1878. 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



287 



stroth hive, with movable cover and bottom board, 

 and one division board made the same size as the 

 frame, so as to be entirely movable. On each hive I 

 hav'c the repristering' card described in your circular, 

 by means of which I can tell, at a glance, the proba- 

 ble condition of the hive, without the necessity of 

 opening it. I use the full sized hive, because it 

 costs but little more than the two frame hive, and 

 can be used for full stocks or nuclei, as may be 

 most convenient; and, when not in use in the yard, 

 it is very convenient in the honey house, for storing 

 surplus combs. By sliding the division board back, 

 I have immediate control of the combs, and can get 

 at the queen very quickly; while, in the two frame 

 hive, it requires some time and care to get the 

 combs out without injury, and, if the hive should 

 happen to contain cross hybrids, so as to necessitate 

 the use of smoke, she is sure to run down on the bot- 

 tom, where it is very dilHcult to get at her, in the 

 narrow hive. 



To stock the nuclei, I take, from a full colony, a 

 comb containing hatching bees and plenty of stores, 

 which I place in one side of the hive, with the divis- 

 ion board close to the frame. I also give them 

 enough young bees from other combs to make them 

 sufficiently strong. When they require more room 

 I give them an empty comb; and, in a short time, 

 during the honey season, I can build them up into 

 good stocks, if it is desirable to do so. 



I have most of the queen cells built in full colon- 

 ies, as I generally get the largest number of perfect 

 queens in this manner; although some of the finest 

 queens sent out bj' me, this year, were from cells 

 built in strong nuclei. What seems to be required, 

 is to have the cell building colony in as nearly a 

 normal condition as possible, not necessarily very 

 populous. Some bees naturally build more cells 

 than others. By forming strong nucleus hives from 

 these, and keeping up the normal condition, by oc- 

 casionally givingthem hatching bees from the "same 

 old stock, we could probably get more cells, with 

 less expense, than in any other way. 



To have a colony build queen cells, I first remove 

 the old queen; in 8 days, I pick out all the cells that 

 have been built, and place in the centre of the hive 

 a comb containing larvie not over one day old, from 

 the queen I breed from. These 1 obtain by placing 

 an empty comb in the centre of her brood nest, 

 about four days before it is needed. For this pur- 

 pose I use lif)lit colored combs. Bees seem to prefer 

 to build their queen cells on the edges of the combs; 

 on this account, I cut a few slits about one-half inch 

 wide in the comb, before placing it in the cell build- 

 ing c;)lony. In about eight days, this comb is ready 

 to take out and put in the nursery, and be replaced 

 by another similar one. I can generally get four or 

 five good lots of cells from a hive, before the young- 

 est bees are too old to raise perfect queens. 



My nursery is made according to the description 

 in your circular, and is a very great convenience; 

 in fact I could not raise queens, at present prices, 

 without it. When a queen is hatched in the nursery, 

 I can tell at a glance, whether she is perfect: while, 

 if the cell were in a nucleus, I would have to spend 

 some time in looking for her, and might have to 

 open the hive several times before I would find her 

 hatched. It is usually 8 or 10 days after a queen is 

 hatched, before she begins to lay; therefore, it is 

 quite important to know immediately that she is 

 perfect, so as to save this time, if she is not. The 

 nursery also saves, to the bees, the time required to 

 hatch the cells, after they are sealed; say five or six 

 days for each cell. 



The time recjuired in introducing is but little, if 

 any, more than is necessary to cut out the cells, and 

 place them in the different hives; and this season 

 the loss has been no greater. 



I examine the combs in the nursery every two or 

 three hours, to find the young queens; and, before 

 leaving it for the night, I hunt up what queens are 

 likely to hatch before morning, and cut out the cells 

 containing them, and put them in cages. Here is 

 where the light colored combs show their advan- 

 tage; by holding them up to the light, the queens 

 that are nearly developed, can be seen to move 

 slightly, and nre pretty sure to come out in either 6 

 or 8 hours. If they should have the run of the 

 combs an hour or two, they would be pretty certain 

 to murder some of their sisters. 



