54 



THE AMERICAN APICULTURIST. 



that will not lay 500 eggs in several 

 days. Then, again, the queen that will 

 deposit 5.000 eggs in one day may be 

 as worthless as the queen that produces 

 less than 500 eggs a day. The bees of 

 the prolific queen may be idlers and 

 gather no honey, and the same may be 

 the case with the bees of the queen that 

 produces so few eggs in a day. 



It makes all the difference in th- 

 pi-ofits whether the bees are honey gathe 

 erers or loafers. Few people keep bees 

 to play with. 



ruoinicixG good queens. 



How shall the beginner produce the 

 most profitable queens? The beginner 

 can do it, only in one way. The 

 inexperienced beekeeper after a little 

 experience can manage to save the 

 queen cells that are left in his hives when 

 a swarm comes off. Now this is a good 

 deal of trouble to one who has not at 

 hand the proper arrangements for car- 

 ing fur the cells, and rearing the young 

 queens till they are fertilized. Of course 

 the text-books must be consulted for 

 information on this point. The small 

 hives, combs and bees with which to 

 form the nucleus" must be provided. 

 The details for making this operation 

 successful are too long for tiie space we 

 have to be given in this connection. 

 In order to produce the best queens one 

 must have some experience in queen- 

 rearing. There is no sure way to know 

 whether queens are valuable or other- 

 wise except by testing them. 



While many claim that queens reared 

 under the swarming impulse are supe- 

 rior to those reared by what are called 

 artificial methods, I feel obliged to dis- 

 agree with that class. My experience 

 in the queen-rearing business teaches 

 me, though it may seem impossible, that 

 better queens can be reared on the 

 forced ])lan than are reared at swarming 

 time. It should be borne in mindtliat 

 all naturally reared queens are not per- 

 fect, nor are all those perfect reared by 

 any of the artificial methods. Some ad- 

 vertise queens reared by natural methods 

 all the season from May ist to middle 



of Octoljer. Considering that the swarm- 

 ing season is less than two months 

 duration, if is soinewhat of a puzzle to 

 the reliable queen breeders how the 

 thing is done. 



To go back to preserving the cells 

 reared at swarming time, will say to the 

 beginner that the only practical way 

 for him io rear such queens, is to de- 

 prive the colonies he desires to requeen 

 of their queens in three days after a 

 swarm has issued. Two days later place 

 one of the queen cells taken from the 

 hive from which the swarm issued, in each 

 hive made queenless. It will not be 

 necessary to take out any combs to in- 

 sert the cells. Just push one frame side- 

 wise, place the cell in and let the comb 

 come back to hold the cell in place, be- 

 ing careful that the comb bears on the 

 base of the cell only. The young queen 

 will come forth in a few days ; five days 

 later will be fertilized, and all will go 

 well with that colony. 



Someone will say "you do not give 

 all the little details so that an inexperi- 

 enced person can carry such operations 

 to a success." Well, it is impossible 

 to put in all the little points. The best 

 way for one to do is to take hold and 

 put the things described into practice. 



TIIH DRONE liKi:. 



The drone or male bee has his part 

 of the work of the colony to perform. 

 He is on hand when his services are 

 needed, which is when the young queen 

 takes a flight when five days' old. Some 

 few people have asserted that queens 

 are fertilized when under five days old. 

 In an experience of over thirty years in 

 rearing queens, I have never known a 

 queen to become fertile until they were 

 from five to ten days old. In the course 

 of thirty-six hours thereafter, the queen 

 commences to lay. 



The future prosperity of the colony 

 depends as much upon the drone as 

 ui)on the queen. The drone must be 

 stioig, vigorous and a very active speci- 

 men of his kind. The male bee transmits 

 its good or bad qualities on the genera- 

 tion to come and it will be as marked 



