s m !l ^.-, x^ \ l:/ I, J "mmmmwm- Qlifp i. 1. Hill iGtbrara 5Jiirth Qlarolina ^tatp (ToUpap SF525 S55 ^ >n S00314368 P V This book may be kept out TWO WEEKi ONLY, and is subject to a fine of FIVE CENTS a day thereafter. It is due on the day indicated below: 980 JUL 2 3 230- Po./ SEP 311^ jAN M^ 2 a 1954 50M— May-54— Form 4 1984 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from NCSU Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/queenrearingsimpOOsmit Tilts book is dedicated to my full pm'tner — my wife. QUEEN REARING SIMPLIFIED BY JAY SMITH ytt^^^T- Vuhluhed hy THE A. 1. ROO'I" COMPANY MEDINA. OHIO 1923 CopyriKlit. I !»!!:!. liy 'I'he A. I. Root ('(iin|ian.v Made ill II. S. A. CHAPTERS. riiiijitcr T. • liii|p()rt,uice of (jotxl Queens. Chapter II. — Conditions Under Wliicli tlie Bees Re;ir Queens. Chapter III. — Queen Rearing for the Small Beekeeper. Cliapter IV. — Rejiring Queens on a Large Scale. Chapter V. — Dipping Cells. Chapter VI. —Royal Jelly. Chapter VII. —The Swarm Bo.v. Chapter VIII. —Getting the Bees in Condition for Cell-Buildinj Chapter IX. — Cell-Finishing Colonies. Chapter X. — Filling the Swarm Box. Chapter XI. —Grafting the Cell Cups, Cliapter XII. — Emptying the Swarm Box. Cliapter XIIT. —The Pritchard Forced Cell-Starting Colony. Cliapter XIV. — Our Daily Program. Chapter XV. — Nucleus Hives. Cliapter XVI. — Virgin or Cell Introduction. Chapter XVI r. —Cell Introduction. Chapter XVIII. —Why Nuclei Tear Down Cells. Cliapter XIX. — Forming Nuclei. Chapter XX. — Misfortunes of the Queen-breeder. Chapter XXI. —Records for the Nucleus Hives. Chapter XXII. —Care of Nuclei. Chapter XXIII. —Mailing Cages. Chapter XXIV. —Queen Candy. Chapter XXV. — Caging Queens. Chapter XXVI. — Clipping Queens' Wings. Chapter XXVTI. —Introducing Queens. Chapter XXVIII. — Disposing of Nuclei at Close of Season. Cliapter XXIX. —Care of Combs. Chapter XXX. — Supplementary Topics. Chapter XXXI. — Requeening Colonies About to Swarm. Chapter XXXII. —Feeding and Feeders. Chapter XXXIII. — Requeening to Cure American Foul Brood. Chapter XXXIV. — Finishing Cells in Queenless Colonies. Cliapter XXXV. —Cell-Building During a Heavy Honey Flow. Cliapter XXXVI. —The Quality of Queens. ("•apter XXXVH. —Drones. Chapter XXXVIII.— More Than One Queen in a Hive. Chapter XXXtX. —When to Requeen. Cliapter XL. — Commercial Queen-Rearing. INTRODUCTION. For several ye onng bees and brood at exactly the right time. These colonies seemed to devote all of their energy to honey-getting. They did not loaf. Tiiey did not swarm. They just uorked, and these conditions were brought about by the fact that these colonies had good young queens,' and not because they had inherited any exceptional traits or were constitutionally superior. That there is a difference in the honey-getting ability of different colonies is not denieIus was due to natural ability rather than to the condition within the liive. D. H. HIU LIBRARY IMPOHTAXCE OF GOOD QUEENS.— Chapter I. Therefore, it is no easy matter for the honey producer to pick out the !)ost (luecn, since it may be the opportunity tliat the queen had, rather .han her natural ability. How, then, are you to select your breeding- queen? First, be careful to see that conditions are the same in all colonies, and that the queens are of the same age. Then select the queen that has the most desirable qualities, such as prolificness and vigor, and whose bees are jzentle, of pure blood, good honey-getters, showing little inclination to swarm. Years ago I endeavored to breed up a honey strain by simply using ns a breeder the queen whose bees produced the largest yield. I found tbat the honey-getting quality was not in the least improved ; but that the bees were getting cross and dark in color. Then I adopted the rule of selecting the largest and most jn-olific queen whose bees were gentle and of good color. I found tbat better results were at once obtained. Being more prolific, this queen was able to keep the hive full of brood and bees at the beginning of the honey flow, which is the secret of successful honey pro- duction. If this rule is followed and in addition all colonies are re- (lueened from the best, in order to have them as nearly alike as possible in every respect, then we may select as our breeder the one that has tbe above qualifications and also the one that produces the biggest