256 QUEEN REARING. 



1st. To supply the loss of a queen in a colony that has 

 not the means of raising another (109). 



2d. To breed a superior race of bees (550), or improve 

 the present stock (315). 



3d. To provide for the artificial increase of colonies. 

 (469.) 



We will study the rearing of queens, in view of these 

 requirements ; but as each queen-breeder has his pet method, 

 we will give only the main outlines, leaving our readers to 

 their own choice, according to their judgment and circum- 

 stances. 



Loss OF THE Queen. 



499. That the Queen-Bee is often lost, and that her col- 

 ony will be ruined unless such a calamity is seasonably 

 remedied, ought to be familiar facts to every bee-keeper. 



Queens sometimes die of disease, or old age, when there 

 is no brood to supply their loss. Few, however, perish 

 under such circumstances ; for, either the bees build royal 

 cells, aware of their approaching end, or they die so sud- 

 denly as to leave young brood behind them. Queens are 

 not only much longer-lived (157) than the workers, but 

 are usually the last to perish in any fatal casualty. As 

 many die of old age, if their death does not occur 

 under favorable circumstances, it would cause, yearly, the 

 loss of a very large number of colonies. As they sel- 

 dom die when their strength is not severely taxed in breed- 

 ing, drones are usually on hand to impregnate their 

 successors. 



600. Young queens are sometimes born with wings so 

 imperfect that they cannot fly ; and they are often so injured 

 in their contests with each other, or by the rude treatment 

 they receive when driven from the royal-cells, that they 

 cannot leave the hive for impregnation (123). 



