QUEEN REARING. 261 



495. If some Apiarists have noticed that their best queens 

 were reared during the swarming fever (455), it is because 

 the colonies are then in the best conditions to produce healthy 

 queens. They have pollen and honey in abundance; as they 

 are numerous, they keep the combs very warm; and, in addi- 

 tion, they have a large number of young bees, or nurses, to 

 take care of the larvae. 



496. The following accidental experiment has proved to 

 us that most of the old workers are unable to act as nurses. 

 Years ago, one of our neighbors moved three colonies of 

 bees about half a mile, in the Summer, without taking proper 

 precautions; we were informed the next day, that quite a 

 number of the oldest bees had returned, and had clustered 

 under an old table. We brought a hive there, with a comb 

 containing eggs and young larvae. They took possession of it, 

 but neglected to raise a queen, and soon dwindled away. 



497. By placing the colonies, intended to raise queens, 

 in the same condition as to food, heat, and nursing, as during 

 the swarming fever, we will raise as good queens as are then 

 raised. If, to these conditions, we add the selection of brood, 

 from our best queens, we will greatly improve the quality of 

 our stock. 



For many years, we have used all the precautions described 

 above, and, although our queens have never been reared from 

 the egg, they are very prolific and long-lived. Using hives 

 with ten or eleven large frames, we are enabled to ascertain, 

 beyond doubt, the prolifieness of our queens. Our preventing 

 swarming (459) enables us also to reckon their longevity. 



498. The interposition of the Apiarist, in queen-rearing, 

 may be necessary: 



1st. To supply the loss of a queen in a colony that has 

 not the means of raising another. 



2d. To breed a superior race of bees, or improve the pres- 

 ent stock. 



3d. To provide for the artificial increase of colonies. 