crop. Some have reported that a medium-sized queen is as good as a larger one. That lias not proved true in my experience, which has been that the larger the queen, the better. A queen that is extremely prolific has to be \ ery large in order to contain the necessary number of eggs in process of formation to enable her to lay the four or five thousand eggs per day, whieb is the perforaiance of a really good queen. When the virgin emerges from the queen-cells, she should be large, long and pointed. In three or four days, she will be much smaller, but ex- tremely active and nervous. After mating she rapidly becomes larger until she is twice her former size. The abdomen becomes long and broad near the thorax, gradually tapering to a point. Short, blunt queens are inferior. We must always bear in mind that, no matter how good our equipment, how well we ])nck for winter, how generous are the winter stores, and how abundant the nectar in the blossoms, our efforts will bring only failure if we do not have a good queen in the hive. CONDITIONS UNDER WHICH THE BEES REAR QUEENS. CHAPTER II. In oriler to rear queens successfully we must study the conditions in the hive under which bees rear their own queens. There are three of these, loiown to beekeepers as the Emergency Impulse, Supersedure and Swarm- ing. In nature, it sometimes happens that a colony suddenly loses its laying queen. Perhaps, as on very rare occasions, the queen, while laying, dies before the bees have time to supersede her in tlie regular way. The inmates of the hive at once realize they must meet this emergency, and irmnediately go to work to rear another queen. Fortimately, nature has made it possible for them to produce one from the larvae or eggs already in the hive. They, therefore, choose a number of worker larvae and begin to feed them lav^ ishly with predigested food known as royal jelly. They usually fill the cell with this until the -tiny laiTa is floated out to the mouth ; then the bees build a queen-cell over it, pointing it downward. This new cell is frequently over an inch long, and is much larger inside than that of the worker. The bees feed the larva until about five days after it is hatched from an egg, and then the cell is sealed over by them. The iarva within spins a jmall thui cocoon, changes from a larva into a pupa, and, in about eight days from the time the cell is sealed, the vir- gin queen gnaws off the cap of the cell and crawls out. For a few hours she is a weak, frail creature, downy and deUcate. However, she devel- ops rapidly, and in from two to four hours, realizing she is a queen, she, just as many monarchs in the human family, becomes very jealous of any who may have ambitious to ij^. ^,f eaiii. possess her throne. It 11 *9f> »j^msissssif^ CONDiriOXS UNn?JR WTIICTI BEES HEAR QUEENS.— Chapter II. is interesting' to note tlic events wliicli take place in tiio lii\e for the ne.xt few hours. Having in mind the suppression of competition, the new queen loams over the combs. Tf there are any queen-cells from which the queens ha\e not emerticd, she supervises the destruction ol' them. The workers ])ertorn> most of the labor under her directions, although she helps as best she can. She begins on the cells whose queens are most mature. She seems to reason these are the ones likely to give her the first trouble. An opening is made in the side of each, and, if the inmate is about ready to emerge, the queen backs down into the ojiening in the side of the cell and stings her helpless rival. The opening is then enlarged, and the dead queen is carried out by the bees. Other cells are \isited and destroyed in turn. However, if there are queen-cells uncai)ped, these aie left for a Avhile, the newlj^ emerged queen seeming to realize that she has plenty of time to handle their cases before they become any menace to her. Now, it frequently happens that, while this young queen is finding her- self for the first two hours after emerging, other queens emerge, and sev- eral virgin queens will be in tlie hive at once. They seem to realize they are too young to do any satisfactory fighting, so by mutual consent they avoid each other's society and devote their time to supervising the destruc- tion of queen-cells. However, as they grow from four to twelve hours old, they begin to seek out their rivals with the idea of doing