26 ALEXANDER'S WRITINGS ON PRACTICAL BEE CULTURE 



bees seem to locate again so but few If any are lost. The very few old 

 bees that may be lost by this method are merely nothing compared with 

 the gain in bees after both queens have been laying three weeks or 

 more. This is, without any exception, the best and most practical way 

 of caring for those little weak colonies in early spring that has ever 

 been made public. 



Another question that many are asking is, "What becomes of the 

 drones that are shut up in the old hive when Increase is made?" As I 

 recommended in one of my former articles, first, we have but very few 

 drones in our apiary. I never thought they added much to the surplus 

 honey of a colony, and have often wondered why some bee-keepers rear 

 millions of them in the place of workers; and for that reason it doesn't 

 hurt our feelings it we can trap them in an upper hive until they are 

 dead. The bees usually pull them to pieces and drag the most of them 

 down through the excluder. The man who now allows his bees to rear 

 thousands of useless drones Is but one very short step in advance of the 

 man who keeps his bees in box hives. I am sure we secure at least 

 three tons of honey a year more than we should if we allowed our bees 

 to rear drones as some do. In the first place, it requires far more food 

 than it does to rear workers; and then when you consider the advantage 

 of having nearly all the bees in a hive producers instead of one-fourth 

 or more only consumers, it counts much in securing surplus. So far 

 as we can prevent we allow only one or two colonies to rear a few, 

 which I think is all that is necessary for any apiary. 



April, 1906. 



BROOD-REARING IN THE SPRING. 



HOW TO BUILD UP THE COLONIES KAPIDLT; EXTBAOTINQ SEAXED HONEY IN 



MAT FBOM THE BEOOD-NEST TO MAKE ROOM FOB BBOOD-EEABINO ; 



BROOD-COMBS OF HONET NOT DESIRABLE FOR 



SPRING FEEDING. 



According to our experience along this line I very decidedly differ 

 with some honey-producers, and say, "Yes, it is not only advisable, 

 but it is of as much importance as any other one thing connected with 

 late spring management." In preparing our bees for the summer harvest 

 there are two things which should never be overlooked: 



1. Every hive should contain a sufficient amount of good worker 

 comb for a large well-shaped brood-nest; 2. A good prolific queen. 



We think it pays us to kill many queens during the summer, with- 

 out any regard to their age, simply if they are not as prolific as they 

 should be, or if their bees are not as good honey-gatherers as they might 

 be, or if they are inclined to be cross and vicious when working among 

 them. It is not advisable to keep bees that have any serious faults. 



Let us consider the brood-nest as one of the principal things con- 

 nected with securing a good surplus. Until the last few years we took 



