REARING QUEENS. 
87 
of Mason and Dixon’s line, the honey harvest lasts only 
about two months, during portions of which the bees are 
kept in their hives and their pasturage rendered barren by 
rains, it will be seen that a few days of favorable weather is 
to them an item of no inconsiderable importance. I have 
had in a period of two weeks, at the height of the honey 
harvest, nearly thirty-five pounds of honey stored in surplus 
honey receptacles, besides building the combs in which they 
stored it, which, as they consume about twenty pounds of 
honey in secreting the wax used in constructing one pound of 
combs, would be equivalent to about seventy pounds of honey 
gathered by a single colony in two weeks. The great redeem- 
ing point in the character of the hybrids is that they possess 
much of the fertility, industry and productivene-s of the pure 
race. Their stinging propensities, however, in connection 
with the -fact that they are likely to degenerate rapidly and 
return to the habits of the natives, will prevent their becom- 
ing favorites, aside from other objections which will be found 
hereinafter. 
ITALIANIZING AN APIARY. 
This is done by rearing queens from the eggs of the pure 
Italian queen, removing the native queen from her hive, and 
substituting the Italian in her place and stead. 
REARING QUEENS. 
This process is greatly facilitated by the use of the mova- 
ble comb hive. It is not necessary to employ an entire col- 
ony full size ; a nucleus of a quart or more of young bees, 
with three or more combs, will answer the purpose even bet- 
ter, as the time consumed in examinations is thereby lessened, 
and a great saving effected. They are better protected, and 
in some respects more controllable, by being placed in a small 
hive to suit the size of the nucleus. Bees, so long as pos- 
sessed of a queen, will not rear another. 
All uuolei for rearing queens must be made queenless, and 
deprived of all combs containing native eggs which have not 
been laid longer than six days. They should then be fur- 
nished with a comb, or piece of comb, containing the eggs of 
a pure Italian queen, which if not abundant, the comb con- 
taining them may be cut into strips three-fourths o( an inch in 
