114 'THE beekeepers' directory. 



liberty of the combs and entire freedom of the brood-nest must 

 be considered among the new things connected with bee culture. 



I will not claim that the idea of rearing queens in full colonies 

 without first removing the reigning queen is wholly original with 

 me, yet I shall claim the credit of being the first person to make 

 such an undertaking a success. 



I think several well-known beekeepers have made an attempt 

 to rear queens while the laying queen was in the hive. In some 

 cases the queen was caged, but the queens reared in that way 

 have proved worthless in my apiary. ^ 



i hardly think there can be found one person among all those 

 engaged in or who are interested in bee culture who has experi- 

 mented in this direction to the extent that the writer has in or- 

 der to discover some method by which queens can be reared 

 without depriving a colony of its queen. Even now I feel bound 

 to acknowledge the fact that the present method was more the 

 result of an accident than of any well directed experiment which 

 I had tested. 



The swarming impulse, or the condition under which bees are 

 induced to construct gueen-cells. 



All who have had any extended experience in beekeeping well 

 know that bees will not make preparations to swarm except un- 

 der certain conditions. What are these conditioss ? Perhaps this 

 method will be better understood if I explain those conditions that 

 must be present to cause a colony of bees to construct queen- 

 cells and to make every preparation to emigrate. These condi- 

 tions are : i. A good prolific queen. 2. The combs full of brood 

 in all stages. 3. Plenty of forage. All these things induce ac- 

 tivity in any healthy colony of bees. Perhaps the Word excite- 

 ment will better express the real condition of a colony when 

 in a proper condition to cast a swarm, or the condition that will 

 cause bees to construct queen- cells. 



Now let us suppose that it is as late in the season as July 20. 

 We will also suppose that the honey harvest is past and that the 

 bees have nothing to do but to consume the honey already 

 stored in the combs. Now if one would like to know how to 

 create an excitement in the apiary, just place a small quantity 

 of honey within a few rods of the hives and you will not have 

 long, to wait to know tha* there is not a colony in the yard that is 

 not ready for business of some kind. This one fact merely illus- 



