THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



357 



energy and reasonable judgment, is 

 bound to do well and accumulate 

 property. And one way of doing this 

 is by keeping bees in the coast coun- 

 ties south of the 29th parallel, where 

 the mangrove is plentiful. Whether 

 or not Mr. R. has ever been where 

 the mangrove is to be found he does 

 not state, yet from his writings I 

 should judge not. He writes from 

 Jacksonville, has been in the State 

 nearly three months, and assures us 

 that the bees have been gathering 

 honey about his house for the past 

 three weeks. California is a large 

 State, and only a small portion of it is 

 good for bee-keeping, yet 600 people 

 give their time wholly to the industry. 

 Florida is also a large State, as is 

 shown by the fact that the Okechobee 

 Land Co., propose to drain a tract of 

 rich land in the southern portion of 

 the peninsula, larger by 1,000 square 

 miles than the combined area of the 

 States of Rhode Island, Connecticut, 

 New Jersey, and Delaware, said land 

 being outside of the settled portions 

 of the peninsula, and until within a 

 very few years never had been visited 

 by a white man. 



Again, Florida has nearly as long a 

 coast line as all the Atlantic States 

 together. A large part of this coast 

 line lies south of the29tli parallel, and 

 there is the bee country that I recom- 

 mend. I do not think Mr. R. has 

 ever seen any of this country. There 

 is certainly room for more bee-keep- 

 ers, as in all that country I know of 

 but one man who gives all his time to 

 bee-keeping. He has been here over 

 a year, and now wants to buy land 

 and make a home for himself and bees. 

 How he succeeds can be seen by turn- 

 ing to page 194 of Gleanings, and read- 

 ing a short communication from Mr. 

 C. F. Hopkins. I believe that Mr. 

 Hopkins looked some further than 

 Mr. Roys, saw more and speaks better 

 of the prospects liere. After reading 

 his note turn over one leaf, and on 

 page 196 see a few lines from Mr. E. 

 M. Johnson, that speaks well for the 

 bee interest here. 



As a guarantee for my reliability, 

 and indorsement of my statements, 1 

 will say that the Agent of the State 

 Bureau of Immigration issued a 

 pamphlet asking for information in 

 regard to sheep raising and bee-keep- 

 ing in this State, and sent copies to 

 parties all over the State. One was 

 sent to me with a letter inclosed, ask- 

 ing for something more elaborate than 

 the circular called for. I wrote an 

 article and sent it with the suggestion 

 that all the bee-keeping returns be 

 put together in pamphlet form for 

 distribution. Hon. C. Drew writes 

 Dae that he is acting upon my sugges- 

 tion and will forward me 200 copies 

 as soon as done. I will send a copy 

 to the T5ee Journal, and also to any 

 other parties that write for them in- 

 closing stamp. 



In conclusion, I will say that at 

 present, railroads are few in the afore- 

 said country, although without doubt 

 several will be built within the year, 

 and most of the traveling is done by 

 boats and slow teams ; so, if Mr. Roys 

 knows more of this portion of Florida 



than the Puritans did of North 

 America, he has traversed more of it 

 than I think he has. 

 New Smyrna, Fla. 



Farmers' Home Journal. 



Rearing and Introducing Qiieeus. 



G. W. DEMAEEE. 



There is nothing connected with 

 bee-culture that gives the apiarist so 

 much satisfaction, as well as so many 

 advantages, as the art of rearing and 

 introducing queens. If he has a colony 

 of bees that give poor results in the 

 way of increase and production of 

 honey, he can soon change the state 

 of tilings by removing the unprofit- 

 able queen and introducing a better 

 one in her place. 



I have had queens that started in 

 the spring with fair sized colonies 

 that failed to get in working trim till 

 after the main honey harvest was 

 past, while other queens would (ill 

 their hives with bees and be ready 

 and waiting for the harvest. To 

 remedy these evils I commence to 

 rear queens as soon in the spring as 

 the weather will permit, in order that 

 I may have good laying queens to 

 take the place of such as do not give 

 satisfactory results. If possible I 

 would have a laying queen to intro- 

 duce to the parent colony as soon as 

 the first swarms issue. Managed in 

 this way a colony will hardly miss the 

 bees that are led off by the old queen, 

 because they are furnished with a 

 queen that goes right to laying and 

 ttie hive is soon replenished with 

 workers. This is made quite apparent 

 when we take into consideration that 

 the young generally hatches ei^ht 

 days after the old queen leads off the 

 swarm and begins to lav at ten days 

 old, which makes about eighteen days 

 that the colony is without a laying 

 queen. Really two or three more 

 days should be added to this, because 

 the young queens lay slowly for the 

 first two or three days. These eigh- 

 teen or twenty days sometimes make 

 all tlie difference between a f:iir yield 

 of honey and no surplus at all. 



