QUEEN-REARIxVG IN ENGLAND. 17 



Combining: Queen-Rearingf with Artificial Increase. 



— The above method of rearing queens with de-queened bees 

 may be modified so as to combine it with artificial increase, 

 which is sometimes very convenient. For this purpose the 

 colony selected should have at least enough bees to crowd 

 on ten combs. It is moved to a new stand and an empty 

 hive is placed on the old stand. The two combs of sealed 

 brood with the adhering bees and also the bees shaken off 

 two of the other combs of brood, are placed in the new hive, 

 with two or three combs of honey, care being taken to see 

 that the queen remains in the old hive. Two or three hours 

 later the bees in the new hive will be ready to accept larva 

 in cups. It is to be noted that although this colony will be 

 reinforced by bees returning from the fields and from the 

 new location, such bees are of hardly any value for queen- 

 rearing, and a colony thus divided should not be allowed 

 to rear more than ten queens. It is the voung bees, many of 

 which will remain with the old queen in the new location, 

 tfiat prepare most of the chyle food, an abundant supply of 

 which is essential for rearing good queens. Consequently, 

 to attempt this method ivithout putting a sufficient number 

 of young bees into the queen-rearing hive will only result in 

 undersized and inferior queens. A strong colony is also 

 necessary for anotfier reason. Two-thirds of the moved bees 

 are likely to return to the old location. The hive containing 

 the old queen should, therefore, be examined on the even- 

 ing of each of the first two flying days in order to remove 

 the brood that is not well covered by bees and to place it in 

 other hives where it can be properly cared for. 



Rearing: Qweens in a Colony that is Superseding 

 its Qaeen. — A colony that is superseding its failing queen 

 will accept the larvae in the cups readily and will supply them 

 with an unusually large amount of jelly. If there is a colony 

 in this condition in the apiary, it should be employed for 

 rearing queens in preference to any other. Queen-cells that 

 already exist on the combs should, of course, be removed; 

 the cups mav be primed with the jelly from one of these. If 

 the colony is not strong, combs of hatching brood from other 

 hives should be given to it. Should the old queen linger on 

 the colony can be kept for a long time in condition for rear- 

 ing successive batches of queens by supplying combs or brood 

 as required. c 



