122 INCREASE 
to artificial conditions to rear queens for the purpose of increas- 
ing his stock or replacing inferior queens, he must make con- 
ditions as favorable as possible. 
The weather should not be cold or unfavorable when queen 
rearing is undertaken, the best queens only should be used as 
mothers, and the cells should be built in strong colonies. One 
would hardly expect to get best results unless the bees were 
storing some honey also. 
Miller Plan—What is known as the Miller plan, or some 
modification of it, is perhaps the best method for ordinary non- 
commercial purposes. The best time for requeening is perhaps 
about ten days before the close of a honey flow. Checking the 
ege laying of the queen at this time will have no influence on the 
size of the crop, as the young bees hatched from eggs laid after 
this time would appear after the close of the harvest. The bee- 
keeper will begin to make plans for requeening then about three 
weeks before the expected close of the flow. 
From the center of the brood nest of the colony containing 
the best queen the bee-keeper removes a frame of brood and 
replaces it with a partly drawn comb or a half sheet of foundation 
or even a frame with starters. This will quickly be utilized, and 
if foundation is used the bees will draw it out and the queen will 
fill the cells with eves. Old combs should never be used for this 
purpose, as they do not furnish suitable conditions for building 
good cells. The author prefers a partly drawn comb and, lacking 
that, uses foundation. In a few days this comb will be filled 
with eges and hatching larve. The next move is to remove 
the queen from some strong colony and take away a frame of 
brood from the center of the brood nest and replace it with this 
partly drawn com) filled with eggs from the best queen. The 
culony finding itself queenless will at once start queen cells 
along the edges of this new and tender comb which furnishes ideal 
conditions for cell building. At the end of ten days the cells will 
be nearly ready to hatch and should be removed to avoid the 
