660 



SHE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



Oct. 21, 



honey-flow came on, soaie of them as fast as the brood hatcht 

 out that the hives might contain the bees filled it full of 

 honey, thus crowding the queen out. Some have died out, 

 while others have given their owners little or no profit, and 

 thus we see the contrast. 



Through the conditions that I have named, while the bees 

 in some parts of the country have swarmed more than usual, 

 we have had little or no swarming in Utah. I believe the 

 average has been from about 6 to 10 per cent., and many 

 have not even reacht those figures. One bee-keeper having 

 nearly 300 colonies has had only four swarms. Because the 

 bees have not swarmed, many of our bee-keepers have divided 

 their bees. This is decidedly the best method of increase, if 

 it is properly done, but some get too anxious and overdo it, or 

 they divide them too soon, or before they are strong enough. 

 This doesn't pay; in fact, It may be a losing game. Bees are 

 never dormant, or at a standstill, they either rush forward or 

 backward, for this reason it should never be overdone. It is 

 better to make a swarm from two or more colonies than to 

 weaken them by dividing too much. Of course, this subject is 

 like almost everything else in the bee-industry, it needs study, 

 proper care, and attention. I have followed the dividing 

 method for ten years, and it has always been a success with 

 me, much more so than natural swarming. 



% 



Salt Lake Co., Utah. 



No. 4. — Establishidg a Standard .for Queens. 



BY DR. E. GALLUP. 



Now, what are the ynost perfect conditions for rearing 

 qeens at swarmiug-time ? I mean as the bees naturally rear 

 them according to nature — a strong and numerous colony of 

 bees, warm weather and sufficient forage coming in to stimu- 

 late both bees and queen to the highest state of activity, so 

 that we can hear the roar and hum of the bees all night. 



In the above condition a strong colony is a perfect, natural 

 dynamo to manufacture a large amount of electricity or ani- 

 mal magnetism. Activity or animal magnetism Is the very 

 life itself. Without it no person or animated matter can live. 

 Right here is where the vim, vigor, or extra amount of vitality 

 is imparted to queens reared in those extremely large colo- 

 nies that I have before mentioned. If not so, will some one 

 better posted please explain ? I need not tell you that bees 

 may be all ready to swarm with sealed queen-cells, and the 

 right conditions are cut off, such as cold weather and extreme 

 drouth, etc., and they destroy their queen-cells and even kill 

 off their drones. Doolittle has gone over all the ground in his 

 book on queen-rearing. Now right here, under the above- 

 mentioned conditions, the queen-breeder may fail, and often 

 does fail, In rearing long-lived queens. In the most of locali- 

 ties in the season of 1 896, bad conditions prevailed, such as 

 extreme drouth, etc.. I attribute the cause of so many of my 

 queens received being superseded, to those bad conditions. I 

 had cold, bad conditions for awhile in the spring, but did not 

 attempt to rear queens until the weather changed, hence none 

 of the queens of my own rearing were superseded. 



Right here I will answer a question that has been askt 

 repeatedly : Do you think queens reared in the South are as 

 good as those reared In the North ? I certainly do. In Florida 

 and other parts of the South they have a continuous and un- 

 interrupted flow of nectar for a longer season than In the 

 North. I have corresponded with queen-breeders In differ- 

 ent parts of the South in regard to that very question ; their 

 flow M)ay not be, and perhaps is not, so abundant as It Is In 

 some parts and seasons In the North, yet they write that it is 

 usually continuous and steady — flrst-class conditions for rear- 

 ing good queens. They have another advantage — they can 

 ship young queens earlier than you possibly can from the 

 North. 



I had my plans all laid out for experimenting along the 

 line aforementioned, when I had to give up beekeeping and 

 take up my present occupation. Take a 10-frame Lang- 

 stroth hive three or four stories high ; flll the two lower 

 stories with brood-comb and hatching brood, and use my most 

 prolific queen. In the third story use some hatching brood. 

 Now I would use a queen-excluder between the second and 

 third story, but at that time I had not gotten hold of the idea. 

 Now you can rear your queens on the Doolittle plan ; but 

 then, as soon as I had the hive well filled with nursing bees 

 and brood In all stages, I removed the queen and let the bees 

 rear queen-cells, and if they could not gather sufficient forage 

 to stimulate strongly and regularly until the cells were ready 

 to remove. Of course, we could not regulate the weather, but 

 we could have all the other conditions as nearly natural as 

 possible. We might not have the long-lived bees, but on the 

 plan outlined we could soon rear them. 



I firmly believe on a similar plan we can improve our bees 

 beyond anything we have at present. If I had the time, I 

 certainly should put ray plans in force. What has been done 

 can be done again, if we only go at it in the right manner, 

 with the right spirit, and a full determination to succeed. Do 

 not be afraid of having your colony too strong and numerous ; 

 give abundance of ventilation from below, according to the 

 weather. 



Last spring, in orange-blossom time, I ran one colony 

 three stories high, and it stored 90 pounds of orange-blossom 

 honey, and if you can show anything nicer flavored I would 

 like to see it. In putting on the third story. Instead of rais- 

 ing up the second story, as many recommend, and placing the 

 third story under, I raised one-half the combs and spread 

 them, or alternated a full frame with an empty one in both 

 stories, and unintentionally I got a comb with eggs in the 

 upper story, and on this comb I saved five nice, large queen- 

 cells. Those queens are proving extra-good ones — large, ex- 

 tra-prolific, and grand workers. I did not di-^cover them un- 

 til they were nearly ready to hatch — in fact, one of them 

 crawled out of the cell In my hand. I made a nucleus of one 

 comb of hatching brood and the adhering bees (this was In 

 the forenoon) ; in the evening I liberated her, and used a little 

 tobacco smoke. 



Right here I will state that I have always succeeded in 

 introducing queens, whether virgins of any age, or fertile, 

 with tobacco smoke. 



Well, I expected to have to help that queen with more 

 bees and brood, but she started out so remarkably well that I 

 gave her empty frames as fast as required, and she has filled 

 her hive and a super completed, and has a strong and numer- 

 ous colony to-day (Aug. 31). She hatcht June 21. Now this 

 was a case where no queen-excluder was used. It was not a 

 case of supersedure, for the old queen is there in the hive yet. 

 It simply happened so without any intention on my part. Who 

 knows but we can rear queen-cells in third or fourth stories 

 of a strong populous colony without queen-excluders? I do 

 not know. 



This colony was one that I used for honey, aud the one 

 that stored the 90 pounds of orange honey. 



Well, I have now said enough to give you my ideas of 

 queen-rearing. Now go ahead and improve on it all you can. 

 But do not run down and deteriorate our race of bees by bad 

 breeding. Build up and Improve Instead of tearing down. 

 Again I say, we certiiinly ain lmi)n}vc on Die slock we alreuOy 

 heme. Orange Co., Calif. 



The Apiarian Exhibit at the Nebraska Falr^ 



liY HON. K. WIIITfOiMH. 



The honey show this year Is superb, and from the entries 

 of fine alfalfa honey, we are warned that the western part of 



