State Bee-Keepers' Association. 105 



purity, and let the young queens mate as they will with black or Italian 

 drones. According to the theory adopted by myself, and the majority of 

 bee-keepers, the drones of the young queens will be pure, while the workers 

 of a queen fertilized by the black drone will be hybrides. From this theory 

 it is evident that the drones of your apiarj' the following spring will be 

 Italian, and you have only to proceed and raise another set of queens from 

 the same old one (or what would be better, from a new queen from another 

 apiary), which ^ould produce a cross, and prevent in and in breeding. If 

 any of the queens of the second year's raising do not produce workers of 

 undoubted purity, namely those with three distinct bands on the abdomen, 

 she should he replaced by another, until the desired purity is attained. It is 

 not necessary to make much preparation for queen-raising until the drones 

 begin to make their appearance, as they should be, at least two weeks old, 

 at the time the qiieen .sets forth on her bridal tour. When the proper time 

 arrives to prosecute your labors, the nuclei should be stocked with combs in 

 the frames, and a little honey, about one or more frames full, in order that 

 the bees may concentrate their labors on the queen cells, instead of being 

 obliged to store their hive with honey. To insure success it is also necessary 

 to have some brood in the nuclei to retain the bees, and keep them on the 

 increase, and not allow them to diminish in numbers; for the nuclei should 

 be kept well stocked with bees. The brood should be over seven days old 

 from the time the egg was deposited; so that the bees will not construct 

 queen cells from brood that you do not wish to use. To procure the bees 

 and comb it is best to obtain the hive from a distance of two or three miles; 

 drive out the bees into a box, as in transferring, search out the queen, divide 

 the combs and put them in the nucleus; then put into each nucleus at least 

 one quart of bees, without a queen . A good swarm in May will furnish bees 

 enough for about five nuclei, while in June sufficient may be obtained tor 

 ten . The bees in the nucleus should be confined, with a little ventilation, 

 for from twelve to twenty-four hours, and if the night is cool, should be cov- 

 ered or carried into a room, so that their brood may not become chilled. 



The nuclei should be placed promiscuously about the yard, so that when 

 the queen makes her flight, she may return safely to her home and not enter 

 another, and in the mistake lose her life. The bees from the nucleus may 

 be obtained from your own yard, in which case it will be necessary to confine 

 them for at least three days, that they may not return to their old habitation 

 when set at liberty. If it is desired to put the brood that you wish to have 

 queens reared from, into the nucleus at the time of putting the bees in, it can 

 be done if done quickly, that it may not become chilled in the process; or it 

 can be put in at the time they are allowed to fly out. I prefer the plan advo- 

 cated by Mr. Alley, that is, to introduce your best queens, or those you wish 

 to rear from, directly into the nucleus and change combs from them, when 

 there are eggs deposited there, to others frjom which to'rear queens. In all 

 cases, to raise large, strong, fertile queens, I think it best to introduce the 



