GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



that they will have laid a large number of 

 eggs and I have had the opportunity of 

 observing the sealed brood. 



HOW I PICK UP QUEENS. 



Formerly I used to pick up queens with 

 my fingers as I was taught by Mr. Frank 

 Benton when he visited this island many 

 times in the 80's. For about nine years, 

 however, I have been using a pair of watch- 

 maker's tweezers, about three inches long, 



M. G. Dervishian's method of catchin? queens, for 

 caging- or clipping their wings, by means of a jewel- 

 er's tweezers. 



for taking up the queens by the wing, and 

 for putting in cages or clipping. I have 

 found the use of these tweezers more prac- 

 tical than the old method of catching queens 

 with the fingers. Besides being more con- 

 venient, there is then no contamination by 



reason of any taint or odor to the queen; 

 and consequently a queen that is clipped, 

 for instance, runs less risk of being balled 

 by the bees. The catching and clipping of 

 the wings of a queen can be accomplished 

 in three or four seconds. The queen, being 

 seized by one of the wings, is held about an 

 inch above the comb; then with the other 

 hand the wing is clipped by the use of a 

 pair of small scissors, and the queen falls 

 back where she belongs. I have taught my 

 sons to handle queens with their fingers, 

 but they prefer the tweezers, as it takes less 

 time and is easier. The bees do not get 

 frightened as they sometimes do when one 

 picks them up with the fingers. 



DRONE-REARING. 



The selection of the best drones in a 

 scientific queen-rearing apiary is of great 

 importance. I have adopted a plan similar 

 to that explained in " Scientific Queen-rear- 

 ing," by G. M. Doolittle. I have a drone- 

 cell comb-foundation machine with which I 

 manufacture enough comb foundation to 

 supply all my colonies with a full sheet. 

 This I insert in the middle of the brood- 

 nest; and these drone combs, when built, 

 are filled with drone eggs from which I get 

 fine large drones from April to September 

 inclusive. I take great jmins to destroy all 

 drone brood reared in worker cells or any 

 from unfertilized queens that may have 

 been laying. I also take the necessary steps 

 to prevent laying workei'S. 



Drones of small size, if any exist by acci- 

 dent, are at once trapped and destroyed. 

 Such drones result on account of the ab- 

 sence of sufficient drone comb in the hive. 



Nicosia, Island of Cyprus. 



DOES A QUEEN MEET A DRONE FAR FROM THE APIARY? 



BY G. W. HAINES 



My son and I, with a little help, are 

 running six apiaries. It has always been 

 my practice to keep a fine strain of bees 

 that are good honey-producers, and to work 

 for the extra ton of honey, letting the other 

 fellow raise and sell tlie queens. We often 

 hear of a beekeeper who is looking for an 

 out-of-the-way place to raise queens — some 

 island or some forsaken spot where neither 

 man nor bees are found. 



To my way of thinking, a queen on her 

 flight never gets out of the lot where the bees 

 are kept. At my home apiary T have kept 

 from 200 to 220 colonies for a number of 

 years. Here I raise a few queens for my 

 own use at home and for the out-apiaries. 

 I have tried all ways, and have spent a lot 

 of time and money in small mating hives 



and boxes, but I am now using a regular 

 eight-frame Langstroth hive with a division- 

 board in the center, and three Langstroth 

 frames on each side. The bees on one side 

 use the entrance in front, and those on the 

 other the entrance in the back. At any time 

 honey or brood can be given either nucleus 

 from any other hive, and in the fall the two 

 nuclei can be united. Of late I have had 

 about fifty nuclei for queen-reai'ing; but 

 my son, who has had an unusual attack of 

 (he bee fever, thinks we ought to have 75 

 next season and keep more bees. 



My home apiary, with our 200 colonies, is 

 at the bottom of a large hill that slopes to 

 the north. By standing at the south side 

 of the yard, and looking north against the 

 hill when the sun is just right at my back, 



