492 



Glear<int;s in Bee Cultuie 



I should like to impress one thing upon 

 your queen-breeders; and that is, for them 

 to discover a means whereby they could send 

 their queens here in safety. Quite a num- 

 ber of men, including myself, have spent a 

 considerable amount of money in trying to 

 accomplish this object; but up to the present 

 time, although various ways have been tried, 

 the average of live queens landed has not 

 exceeded one in about 200. Every bee-keep- 

 er here of any consequence recognizes the 

 fact that the introduction of new blood from 

 across the sea is very necessary, not only to 

 improve the honey-gathering qualities, but 

 also to keej) up the stamina and vitality of 

 the race. Should this object be accomplish- 

 ed I have no hesitation in saying that a con- 

 siderable amount of business would be open- 

 ed up between the two countries. 



We have eight bee-keepers' associations 

 in full swing, and the initial combined con- 

 ference was held recently in Wellington, 

 delegates from the different associations at- 

 tending. It was decided that the associa- 

 tion so formed should be named "The Unit- 

 ed Federated Bee-keepers' Association of 

 New Zealand," and has as its Secretary Mr. 

 liray, late Government Apiary Instructor. 

 Matters of importance to apiarists were dis- 

 cussed to some length, and a prosperous 

 future for bee-keepers is looked forward to 

 as the result of these associations. 



My readers have by this time come to the 

 conclusion that New Zealand is very wide 

 awalce to the promotion and protection of 

 bee-l<:eeping as an industry, and they enjoy 

 the privilege and benefit of ])erhaps what is 

 the best apiaries act in the world. There 

 are at present two apiary instructors employ- 

 ed by the government to carry out the pro- 

 visions of the act, and bee-keepers look for- 

 ward, and are hopeful that this number will 

 be doubled in the near future. A model 

 apiary and queen-rearing establishment is 

 also run by the state, and here cadets from 

 all parts of the dominion are taught the 

 principles of scientific bee culture; and if 

 they pass their examinations at the end of 

 tlie season they are given a certificate of 

 proficiency, thus enabling them to start at 

 a salary with some large apiarist, or to com- 

 mence for themselves with confidence. 



WeUington, N. Z. 



A PLAN OF REQUEENING FOR THE BUSY 

 HONEY-PRODUCER. 



BY GEO. SHIBER. 



In such a poor season as this, with prac- 

 tically a drouth all through harvest, when 

 one wonders how tlie bees secured any thing 

 at all, let alone any surplus, it is gratifying 

 indeed to find a colony that has produced 

 over 75 lbs. of clover and basswood honey 

 this season, and these bees would, no doubt, 

 have made twice as much in a good year. 



It is evident that such a queen is the one 

 to be used as a breeder. I think lier bees 



are full-blooded Italian, as they have all the 

 characteristics. We have named her 

 ".Jane" for identity. She is of good size, 

 with a long large abdomen. (I have never 

 seen many small queens that were especial- 

 ly good.) I am using tliis queen for re- 

 queening all the undesirables, and also for 

 increase. (I have no queens for sale. ) This 

 is the way 1 have proceeded: 



After the flow she was put into a new 

 hive to form a nucleus, and made just strong 

 enough to avoid tlie danger of their build- 

 ii-g drone comb. Then a frame containing 

 an inch or two of comb or foundation was 

 given; and as soon as this was built out a 

 little, and contained just hatching larvte, it 

 was taken out and another jjut in its place. 

 The comb with the young larvie was given 

 to a strong queenless colony. After ten 

 days, twelve or fifteen cells were found. 



Last fall I gave my way of introducing 

 queens and cells to full colonies. In brief 

 it is this: Find and destroy the poor queen; 

 then move the hive containing the colony to 

 be requeened to a new location, and the vir- 

 gin will be almost certain to lay on time 

 without being worried by older bees; and 

 not much is lost, as the liow is over, and the 

 old bees will go into nearby hives, and in a 

 few days a new colonj^ may be placed on 

 the stand which was occupied before the re- 

 moval of the hive. In this way there are 

 no ga))S in the rows. 



Mr. llutcliinson, in his book, outlines a 

 good plan for requeening — give the colony, 

 after removing the queen, a frame of larvae, 

 with slits cut in the comb, "and the job is 

 done." Now, with me the job would not 

 be done, for I should expect about ten per 

 cent of such queens to be missing, or else 

 that they would be "no good." But if 

 about ten days from the time the larva was 

 given, the hive is moved to a new location, 

 so as to get rid of the old bees, every tiling 

 ought to go well. In short, this is one of 

 the best kinlvs I have stumbled upon in 

 some time. I am, at this time, July 15, 

 putting the plan to test, and it certainly 

 makes good. 



There is no temptation to let a "fairly 

 good queen" go througli, for she won't be 

 any better next year. I do not luiow of any 

 work in all apiculture that pays so well as 

 weeding out jjoor stock. 



Randolph, N. Y. 



[Something over 25 years ago, wiien we 

 not only liad charge of but did all the work 

 in our bee-yard, we liad a shipment of 25 

 imported Italian queens. Not liaving any 

 place to put them we formed 25 two-frame 

 nuclei in the morning. Toward niglit we 

 introduced one of these nice imported queens 

 to each one of the nuclei. The old bees dur- 

 ing the day had gone back to the old stand, 

 and, of course, there were left in the nuclei 

 nothing but comparatively young bees and 

 liatching brood. All the queens were suc- 

 cessfully introduced. On valuable queens 

 we have used the same i^lan a good many 

 times without fail. — Ed.] 



