396 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



CONDUCTED BY 



Floyd, Hunt Co., Tex. 



A Queen-Rearing Dialogue. 



"Good morning, Mrs. Atchley. What 

 are you going to do with those wax-cups 

 you are dipping there ?" 



Well, Charles, these are the Doolittle 

 queen-cell cups we read about. 



" What are you putting them on that 

 comb for, when Doolittle says put them 

 on sticks?" 



Charles, you see the weather is cooler 

 now, and we find by sticking these cell- 

 cups right on the sealed brood, the bees 

 accept and finish them up better. 



" How do you make them stick on the 

 brood ?" 



Don't you see '? Now just watch me. 

 You see the cups are dipped stout at the 

 base, or dipped times enough to form a 

 good lump of wax, so I can handle them 

 without injury. Now, I just press them 

 down firm on the sealed brood, that 

 way, with the tip of the cell standing a 

 little off from the comb, that way. 



"What is that you are putting into 

 these cell-cups ?" 



That is royal jelly, or food prepared 

 by the bees to rear a queen with, and 

 for the want of a better name we call it 

 "royal jelly." 



" Where do you get the royal jelly ? 



Don't you see Willie caging queens 

 yonder? 



"Yes." 



Well, we let these nuclei remain 

 queenless for three days before we give 

 them another cell, and then they are 

 sure not to tear the cell down. By this 

 time these nuclei have all started queen- 

 cells, and you see Amanda yonder, going 

 from hive to hive as if she were picking 

 pears ? 



" Yes." 



She is taking out the larvae from the 

 cells those nuclei have started, and with 

 a little spoon made for the purpose, we 

 call a " royal jelly spoon," she dips the 

 jelly from those cells in the nuclei, and 

 puts it into little boxes like this. So you 

 see where we get most of our royal 

 jelly. You can take the jelly from any 

 place where the bees. have started cells. 



" Are you having your cells built in 



upper stories over colonies having a 

 laying queen, as Doolittle does?" 



No ; we have ours all built in queen- 

 less colonies this year, in lower stories, 

 as the other is too slow, and rather more 

 uncertain than having them built in 

 queenless colonies. We know that these 

 queenless colonies will accept and finish 

 up a good lot every time, for they are 

 very strong. 



"Where do you get these strong 

 queenless colonies, all the time? Don't 

 they keep running down, and become 

 weak, and 'no good?'" 



No, no. You see I have selected 10 

 good, prolific queens whose progeny are 

 good cell-builders. And you see those 

 20 hives yonder, by themselves ? 



"Yes." 



Well, that is my "cell-building api- 

 ary." On first starting I made 10 of 

 them queenless, letting the other 10 lay 

 on until my first batch of cells came off ; 

 then I take those 10 select cell-building 

 queens out, and just turn them loose in 

 the queenless 10 that have just com- 

 pleted cells, and they never stop laying; 

 by this time the brood is beginning to 

 hatch out, and these queens at once fill 

 the hives full of brood again. Then I 

 give to the queenless 10 about 20 cell- 

 cups after three days, and they usually 

 finish up about a dozen each, on an 

 average. Then when these get " ripe," 

 as we call it, we take them out and give 

 them their laying queens back, and start 

 cells again as before, and vice versa. If 

 at any time we see these colonies giving 

 way, we slip in a frame of hatching bees 

 from other colonies, and I tell you this 

 works like a charm, and our cells are all 

 built in full colonies. 



"There, now, Mrs. Atchley, let me 

 stop you to ask were you get the larvae 

 you are putting into those queen-cups ?" 



Just come here, Charles, and I will 

 show you by opening "Old Pet's" hive. 

 (That is the name of one of the five- 

 banded breeders.) Now you see this is 

 a very strong colony ; but you see this 

 queen-excluding division-board ? 



"Yes." 



Well, Old Pet is kept over on this side 

 with only three frames, and this side is 

 kept up with brood from other sources. 



"What is that all for?" 



I will try to tell you. You understand 

 Old Pet is very prolific, and a fine select 

 breeder, and should I let her have her 

 own way, and full access to the whole 

 hive, she would soon lay herself to 

 death, or lay her eggs all out ; and by 

 keeping her penned off here, I let her 

 lay only about enough for my needs ; 