I introduce the young (jueens to their nucleus 

 hives, as soon as possible after they are hatched, 

 when the honey harvest is good; this usually re- 

 quires but a moment. I let them run in at the top 

 of the hive, giving them and the bees a good smok- 



ing, and feel quite safe about them. But if the bees 

 are not getting much lioney, and are inclined to be 

 cross, it requires more care. I move the division 

 board back, so as to give a good view of the comb, 

 ! then let the queen run in among the bees, giving 

 j them all a good smoking, and watching them a few 

 : moments, until they become quiet. If they treat 

 her respectfully, she is pretty sure to be safe; but, 

 if any attack her, I smoke them again. They seldom 

 require this the third time. With care, and by tak- 

 ing sufficient time (and a good queen is worth it), I 

 lose very few; although, there are times, when the 

 I utmost care results in failure. There seem to be 

 ' climatic influences, at times, that control the matter, 

 and which are beyond my knowledge. For instance, 

 I during the clover season, I lost nenrly all of one fine 

 [ batch of queens, while a similar lot, introduced in 

 the same manner a few days previous, were well re- 

 ceived; and I have had but little trouble since. It 

 seems that feeble hives are more inclined to receive 

 queens peaceably, and, on that account, I keep my 

 nuclei as weak as possible and still have them self- 

 sustaining. I also have better success in introduc- 

 ' ing to hives that have been queenless several days, 

 { and have cells well started, 



1 I have, this year, abandoned the plan of having the 

 hives arranged in straight rows, and at regular dis- 

 tances, and now have them grouped about various 

 small trees. This arrangement is not so pleasing to 

 the mechanical eye, but it seems to suit the young 

 queens much better than the former arrangement, 

 and I lose scarcely any now during their marriage 

 flight. 



For shipping purposes; I use the "Five cent candy 

 cage," having the candy fresh. I find that queens, 

 and most of the bees, will live in these small cages 

 from 13 to 15 days, if the candy is just right. In 

 provisioning the cages T make the candy according 

 to your directions in Gleanings, Vol. V, page 314, 

 putting in more candy than the bees would be likely 

 to use, because a greater bulk together will retain 

 the moisture longer. 



To fill the cages for shipment, I take a strip of 

 them containing enough for the day's orders, and 

 remove the slide that closes the openings. 1 pick 

 up all the bees, including the queens by the wing, 

 putting into the first cage the first queen and her 

 suite composed of 6 or 8 bees in the prime of life, 

 which are easily distinguished by their clean, bright 

 appearance. These work the candy better than very 

 young bees, and are more likely to stand the 

 confinement than old ones. After putting in each 

 bee, I close the opening with my thumb, until they 

 are all in, when I use the slide for this purpose. I 

 then fill the second one in the same manner, and so 

 on through the whole strip, which is then cut into 

 pieces to suit each customer. 



Most of the queens sent out by me this season 

 have gone by express, and with such entire satis- 

 faction to all parties, that I can hardly regret that 

 we have been so completely shut out of the mails. 

 I write the address plainly, on the back of the cage, 

 using no wrapper; thus the bees can have the full 

 benefit of all the air they can get through the wire 

 cloth, and, being handled more carefully, are re- 

 ceived by the purchaser in excellent condition, 

 ready for immediate introduction. We can, with 

 perfect safety, guarantee safe arrival, as we have 

 the means of knowing certainly whether they were 

 delivered to the party that should have them, thus 

 shutting the door against possible fraud. Now, if 

 we can only make the express companys realize that 

 it is to their interest to give us low rates, I think 

 that the arbitrary "rulings" of the P. O. department, 

 can do us but little harm. 



I heartily concur, friend Hayhurst, in all 

 that you say, and feel sure that queens 

 reared in the way you describe, will be equal 

 to any. I would "suggest that you might 

 save valuable time, by a little different 

 course, in getting colonies or nuclei for 

 raising queen cells. Instead of waiting 8 

 days and then picking off all queen cells, I 

 would remove all combs containing larvae 

 and insert the comb or combs for the cells at 

 once. Letting a strong colony rear a lot of 

 cells only to be thrown away, is rather too 

 expensive, is it not? Especially, as these 

 cells might almost as well have been good 

 ones. 



