JULY 15, 1916 



613 



tion. We refer to the idea of taking one or 

 two strong colonies, dequeening them, and 

 using them for starting queen-cells and for 

 drone hives during the whole season. This 

 is a good idea. We have followed the prac- 

 tice described in the ABC and X Y Z of 

 Bee Culture, and have given queen-cells to 

 a colony just made queeuless, but there is 

 some difficulty in keeping the queen in some 

 place until it is time to return her to the 

 hive again. We have had queens killed re- 

 peatedly when they were put on a frame 

 over some other colony. We used a queen- 

 excluder between the two hives, but it seems 

 the workers killed the queen just the same. 

 We found that it was better to put the queen 

 in a hive by herself with one or two frames 

 of brood. In this warm climate we can do 

 this without any difficulty. We keep raising 

 queens right thru the season, and that means 

 making various hives queenless at different 

 times. We find, however, that taking out 

 queens and returning them again to their 

 hives (they are not kept out long either) 

 impair.s their efficiency. We find that they 

 do not live as long as they ought to when 

 they are taken out of their hives repeatedly 

 or even twice. 



Therefore Mr. Jordan 's idea of using some 

 queenless colony during the entire season 

 makes a strong appeal to us. Before adopt- 

 ing it, however, there are a few points which 

 we don't quite understand. Mr. Jordan says, 

 ' ' These colonies must be kept well supplied 

 with brood in all stages." We cannot see 

 how he can get the bees to start grafted 

 queen-cells in a hive that has any unsealed 

 brood in it. We have found that the bees 

 are much more interested in starting queen- 

 cells on any frame where there is some un- 

 sealed brood rather than fill out grafted 

 cells, so we are anxious to know how Mr. 

 Jordan gets his bees to fill out his grafted 

 queen-cells under these conditions. 



We should also like to know if he has not 

 been troubled with laying workers in a hive 

 that is kept queenless for any length of 

 time, even tho it is kept well supplied with 

 brood. 



San Juan, Porto Eico. A. W. Kuenzli. 



Our Mr. Pritchard replies: 



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 over a strong colony with a queen-excluder 

 between would be sure to result in the kill- 

 ing of the queen. But if a piece of wire 

 cloth is used instead of the queen-excluder 

 the queen may be kept several days in good 

 condition. Having brood in all stages is a 

 mistake. Nothing but sealed brood should 

 be given to these' colonies. 



We do not like the plan of keeping colo- 

 nies queenless all the season. Fertile work- 

 ers are very apt to get started. We prefer 

 to make a colony queenless and leave all 

 their brood with them. At the end of six 

 days, destroy all the queen-cells they have 

 started; then graft into them every day 

 until the brood»is all hatched. Then we give 

 them a laying queen. These colonies get 



back to a normal condition in a few weeks, 

 and go thru the winter in good shape. If 

 grafti]ig colonies are kept queenless all the 

 season they are not worth wintering. 



A Swarm that would Not Stay Hived. 



Here is a swarm that I hived twice last 

 summer, but the bees refused to stay where 

 they belong. The third time I found the 

 queen and caged her, and shook the bees 

 upon the frames, and that time they stayed. 



St. Paul, Minn. A. W. Aamodt. 



A bunch of rebellious bees that did not know when 

 they were well off. 



A Half -starved Queen Received by Mail Run 

 Directly into a Hive. 



The last week in May I took one brood- 

 comb and queen and put it in a new hive, 

 and requeened the old colony having the 

 remaining seven brood-combs. The new 

 queen was accepted, and allowed to stay 

 four or five days, and then, to my surprise, 

 when looking to see if she had any brood 

 started, I found no brood, but two queen- 

 cells, evidently built from young brood of 

 the old queen. I cut out these cells, but 

 failed to find the new queen, which I had 

 seen three or four days before. 



A second queen came in by mail late one 

 afternoon. I put her away over night, and 

 when I looked at her the next morning I 