battle. When they meet they clinch, and each tries to get a chance to sting the other. The fight does not last long, for soon one gets in the coveted position to give the fatal thrust of the sting in the thorax of her rival. The vanquished queen quivers a moment, and is dead. Other "preliminary" fights are staged until only two queens are left. Then the "final" duel takes place, and the victorious queen reigns supreme. In due time queen-cells in all stages of development are destroyed, and in six, seven or eight days the virgin queen flies out of the hive, meets the drone, and returns, to become the mother of the colony, beginning her egg-laying within the next day or two. A different order of events has been given by others, who state tliat the first thing a young queen does is to hunt up her rival and fight it out; but I have witnessed the occurrences many limes as above described. Indeed, when occasionally grafted cells have been left too long in the hive, upon qpening it I ha\-.e found many queens safe and well, all busily engaged in tearing down cells. I have counted as many as fourteen superintending this work of destruction before any ])attle had l)egun. They have been given to nuclei, thus saving them. The most unsatisfactory manner in which bees rear queens is the Emergency method. The bees seem to feel their danger of extinction from having no queens. In their frenzy, a large number of cells are started. To make a l)ad matter worse, they take lai'vae that are too old, with an idea probably of rearing some sort of queen in the shortest possible time. We all know that in satisfactory queen-rearing, the younger the larva used, the better. By this method, the oldest larva chosen is the first to hatch, so the poorest queen in the batch is the one that heads the colony. However, as this is an emergency case, the bees seem to reason tliaf, if this queen is not CONDITIOSS USl)i:i! WHICH nnns /,'/•;.!/,• queens.— Chapter 11. as good as she should !)(', Uu'v cnii hike their lime and I'eai' a uood ono later on by tlie supeiscdiiic method. Supersedure Method. When a queen is begiiinini-' to fail ironi old age or some other infiiiu- ity, the bees seem to realize that she can not be with them mucli longer, so they take steps toward rearing for themselves a new mother. Queen-cells are started, sometimes only one, seldom more than four. In these shallow cups the queen lays eggs. As soon as hatched, the larvae are fed royal jelly, and, as they receive the care and attention of the whole colony, good queens are, as a rule, the result. Sometimes the bees seem to wait \uitil the old queen is so far gone that she lays several eggs in a (lueen-cell, which results in the larvae not having sufficient food since they have to share it with their "cell mates." Owing to their being crowded in the cell, such queens are sometimes slightly misshapen. Usually, however, all but one of the lar^-ae are removed before the cell is sealed. Under the sui)ersedui-e method, however, poor queens are rare and, as a rule, the best of queens are reared. Usually the old queen disappears as soon as the virgin emerges from the cell ; but, sometimes, mother and daughter live peaceably together, both laying and usually found on the same comb. Queens Reared Under the Swarming Impulse . When a colony is preparing to swarm they start a large number of queen-cells in which the queen lays eggs. When the first cell is capped, if the weather is favorable, the swarm usually comes out. As swarming occurs when the colony is at its height of brood-rearing, the larvae are well sup- plied with royal jelly, so that the finest queens are reared. In rearing queens by any method, we can learn a great deal by eai'efully studying the conditions of the bees while building cells preparatory fo swarming, for we wish to duplicate the performance. Under the Emergency method, the bees build a large number of cells, but they do not give them the proper attention and skimp the lan^ie for food. Under the Supersedure method, they give the larvae plenty of food, but usually do not build moi-e than three or four cells. Under the' Swarming Impulse, they not only build large numbers of cells but supply the larvae in them lavishly Avith food. \Vhat is the leason for this? Is it liecause they haxc the "swarming fever" that indir-es them to do such good work? I believe not. My