Doubtless some one will ask, " How 

 do you rear queens V" Well, we older 

 ones are apt to forget that our ranks 

 are continually being filled up with 

 candidates for bee knowledge, and 

 therefore it is proper to go over what 

 to us seems to be old grounds for the 

 benefit of beginners, from time to 

 time. Thus we "provide things new 

 and old." 



The methods employed by different 

 bee-keepers vary somewhat, but the 

 principle is the same. In order not to 

 confuse the reader, I will simply give 

 the plan I follow with satisfactory re- 

 sults. In this climate about the 15th 

 of May is soon enough to commence 

 to rear queens. Of course the state 

 of the weather must govern these 

 things. 



I select a strong colony to rear the 

 queen cells, and proceed as follows : I 

 open the hive which contains the 

 queen I wish to breed from, and from 

 one of the center combs I cut a piece 

 about 2x3 inches, containing eggs and 



larviE just hatched. This can be 

 known by a small drop of white 

 creamy looking substance at the bot- 

 of the cell. I prefer to have some of 

 the eggs just hatched, because I there- 

 by save about three days' time, as it 

 requires three days for the egg of the 

 honey bee to hatch. I now move 

 the colony, which I have selected to 

 rear the queen cells, from tlieir stand 

 and place an empty hive in its place, 

 provided with some empty combs or 

 frames filled with foundation. 



Now, cut a slot in one of the combs, 

 near the corner and running parallel 

 with the top bar, about a half inch 

 wide and eight or ten inches long. As 

 bees are decidedly pleased with an 

 opening just below the cell, I usually 

 cut notches in the lower edge of the 

 slot like saw teeth ; but tliis is not 

 essential. I now cut the piece of 

 comb containiug the eggs, etc., as 

 above described, into strips and fit 

 them into the slot. If they do not fit 

 close enough to stay in yjlace, they 

 can be secured by some slender wooden 

 pins. I now open the hive that I have 

 removed from its stand, and look up 

 the queen and place the comb on 

 which I find her in my comb box, or 

 any other safe place. This I do to 

 prevent a possibility of getting the 

 queen into the new hive, which would 

 certainly defeat the object of my 

 labors. 



I now take out one of the side combs 

 containing honey, but no eggs or 

 larvoe, and set it in one side of the 

 new hive, and set the comb contain- 

 ing the eggs (I have supplied) next to 

 it, and then finish out witii empty 

 combs or frames of foundation as 

 above stated. I now shake the bees 

 oti of two or three combs from the 

 old hive into the new one. Tins gives 

 the new hive a division of the youn^ 

 bees, which is quite essential to cell 

 building. The bees are now covered 

 with a quilt, and the hive closed up. 

 The queen is returned to the old hive, 

 and the latter is given a new stand. 

 The old bees will nearly all go back to 

 their old location, and go to work like 

 a natural swarm. 



I keep an eye on the new colony to 

 see how they progress in cell building. 

 On the eighth day I examine the cells 

 to see how many there are, and then 

 proceed to form nuclei to suit the 

 number of cells. This I do by taking 

 two combs with bees adhering (be 

 sure the queen is left at home) and 

 setting them in an empty hive, at one 

 side hanging in a division board to 

 curtail the size of the hive. These 

 nuclei are made from any strong 

 colonies. In one or two days after 

 the nuclei are made they will have 

 realized their queenless condition, 

 and will be ready to accept the cells. 



We now open theqiieen rearing 

 hive and cut out all the cells but one, 

 or as many as we want, if there should 

 chance to be a surplus. A bit of comb 

 should be left adhering to each cell, 

 and they must be handled carefully. 

 Each nucleus is provided with a cell. 

 This I do by taking out one of the 

 combs and cut a hole in it, and fasten 

 the cell to the edge of the comb {in- 

 side the hive) with a wooden pin in- 

 serted through the bit of comb ad- 



