686 
QUEEN-REARING 
lief that propolis is derived from the buds 
of shrubs and trees is entirely erroneous; 
and that it is a by-product arising when 
brood food is prepared by the nurse bees. 
Small drops of balsam were said to be 
forced out thru the mouth of the bee and 
deposited in corners or crevices of the hive. 
This theory is clearly imaginary and not 
supported by facts, since propolis is pres¬ 
ent in queenless colonies and in hives in 
which no pollen is fed to brood; but it is 
not without interest since it calls attention 
to the imperfection of our knowledge of 
its origin and the few reliable observations 
available. Further investigation is greatly 
to be desired. 
Under the conditions of modern bee cul¬ 
ture the collection of propolis is apparent¬ 
ly useless to the bees and a disadvantage to 
the beekeeper. The various parts of the hive 
are glued tightly together so that they are 
removed with difficulty; the combs are fre¬ 
quently stained a dark color; and the seal¬ 
ing of all crevices may prevent proper ven¬ 
tilation causing the interior of the hive to 
become damp, and ice to form in cold 
weather. But in the early history of the 
honeybee, long before the beginning of bee¬ 
keeping, when honeybees built their nests 
in hollow trees or in cavities in the rocks, 
the use of propolis was undoubtedly of 
great benefit both in excluding rain and 
cold, and also ants. Altho no longer bene¬ 
ficial under proper methods of beekeeping, 
the habit still survives; and, when bees are 
not engaged in gathering nectar, they still 
continue to seek for gums and resins. 
Propolis is the base of an important an¬ 
tiseptic preparation used by surgeons. In 
a hospital where 58 surgical cases were 
treated with propolisinvasogen (Pearson & 
Co., Hamburg) there was not a single fail¬ 
ure. The results were much less favorable 
in cases where this preparation was not 
used. It is highly commended as a domes¬ 
tic remedy for wounds and burns. It is 
also claimed that it makes an excellent pol¬ 
ish for wood and leather. 
Q 
QUEEN-REARING. —Before this sub¬ 
ject is read the subject of Queens further 
on should be gone over carefully. This 
will make queen-rearing more easily under¬ 
stood. 
As a general rule, extensive honey-pro¬ 
ducers believe that it is better and cheaper 
to buy their queens than to attempt to 
raise them, for the following reasons: 
(1) When they buy queens they introduce 
new blood in their yards; (2) in order to 
raise queens it takes a large amount of skill, 
time, and equipment, which, if devoted to 
the production of honey, would yield larger 
results in dollars and cents; (3) there is 
often a predominance of black drones in 
their locality, so much so that their matings 
would produce hybrids. There are other 
large producers who do raise some queens 
of their own, such stock coming from colo¬ 
nies showing' the best, average in honey pro¬ 
duction year in and year out. When swarm¬ 
ing is controlled by caging the queen, re¬ 
queening can be effected without very much 
loss of time. Moreover, the best of cells 
can be reared during the swarming season. 
There are certain of the smaller pro¬ 
ducers who raise their own queens, if for 
no other reason than for the fun of it. The 
whole process, from start to finish, is inter¬ 
esting and fascinating. For the benefit of 
these and others, some of the fundamental 
principles as well as the methods that are 
used by our best queen-breeders will be 
shown. But before the breeder launches 
into this general subject, he should be re¬ 
minded again to turn to Queens. After 
having read that he may then consider 
queen-rearing. 
