f'EBRUARY, 191'? 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE 



93 



REARING QUEEN BEES 



Experiments in Starting Cells at 

 the College of Agriculture, of the 

 University of Wisconsin 



By C. W. Aeppler* 



L-j keeper finds 

 pleasure in 

 agreeing with 

 Elislia Gallup 

 and G. M. Doo- 

 little that 

 "around the 

 queen centers 



all there is in apiculture." The breeding of 

 bees for increased honey pioduetion has rnet 

 with great success by many who have tried 

 this interesting pursuit. The possibilities in 

 rearing better queens is not always heeded 

 by the beekeeper. The beekeeper who pays 

 little attention to the requeening of his colo- 

 nies systematically, is, as a rule, also not 

 the beekeeper who realizes the greatest 

 crops of honey and the greatest profits. 



Breeding work has paid dividends thru- 

 out the plant and animal world. More 

 attention has been paid to the breeding of 

 livestock than to the breeding of bees. This 

 is perhaps true because we have had more 

 breeders of livestock that were specialists. 

 However, with an increase of beekeepers, 

 and fewer " keepers of bees," better bees, 

 free from disease, will be the rule. 



In the preparation of this paper it is 

 not the intention of the wi'iter to discuss 

 the reasons for rearing queens — conditions 

 under which they are reared naturally by 

 the bees in swarming, supersedure, and 

 queenlessness. Such a treatise would in- 

 volve a large publication. For reference 

 to such works, the reader is referred to 

 Bulletin No. 55, Bureau of Entomology, 

 United States Department of Agi-iculture, 

 by Dr. E. F. Phillips, Ph. D., and Scientific 

 Queen-rearing, by G. M. Doolittle. The 

 intention of this paper is to present to the 

 beekeeper and queen-breeder a slightly new 

 method of rearing queens — a method very 

 simple, yet more satisfactory than many 

 when queens are to be reared on a large 

 scale for a long period of time. 



Two years ago the rearing of queen- 

 bees was begun by the writer at the Wis- 

 consin Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 The queens reared were sent to beekeepers 

 thruout the state in lots of five or less. It 

 was necessary to place a Limit on the num- 

 ber sent to each in order to make the work 

 beneficial to all. Effort was made in par- 

 ticular to supply beekeepers with queens in 

 European-foul-brood districts. It is ex- 

 pected that these queens will serve as a 

 basis for better bees thruout the state. By 

 rearing queens for his own colonies, a bee- 

 keeper can improve his bees within a shoi't 

 time. A number of letters received from 

 various beekeepers in the stale go to stiow 



that this is being 

 done as rapidly as 

 ]iossible. 



Various condi- 

 tions have to be 

 met in rearing 

 queen-bees in dif- 

 ferent parts of 

 the country. In 

 the northern states, such as Wisconsin, en- 

 tirely different success could be expected if 

 the same methods were used as used in 

 Texas, and if conditions were the same. In 

 the early spring, and sometimes up to 

 June 15, cool nights are the rule. This is 

 also usually true after the middle of August/ 

 Such conditions are detrimental in starting 

 queen-cells by the Doolittle method. Jn 

 the early spring the Alley and Dr. Miller 

 methods give better results under Wiscon- 

 sin conditions. When the nights are cool, 

 cells started by the Doolittle method are 

 largely rejected when started under ideal 

 conditions during the day, if started by 

 the systems usually advocated. It is the 

 object of the writer to show clearly Iiow 

 success can be had under any conditions in 

 this latitude. 



In the two years of commercial queen- 

 breeding at the Wisconsin Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, and even before that 

 time in a smaller way, it was the writer's 

 privilege to carry on experiments to de- 

 termine the most satisfactory ways in start- 

 ing queen-cells under Wisconsin conditions. 

 With certain modifications the method 

 worked out would be made applicable to 

 most parts of the country. 



CONDITIONS NECESSARY FOR SUCCESS IN 

 STARTING QUEEN-CELLS. 



The greatest requirement in queen-rear- 

 ing is the cell-building colony; secondly, 

 the management of the cell-builoing colony; 

 and the size, shape, and condition of the 

 artificial cell cups. 



EXPERIMENT WITH CELL-BUILDERS. 



Not all colonies are cell-builders. More 

 or less success may be had wich any colony 

 in accepting queen-cells, if strong in bees; 

 but a good cell-building colony is not read- 

 ily found. By a good cell-builder is meant 

 one that will accept from ninety to one 

 hundred per cent of thi cells given it and 

 do so every time. 



Last spring about lift/ colonies were 

 tried out to determine which should be 

 used during the season as cell-builders. 



The usual method of placing the cell-bars 

 in a super above a queen-excluder was 



pier. 



Photographs by L. G. Gentner and C. W. Aep- 



