186 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTUKE. 



July 



my disposition exactly, to want a thing as 

 soon as I have paid for it. 



If you can raise good dollar queens, you 

 can certainly raise good tested ones, for a 

 tested (jueen is notliing more than one that 

 has proved herself prolific and purely fertil- 

 ized. The test of purity generally recog- 

 nized is that the workers show plainly the 

 three yellow bands that are characteristic of 

 the Italians. 



There are ever so many ways of forming 

 nuclei for queen rearing, but after having 

 tried pretty thoroughly almost or quite all of 

 them, I shall advise separate hives for each 

 nucleus. If you are simply increasing your 

 stock, use a new hive for each colony, but if 

 you wish to add to yoiu" income by rearing 

 queens for sale, I would advise a two comb 

 hive for the purpose. These are made much 

 like the Simplicities only that they are 3i 

 inches wide inside instead of 14i. For light- 

 ness, we will make the sides of t stuff. For 

 reasons to be explained we will have the 

 cover shut over the hive like the cover of a 

 tool chest, and loose enough to slip over the 

 bottom also, without sticking, for we can 

 have no pulling and jerking about bee hives, 

 even though they are '' little ones." 



Those who have tried queen rearing, have 

 peirhaps found it tiresome business to stoop 

 so much as is required in looking over so 

 many little hives. To remedy this, we will 

 .have them fastened to the grapevine trellises 

 as shown in the following cut : 



SIMPLICITY HIVE, NUCLEUS HIVE, PORTICO. 

 ALIGHTING BOARD, ETC. 



This brings them at a convenient height 

 to work easily ; we certainly would not 

 wish to encoiu-age any one in being lazy, but 

 apiarists do sometimes get tired, and find it 

 quite a relief to sit down for a moment or 

 two, and the hive right below the nucleus, 

 we find very convenient. 



In inserting queen cells, putting in brood, 

 etc., we also find the top of the hive quite a 

 convenience. These nuclei are shaded by 

 the broad leaves of the grapevines, and are 

 held from being blown down by the wind by 

 a screw put through the upper strip into the 

 side of the hive ; when a nucleus is to be 

 sold, the screw is turned out enough to re- 

 lease it, the cover put under the hive, clos- 

 ing the entrance, a wire cloth cover tacked 

 over the top, and it is all ready fcr the ex- 

 press office. It may be well to remark here 

 that nothing will insure careful handling like 

 leaving the top of the hive so that every one 

 that takes hold of the hive can see the bees 

 plainly through the wire cloth. You may 

 label a box "glass," "handle with care," 

 " right side up," and as much more as you 

 like, and it will not be half so plain to the 

 railroad and exi)ress men, as the sight and 

 sound of the bees buzzing right under their 

 noses. 



When you have your nuclei all fixed, each 

 one neatly painted — see paint for hives- 

 white, and supplied with a queen register 

 card, you are to set about peopling the little 

 boxes. If you commence this work during 

 a good yield of honey, you will very likely 

 get along finely, but if at a time when the 

 bees are disposed to robbing, you may have 

 all sorts of trouble. You can have your 

 queen cells raised in these little hives if tlie y 

 are well peopled with bees, but as a general 

 tiling we would prefer having it done by a 

 strong colony. 



HOW TO GET GOOD QUEEN CELLS. 



To rear good healthy long lived queens, 

 we want tlie larva- to have an abmidance of 

 the milky food prepared by the nurse bees, 

 and we wish them to have it from the time 

 they are first hatched from the egg, until 

 they are sealed up as a queen cell. If you 

 will examine the minute larvae of dilferent 

 hives, you will discover a vast difference in 

 the amomit of food given to the infant bee? . 

 With a new swarm we will find the first lar- 

 va^ that hatches is fed so profusely that they 

 look almost like the inmates of queen cells, 

 because the nurse bees are far in excess of 

 the work that is to be done by them, but af- 

 ter tlie combs are filled witli eggs, such is 

 not the case. We can bring about this re- 



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