observations lead me to believe it is the rojxiition ol' the colony and, in snppoit of this theory, 1 have found that as many and as good cells may l)e hiiilt by a colony when not i^reparing to swarm as by one that is, provided the conditions are the same in all other lespects. What are these conditions? First, a honey flow is on or just coming on, lor bees seldoni swarm at any othei' time. Second, they are strong in bees, especially young nurse bees. Third, the hive is crowded with brood in all stages: and foui-tli, the wcjither is reasonaI)ly warm. 1 believe these condi- tions enable tiie 1)ees to icai' not only a large number of queens l)ut those of the highest i|iialit,\. I'nderstand, it is the coudHitin, not the sirarming fever. As evidence to substantiate this statement, the following fact, which 1 have observed manv times, is given. AVhile havinu' cells finished above an CONDITIONS UNDER WTIWII BEES REAR QUEENS.— Chapter II. excluder, sometimes the bees take it into their heads to swarm, and as bars of cells are capped the swarm issues. Since the wings of the queen are clipped the bees return, and the queen is helped back into tlie hive. Re- moving the bar of cells frequently discourages swarming but sometimes they persist, coming out every day or every other day for a week or more as the spirit moves them. 1 have never been able to see that, while they had this swarming fever, they gave the cells any better attention than before or after swarming. This fact satisfied me that it is the condition of the col- ony and the honey flow or the feeding that give good results in cell- building. Under the Grafting method, we endeavor to get all colonies connected with queen-rearing in the condition above described. If we do, we can rear queens every bit as good as those reared under the swarming impulse; if we do not, inferior queens will result. By examining the cells, one can easily tell which of the three' methods the bees used in their construction. In the Emergency method, the queen is reared from a larva that has hatched in a worker-cell, so by looking into the bottom of the queen-cell, the worker-cell may be seen. In the Supersedure method as well as the Swarming method, the cells are the same. The queen lays eggs in both; but, during tlie swarming, many more cells are built than under the super- seding impulse. QUEEN-REARING FOR THE SMALL BEEKEEPER. CHAPTER III. There are several methods that may be employed where one wishes to rear but a few queens. Cells, saved from a colony that has just swarmed, may be placed in colonies to be requeened. whose queens have been re- moved. This is much better than to allow colonies to run along with in- ferior queens ; but, by this method, little progress can be made in improving the stock since, when you wish to requeen, your best colony may not be swarming. Consequently, you would have to use cells from an inferior colony. It has frequently been noted that the inferior strains of bees swarm the most. Blacks and hybrids are much more inclined to swarm than Italians. In requeening' by the swarming method, a piece of comb one inch in diameter should be cut out around the cell, using a good, sharp knife, and being careful not to injure the cell. A hole of corresponding size should be cut in the comb of the colony to be requeened and the piece containing the cell fitted into it. Where but one cell is on a comb, the entire comb may be i:»laced in the colony to be requeened. If this colony is of medium strength or strong, it makes no difference just where the cell is placed for there will be sufficient bees to give it the proper incubation. The bees may be left on this comb or brushed off, but never should be shaken off since the un- developed queen is almost sure to be injured. In giving a cell to a weak colony or a nucleus, it is important to place it near the center next to the brood. Frequently cells built on the bottom edge of a comb when given to a weak colony do not mature. A second and very simple method of requeening is simply to remove the queen from a colony, and the bees will construct a number of cells by the Emergency method. Such queens are not, as a rule, as good as those reared under the Swarming or Supersedure Impulse. If care is taken to save only the largest and best cells, however, very good queens can be reared in this way. The princijoal