BEE MANUAL. 



211 



HOW TO SECURE CHOICE QUEEN CELLS. 



During the past seven years I have paid great attention to 

 the rearing of queens, both for home use and for sale. I have 

 tried several methods for raising queen cells, but none have 

 given me so much satisfaction as the one I first saw described 

 in Gleanings in Bee Culture for August, 1880, by Jos. M. 

 Brooks, and which I have since practised. It is very similar 

 to Mr. Alley's method, explained in his " Handy Book," a copy 

 of which should be in every bee-keeper's library. 



To secure good queen cells early in the season, we should 

 select, as soon as breeding has commenced in early spring, two 

 or more, as may be required, of our best colonies, and work 

 them on in advance of the rest by slow feeding, or, if need be, 

 by giving them frames of emerging brood from other colonies, 

 taking care to keep them covered up well. As soon as the one 

 chosen for raising drones is sufficiently strong, insert a clean 

 empty drone-comb — to be obtained in the manner explained 

 in Chapter VIII. — in the centre of the brood-chamber. Note 

 the time when the drone-brood is capped, and in eight or nine 

 days after, place a frame of clean new worker-comb in the 



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Kg. 98.— COMB CONTAINING EGGS. 



centre of the brood-chamber of the hive containing your 

 choicest queen. I would here point out that the cleaner the 

 comb is the better ; I find combs built the previous season, 

 that have only contained honey, give the best results. The 

 colony now being pretty strong, with plenty of brood in the 

 combs, the new one inserted will soon be in charge of the 

 queen, and in three or four days will be full of eggs. As 

 soon as the eggs commence to hatch, which will be in three 

 days after they were laid, remove the comb to a warm room, 



