colonies. Queens reared 

 In tiny nuclei with a minimum of bees are worth nothing, and 

 less than nothing. 



The simplest possible procedure is to go to one of your 

 best colonies, the one having your best queen, having added 

 brood to it a week previous if not strong to your liking, and 

 tal<e away the queen. This must be at a time when the 

 weather is favorable and bees are storing. Nine days after 

 taking away the queen you may take from the colony two 

 frames of brood with bees adhering, being sure that one or 

 more queen-cells are present. Put these two frames in a 

 separate hive, and you have a nucleus that will have a laying 

 queen in less than two weeks. You can form other nuclei in 

 the same way, so that If there are 10 frames of brood in the 

 hive you may have five nuclei from which you can get five 

 good queens. 



You may increase beyond this the number of queens 

 reared. A week after the removal of the queen, look through 

 the colony and count how many queen-cells are present. If 

 there are 10 or 12, then you can have 10 or 12 queens. 

 Whatever the number, prepare right away for that number of 

 nuclei. Take away from one or more of your colonies two 

 frames of brood and bees with the queen, putting them in a 

 separate hive. Two days later (which will be nine days from 

 the time of making your first colony queenless) form nuclei 

 by taking for each nucleus two frames of brood and bees, 

 being sure that plenty of bees are in each, for some of the 

 bees will return to their old home. With the small blade of a 

 pocket-knife cut out a queen-cell, having at the upper part 

 or base of the cell perhaps half an inch of the comb more than 

 the cell. Put this cell against the side of one of your frames 

 in a nucleus, nailing it there with a common wire nail an inch 

 and a half long. Be sure to run the nail through the upper 

 part of the piece, and not through the cell itself. Serve all 

 your nuclei in the same way, and your part of the work is 

 done. The bees will do the rest. 



After forming your nuclei, the hives with the old queens 

 may be returned to the old place. 



While you may rear as many queens as you have cells, it 

 is a wise thing to have more than one cell in a nucleus. When 

 swarming-time comes you will find plenty of good cells in a 

 colony that has cast a swarm. 



2. Each queen is kept in a nucleus till wanted. 



3. No, take old colonies. 



4. The best time is.at the time bees are swarming. By 

 feeding you may commence sooner, but it's up-hill busines, if 

 the weather is not warm. You may continue after swarming- 

 time is over, feeding if honey is not coming in. 



5. Perhaps 30. 



6. Let it swarm naturally. 



A Ne'w Binder for holding a year's numbers of the 



American Bee Journal, we propose to mail, postpaid, to every 



subscriber who sends us 20 cents. It is called "The Wood 



Binder," is patented, and is an entirely new and very simple 



arrangement. Full printed directions accompany each Binder. 



Every reader should get it, and preserve the copies of the Bee 



Journal as fast as they are received. They are invaluable for 



reference, and at the low price of the Binder you can afford to 



get it yearly. 



^-.» ♦ 



Every Present Subscriber of the Bee Journal 



should be an agent for it, and get all others possible to sub- 

 scribe for it. See offers on page 433. 



