114 



EIGHTH ANNUAL. REI'OKT OF THE 



The session opened by Dr. Miller 

 leading in prayer, as follows: 



"Our Father and our God, we thank 

 Thee for the blessings that we have 

 enjoyed. We thank Thee for the en- 

 joyable time we had here yesterday. 

 Grant that we may make good use of 

 all that we have learned. We pray 

 that Thou wilt forgive anything that 

 has been amiss in our thoughts or our 

 words. Grant now to direct us this 

 day in all that is done. May we 

 realize that by Thy blessing we get all 

 that we get out of bee-keeping and all 

 our enjoyments in every way. Hear 

 us, bless us, we ask in Jesus' name. 

 Amen." 



President York: We are glad to 

 have Dr. Miller with us. He was the 

 first and only President of the North- 

 western Bee-Keepers' Asociation many 

 years ago. 



Two or More Queens in One Hive. 



"Has any one kept two or more 

 queens in a hive at the same time, 

 and what was the result?" 



Mr. Kluck: You can keep two or 

 more queens under certain conditions, 

 where all at once you will find one of 

 the queens missing. 



Dr. Miller: Probably there is not 

 one here but that has had, at some time 

 or another, two queens in one hive. 

 Since we have clipped queens' wings, 

 we know more about some things, and 

 I suspect it is a very common thing 

 that the old queen will remain in the 

 hive for some time when the young 

 queen takes her place. It is an un- 

 usual thing to have anything but the 

 old queen and her daughter in a hive 

 together, but I did have in one case — 

 I think it was an accident — where two 

 got together that were, so far as I 

 knew, not related. That question pos- 

 sibly, however, refers to the Alexander 

 plan of having two queens in one hive. 

 You can get two queens in a hive that 

 are not related if you take two old 

 queens and introduce them at the same 

 time, when the flow of honey is on, 

 and you can perhaps get younger 

 queens. But it is a pretty hard thing 

 to get two queens that are not pretty 

 well along in years, or months at 

 ]e?..st, to stay peaceably together in a 

 hive; and as to any practical use in it, 

 I very much doubt if there is any use in 

 it at all. There was a good deal of talk 

 about there being an advantage in it, 

 but I think there is not, unless you 



could have two queens in a hive over 

 winter, but they will not do it. In the 

 spring, one or the other will be gone. 

 This has been advanced — that if you 

 can ihave two queens in a hive in the 

 spring you can build up the colony 

 twice as fast, and there is a distinct 

 gain in that. But the fact is that one 

 queen will lay all the eggs that it is 

 easy to take care of. I don't think 

 there is anything in .having two queens 

 in a hive, and I spent a lot of experi- 

 menting on it, too. 



Mr. Taylor: Especially when one 

 queen will fill eighteen Langstroth 

 frames. 



Mr. Dadant: I should very much 

 like to hear any bee-keepers Who have 

 had any experience in the -matter. I 

 have not tried it myself. I have seen 

 so many times swarms joined together 

 at the same time, and they got rid of 

 all the queens but one. I had no faith 

 in it to try it because I thought it was 

 a waste of time. I would like to know 

 if any one has tried it. I was looking 

 for Dr. Miller to make about such a 

 report. I have been watching the bee- 

 keepers' journals, both in Europe and 

 in this country; they have run away 

 with it. I see lately, one man trying 'it 

 and putting two queens together, and 

 he found eggs at both ends of the hive, 

 and concluded the two queens were 

 laying. But that would not be any 

 evidence to me. I believe there is a 

 great deal of imagination in the idea 

 that two queens can lay for a whole 

 summer, or even two or three months, 

 in a hive. 



Mr. Taylor: W^hat beats me is how 

 there can possibly be any advantage. 



Dr. Miller: The advantage I was 

 after was the having two queens in a 

 hive over winter, and that would be an 

 advantage if you got to that. 



Mr. Taylor: What advantage would 

 there be in it? 



Dr. Miller: There would be the ad- 

 vantage if I have two or three weak 

 colonies to unite in 



Mr. Wilcox: To 

 queens in the spring? 



Dr. Miller: Yes. Another advan- 

 tage, and a very important one, wa.s 

 that by having two queens in a hive 

 you did not have any swarm. I think 

 that got me rather more than the other 

 thing. Mr. Alexander said, where you 

 had two queens in a hive that kept 

 down swarming. j 



the fall, 

 use the surplus 