point to commend in both of the above methods is their simplicity. If one has never reared queens, these will prove very interesting and are a step toward better ones. The third system requires a little more skill, but will produce cells a? good as the best if care is taken to have all conditions right. Go to the colony containing your breeding queen and insert an empty comb into the center of the brood-nest. Leave this there for two or three days or until the queen has laid a large number of eggs in the cells. Remove it, how- ever, before the eggs begin to hatch since our object is to get the bees to use very small larvae from which to rear queens. Next, go to a strong colony and take the queen and all combs con- taining eggs or brood, but leave with the bees several coml)s of honey and l)ollen and give them the frame of eggs from your breeding queen. If it is desired to save this queen, she is given a frame of brood and adhering bees QlJKKy-ltKAHlSG FOR TIIK SMALL BKEKEEPEE.— Chapter III. aii.l put iuto :i liive to slail n new colony. Fill out the vacant space with coiiihs containing some lioney, if possible. Ji' you have no extra drawn- <-oinl)s on lianil it is better to take a few from other colonies and in their place give iull slieets of foinulalion, for they will do better work at drawl- ing foundation than woukl this new colony which is not strong enough for that puriiose. The remainder of the brood is used to strengthen weaker colonies or to make strong colonies even stronger for the honey flow as occasion seems to demand. Having now disposed of the queen and l)rood, let us go back to our (|uecnless colony. Realizing their queenlessiicss, the bees will start cells as soon as the eggs ])egin to hatch. Very frequently by enlarging the worker-cell, they make it over into a queen-cell even before the egg hatches. In this manner the newly hatclied larvae receive abundance of royal jelly fioiu the very start, which is necessary for the best results. This method lias the advantage over the others just described since the bees can not use larvae too old for good results. However, it should only be used when there is a honey flow. In about six days after the cells are capped, they should be cut out with a sharp knife, and given to colonies to be requeened which have been made queenless. When there are laivae of the i)roi)er age at the bottom of the comb, the bees prefer to build cells there, sometimes l)uilding a compact row of cells half way across the comb. In such cases some of the cells will have to be destroyed when being cut apait. In giv- ing this coud) of eggs to the colony, if there are no eggs at the bottom of I lie coiid), it is well to cut away the comb so that the eggs will be at the edge. Tiiis is not necessary, liowe\er, for the bees w'ill stai't plenty of ceils if the comb is left intact. As the operation of forming nuclei to receive them, when that is desired, is llie same as given undei' the Grafting metiiixl. it will not be described here. The Grafting Method. ]f one keeps as future, it will \m\ liii to len fifty colonies or exited s to do so in the the grafting method. Tliis requii-es mucli i^UEKy-UKAHlSii lOlt THK bM M.L II KKKEEPER— Chapter HI. more skill and inuftict' lluui tlie ones above mentioned; but it has so many advantages over all the rest that it is used by nearly all queen-breeders and extensive lioney producers who rear their own queens. Tliis method is more economical, tor it is not necessaiy to have any colony queenless at any time. You have control over the situation and can rear queens in any quantity desired. It is exact, since you know within a very tew hours when any cell will hatch. The artificial queen cups are much easier to handle, lor with them it is not necessary to cut up and mutilate good worker combs. Larvae can be taken from your best breeding queen and the stock improved thereby. Last but not least, the very best queens can be reared, if conditions are kept right. To rear a few queens during a honey flow is a simple matter ; but to keep up a steady production throughout the season under variable weather and honey flow is not a sinqile matter. However, with experience and patience it can be done. 1 ..Mm 1^^^ ^■-.:--r^r;'^^. U "^~W' •' ^^^i^S -' ^ y^^^:< ■.j^X,. .■ y^^ %i?'f -*is'^* -p^^y- "P^, '■.- ■ ■'■ ^ ■ ■* *^- ■" '. :-- , .