GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 



top, and walk off with it, that people will 

 l)uy it when they wouldn't invest in honey 

 otlierwise. I tliink our engraver has got np 

 a ratlier pretty picture, don't you V By the 

 way, if you are dealing in implements and 

 supplies, perhaps you can make such stands 

 as the above during your idle season, and 

 hav^ tliem ready for sale when the honey 

 l)usiuess ()i)ens. " A bee-keeper ought never 

 to be ol)liged to say he has nothing to do — no, 

 not even on rainy days, or in the fall or win- 

 ter time. 



The prices of these honey-stands will be 

 the same as the old style given in our i)rice 

 list : namely, linished complete, lettered and 

 varnished, .Sl.UU; ten for $7.oO. In the hat. 

 ()0 cts. ; ten for $5.00. You can judge from 

 the above price whether it will be cheaper 

 to make them or buy them. 



SOME SUGGESTIONS IN REGARD TO 

 REARING NICE QUEENS. 



CO.VIMUNICATEI) VEItBALI.Y BY U. A. .TONES. 



PRESUME that the friends will be glad 

 to know that friend Jones lias been pay- 

 ing us a visit of a few days. Of course, 

 we have had many talks in regard to 

 bee-matters, and one of these talks was 

 al)out rearing nice (jueens. I will try to give 

 the plan as lie described it to me. In the 

 lirst place, he lielieves in having queen-cells 

 built in i)owcrful colonies. How shall we 

 get a i)()\verful colony for the purpose V A 

 good many would say,"'' Put in brmid." '' Not 

 so," says friend Joiies. Many colonies have 

 as much brood as they can take care of al- 

 ready. If you put in moi-e, you are going to 

 overstrain their powers in trying to feed a 

 larger (juantity, and the conse(pience is oft- 

 en a loss, where tliey would have beeu all 

 i-ight if left alone. Ilave any of you had ex- 

 yierience in this way ? Well, ourh'iend John 

 (one of our young Canadians, you know) 

 suggested that we put in hatching brood. 

 But it is dirticult to get liatcliing l)rood with- 

 out a good deal of misealed brood and eggs 

 as well, therefore our strengthening up has 

 to be done l)y giving the colony youug bees, 

 (i^et these l)y taking some frames froui a jx)))- 

 ulouscolonv; and bvtapiiing tliem, get ail tlie 

 old or matiire bees" to lly (iff. To get lid of 

 all the bees that are able to tly still further, 

 shake them on a large newspaper, or several 

 l>apers, in front of the hive you wish to 

 strengthen. All the bees that can fly will 

 soon go home. After these wliite downy 

 bees have collected in a cluster on the papers 

 (because they donotknow^wliere to go), take 

 a small brush or feather and start them into 

 the hive. Any hive will receive these bees, 

 and they rarely if ever molest the queen. 

 Get your bees ifrom all over your apiary in 

 this way till your queen-rearing hive is boil- 

 ing over and ready to swarm. Under the 

 swarming inii)ulse they will start queen-cells 

 in great nund)ers, especially if they have a 

 dash of IIoly-l.,and blood. " If they swarm, 

 take away tlie queen, and let them go ])ack, 

 then they will build cells with a caution. 

 Ordinarily, you know, the first queen that 

 hatches destroys the other cells. Friend 

 Jones says, thai with this over-populous col- 



ony under the swarming impulse they will 

 not do so. Most of you have seen a lot of 

 qiieens all hatched out at once, in a strong 

 colony. With IIoly-Lands I have seen young 

 queeiis flying all around, crawling over the 

 combs, making things lively generally. I 

 suppose many of you ha^'e seen something 

 similar. 



Well, now, here our young queens hatch 

 out in a full colony, just like queens hatched 

 out in a lamp nursery, or l)elter. if you think 

 so, for you can put them in nuclei ready to 

 receive them, or introduce them to (pieenless 

 colonies. If you keep track of the hive, you 

 can. a great many times, cut out (pieen-cells 

 where the queens are just gnawing out. As 

 IIoly-Lands often hatch a dozen (jueens or 

 more inside of an hour, we can often get a 

 pretty good lot by l)eing on hand aiid ready 

 to care for them. If you want to see (pieen- 

 cells beyond any thing y(»u ever knew of be- 

 fore, just use all these young cpieens, and let 

 this over-poi)ul()us coh'niy, having all young 

 bees prettv nnicli, start iii On a second lot of 

 cells. If t"liey have this Holy-Land dash, as I 

 told you, they will often build the (pieen-cells 

 so thick together as to look like drone brood. 

 Of course, we can not well cut the cells 

 apart ; but a little care to be on hand when 

 they hatch will often give us a (luantity of 

 robu.st young bees ready to fly the miiiute 

 they leave the cell, that will ttewilder and 

 astonish one who is unacquainted with this 

 method. The young bees, to do the work, 

 need to be IIoly-Lands : but the brood fur- 

 nished them for rearing (jueens may be Ital- 

 ian or any othei- race you choose. It is tak- 

 ing advantage of the "natural swarming ten- 

 dency s()me\\liat. as you see. I believe we 

 liad a rei)ort last season of a lot of (jueeus 

 reared in a siniilai' way. that came out and 

 flew around in such i)lenty that they went in- 

 to adjoining hives, right and left. The plan 

 is so nnich in accoi'dance with the natural 

 habits of bees. I jtresume, that nobody will 

 raise any objection to it. Tiie tendency to 

 swarm dut may be the most difficidt part to 

 manage. 



Friend Jones says taking away the old 

 (jueen from them will stop the .swarming, 

 and it is generally laid down as a rule, I be- 

 lieve, tliat l)ees"^never swarm ludess they 

 have a (jueen to go with them. Well, now, 

 although I have never had a case that I 

 know of where a swarm went out without a 

 (jneen. or, at least, where there was a (jueen 

 in the hive, that tried to go. I believe we 

 have had several reports where they did this. 

 I think friend Doolittle said his bees swarm- 

 ed out without (jueens one season. When 

 the young (jueens hatch out they will often 

 lead" out a swarm, and sometimes a swarm 

 will break up in little bunches, each bunch 

 having a queen. If they do. let them do so, 

 and make nuclei of these liule swarms. If 

 a large swarm goes out with one of these 

 que(^ns, give her enough bees to form a nu- 

 cleus, and send the rest back home, fen- they 

 will always go home if their (jueen is takeii 

 away. I "say they will ahiHii/s go home if 

 their queen is taken away ; l3ut there is one 

 chance of a mishap. If another swarm 

 should come out having another queen, they 

 would unite with this swarm. 



