128 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Feb, 1 



These colonies are p^-otected with drone- 

 traps (as are all but those flyinji;- his select- 

 ed drones). That none of the objectionable 

 drones may escape, all handling- of the col- 

 onies is done indoors. To handle them 

 comfortably there, it is necessary to subdue 

 them pretty thoroughly by thumping' and 

 with smoke. Incidentally this causes the 

 bees to gorge with food so that, when they 

 ^■et to the lar\Ee, they have a superabun- 

 dance of pap. 



Those of us who can do such work out of 

 doors can save much of his labor; but we 

 must take equal pains to secure the requi- 

 site g-orging with food. 



He keeps his breeding queen in a hive 

 with frames 5X5 inches. He keeps this 

 colony well populated with young bees by 

 frequent additions of combs of emerging 

 brood, and also by constant feeding. He 

 does these things because he can always 



MR. ALLEY IN HIS QUEEN-REARING OPKKATIONS 



get eggs just when he wants them; know 

 their age almost to an hour; do it with lit- 

 tle danger to his queen; do it rapidly and 

 with little physical effort, and without the 

 loss incident to disturbing a full colony. 

 In a large colony or in a nucleus with full- 

 sized frames, eggs laid to order are not reg- 

 ularly possible. 



One of the little combs supplies eggs for 

 fO to 60 queens, and these ejjgs hatch with- 

 in an hour after they are given to the queen- 

 less bees, so nicely does he time his work. 

 From this it will be seen that the to be 

 queens receive a surfeit of food from the in- 

 stant of their birth. 



I timed Mr. Alley one day (unbeknown 

 to him), and from the time he went to the 



hive for the eggs, cut the comb in strips, 

 stuck them to the bars, destroyed the alter- 

 nate eggs, placed the frames in the food- 

 stocked hive, and admitted the bees to them, 

 was just two minutes. This is a speed 

 which I venture to say is not habitual with 

 any user of the " transferring-larv^ plan." 

 Mr. Alley takes particular pains to have 

 food always present in all cell-building 

 colonies, and he keeps filled feeders con- 

 stantly on all such. He takes no chances 

 with intermittent honey-flows. He takes 

 the cells from the starting colonies, and 

 places them in the middle of dequeened but 

 not broodless colonies that the queen larvas 

 may have the benefit of j'oung nurses all 

 through their growing period — in other 

 words, be in the most favorable condition 

 possible. 



As soon as the cells are capped he takes 

 them away from these colonies merely as a 

 matter of economy, such colo- 

 nies having their queen return- 

 ed, and at once resuming their 

 normal condition. He has cer- 

 tainly reduced the economical 

 use of colonies to a fine art. 



Now comes the only fault with 

 the Alley plan. It is the cag- 

 ing of the cells. In his hands 

 it is a quick and simple though 

 sticky and dauby job. Cell cups 

 built on wood bases are certain- 

 ly much more readily and neatly 

 caged; but beyond this I have 

 yet to hear of any valid claim to 

 their superiority; and at what 

 a cost this little advantage is 

 secured ! 



Mr. Alley enables the bees to 

 feed the larva from the first mo- 

 ment of its life, as their instinct 

 directs. By the transferring 

 plan, larvas whose ages vary 

 from a few to many hours are 

 used, and many things happen 

 to them thereafter if we may be- 

 lieve the writers. 



By his system Mr. A. produces 

 the most superb queens I ever 

 saw —virgins looking larger and 

 stronger than many fertile 

 queens I have seen; and the 

 worker bees of his strain are 

 of but normal size. 



.Mr. Phillips cites p. 24, lines 21—25, of 

 Mr. Alley's book as a statement by the lat- 

 ter condemning the " Method No. 1." What 

 he does condemn is the putting of the start- 

 ed cell cups over an excluder above a colo- 

 ny containing a laying queen. I trust Mr. 

 Phillips will look again. Possibly Mr. 

 Alley's nucleus system will be improved; 

 but as handled and operated by him it is 

 wonderfully simple, and is economical to 

 the point of perfection. 



As to his tobacco smoker, I do not see 

 what he could do with )ut it. Sooner or 

 later the rest of us will come to it for 

 queen- rearing work, even if we have to 

 devise some substitute for tobacco. It is 