•^%-*-- ^ . • >■ ■- v» . -.^'\ '>'-'" ^1Si '■ IBS,:.'?^: *|; y Hlp*-5!l?*y"t. 1 11 ■m. r *<^^^K^ IfcSHj \ U-ar 'Im "^^ ■: ^ f pm ^^ REARING QUEENS ON A LARGE SCALE. CHAPTER IV. 1 thoroughly believe that many beekeepers who have a thousand colo- nies or more and who do not rear their own queens could increase their honey yield fifty per cent by liaving a good queen-rearing outfit and being able to use it properly. Moreover, in localities where European foul brood is rampant the honey crop might be doubled or trebled, since there is nothing that eliminates this disease like strong colonies of Italian bees headed by young, vigorous queens. Headwork . Some of the most important work that can possibly be done in the winter months is reading bee books and journals, of which we have a goodly supply of the highest standard. Secure all the books you can and take all of the journals. If you do this and carefully study them, it will be the best investment you can make. Read, study and plan in the winter. We should remember that successful business men work with their heads. They can hire hand work at a low figure; but headwork is always at a premium. A great deal of headwork is required of the successful beekeeper, and much of this work can be done in winter. During the honey fiow we are too busy working with our hands to do much headwork. J. S. Knox, the efficiency expert, says that a man is worth $2.50 per day from his chin downward. If he earns more than this, it must come from above the chin. Consequently, he divides men into two classes, "Chin Uppers" and "Chin Downers." If we are successful we must be "chin uppers." For the beekeeper the best time to do his "chin upper" work is in the winter sitting before a comfortable fire, reading, thinking, studying, planning. ]\Ioreover, as there is a great deal of work to be done with the bees during the queen-rearing season, one should plan to do all the work pos- sible in the winter. Nailing up hives and nuclei, painting them, putting in foundation, dipping cells and siinilai- work should all be gotten out of llie way before spring comes. DIPPING CELLS. CHAPTER V. Since I know more about the way / rear queens than I do about the way any one else does it, I wish to take the reader with me through the season, while I attempt to show in detail how I rear queens. Possibly, you have methods of your own that you prefer. I do not claim to have a monopoly on all the good things in queen-rearing, but will be content if you find some little feature which I use that you consider worthy of adop- tion, and which may be of help to you. Let us start by dipping cells as this can be done in the winter. Wax is saved from the year previous. For this a solar wax extractor is an im- portant item. During the summer months, many small pieces of comb are found that can be thrown into it. This makes the finest cell- building wax. In the nuclei, bits of comb are built and when introducing queens, where a frame is taken out, the bees will construct more or less comb. All these can go into the wax extractor. From the wax extractor, the wax is placed in small molds, for use in dip- ping queen-cells. I have enough cell bars to last tlie season, so we always dip sufficient each winter to supply us through the entire summer. Our cell-dipping outfit con- tains twenty cell-forming sticks, which work through holes made in two pieces of heavy tin. Metal is much better tlun wood since the latter swells when wet, and the forming sticks do not A solar wax extractor is an im„ortant Hem. ^^^j, ^^.^^j^ through the holes. These pieces of tin are fourteen or fifteen inches long, fastened one and one-quarter inches apart to small blocks of wood, which are to serve as handles when dipping the bars into the trays. Each piece of metal is pierced with twenty holes, one-fourth inch apart, and seven-sixteenths inch in diameter. The holes are exactly opposite each other on the two bars, in order that the cell-forming sticks may slip up and down through them easily. Two trays are used, one five by sixteen inches, the other two and one- half by fifteen inches. Water is placed in tlie larger forming a double nil'I'/Xa CI'HJ.S. Clmnlrr I foriiiin;; sliiks. boiler; wliile wax is i)liU'e(l in the inner tray, nnd the whole set ovei' the heat. The wax should he kept at the lowest temperature at wliicli it will remain liquid. It' it