124 INCREASE 



full sized colony. Often the bee-keeper will not use more than 

 a dipperful of bees for a nucleus used for mating purposes only. 

 It is a common practice to shake the bees from a single frame 

 to use for this purpose and to unite them with full colonies again 

 in the fall. 



There are two plans in common use among commercial queen 

 breeders. One is known as the Alley plan and the other as the 

 Doolittle plan, after the men Avho originated them. While in 

 many cases both plans have been greatly modified since first 

 made public, the general principle remains. 



The Alley Plan. — If one wishes to make use of this plan the 

 first thing is to remove a brood comb containing eggs from the 

 brood nest of the colony led by the best queen. 'So bees should 

 be retained on the comb, as it will be necessary to cut it in strips. 

 Each strip contains just one row of cells. With a sharp knife 

 cut through the row above and below, saving every other row for 

 use. This cutting must be done very carefully to avoid injury 

 to the delicate comb and the eggs it contains. After the strips 

 have been cut they are laid down and the cells on one side cut, 

 dovsm to about a quarter of an inch of the foundation or center 

 of the comb. With a match destroy every other egg in this side. 

 These shallow cells can now be readily built into queen cells by 

 the bees as shown in Fig. 58. This same picture shows how 

 the strips are fastened to the bottom of a shallow comb, so that 

 they will be in the center of the brood nest of the hive in which 

 they are placed. If the knife is kept hot there is less danger of 

 jamming the cells when doing the cutting. The strips can be 

 fastened by means of melted beeswax, which will adhere to the 

 wood strip on the lower side of the comb. Mr. Alley fastened 

 them directly to the comb without any wood strip. The combs 

 with strips are then given to queenless colonies. 



While most commercial establishments use some modification 

 of the Doolittle cell cup method, the Alley plan is still used by 

 some queen breeders who prefer it to the other. 



The Doolittle Method. — A great advance has been made in 