becomes too cool the cells will be lumpy; it too hot, they do not slijt from the sticks. Jf one is not experienced, it is well, when (he wax apparently reaches the propei' temperature for successful (lipi)inii-, to try dipi>in,ij- one stick, and, if the wax ])roves of satisfactory temperature, liroceed to woik. Fiist, dip the ends of the forminii' sticks in cold water, then dip into the melted wax: a_i;aiii dip in water and back into the wax tor about four dippings, care l)eing' taken to hnxc a firm, thick base, with a thin, e\en edge. By dip]>ing the sticks in the wax and holding the l)ar \i\) until a drop forms on the base of tlie cell, a thick base is procured. A thick base is necessary, fur in trimming off tiie cells with a knife the cells would be in- jured if too short. When completed, tlie cells should be about five-sixteenths of an inch aci'oss the moutii and one-half inch deej) inside measurements. Many beekeei)ers make a mistake in believing that the umst important feature for successful cell acceptance is the grafting of the larvae into the cell cups; but a fai' more important feature is that of uudving cells of the l)roper shape and size. The ideal cell would be as the bees build them, large inside, with a small mouth; but it is not possible, or at least prac- tical for the beekeeper to make cells of this shape. Ui>on several occasions, 1 have given cells that had been accepted and slightly built out in the swarm box to a colony for finishing, when by accident it contaiiieil a \ ir- gin queen. Of coui'se, the larvae and jelly were both (luickly cleaned out. niri'ISC, CKJJ.S.— Chapter V. J have ui\cii oiu' l)ar of such (-ells to a swaim hox and two l)ars of our dipped cells. The bees seemed to coiieeiitiate all their efforts on the cells already woiked on i)y the i)ees and neiilected my dipped cells. The bees prefer to maUe the mouth of the cell just larue enouuh for a worker bee to crawl into, and it is frequently noticed that sometimes, in the worker's haste to back out of a queen-cell when smoke is blown into the hive, it is caught and has to do consideral)le scrand)ling- and kicking before it can get out. I find the best cell for i)ractical i)ur[)oses is one whose size is be- tween that of the inside of a natural queen-cell at its largest place and the mouth of the cell, this being five-sixteenths of an inch as given above. In our early experience, many of us, enthusiastic in rearing larger queens, sought to accomplish this by making larger cells; but, being large at the mouth, the bees were loath to accept them, and it took considerable work on their part to build them over to the size they should be. When the bees get to work on the cells they mould them into the shape they want, regard- less of the size and shape the beekeeper has uu^de them. The smaller cells will give better acceptance than the larger ones; but do not for a moment imagine this cramps the lai'va and produces an inferior queen, for the bees enlarge the cell to suit their own fancy. For experimental purposes i have dipped queen-cells the size of a worker-cell, and excellent results were obtained. Cells larger than five-sixteenths of an inch are not accepted so readily as those of this size or smaller. Nothing but pui'e beeswax of good quality should be used. Upon one occasion, when everything was going finely, cells accepted and built out nice- ly, the bees in the swarm boxes began to balk until finally they accepted less than twenty-five per cent of those given. 1 had all conditions right, as 1 supposed, the same as before — plenty of young bees, well fed. At length I noticed the wax of which we made the cells was not so white as some we liad been using. I made up a new batch of cells from clear white wax, and, as if by magic, all cells were again accepted and everything went on splen- didly as before. Instead of heating the Avax in a double boiler as we do now, this wax had been set directly over the flame and had become slightly scorched and darkened, so the bees would ha\e none of it. After the cells have remained in water long enough to become sliglifly hardened, they are !oo-eiiei1 by ui\ing each a slight twist, but allowed to re- iitaiii oil tic slicks. Tlie\' are then | Ire d on (lie cell bar. the frame being s u p p o 1- f e d on blocks. .\ small round paint brush is dipped in hot wax, and the cell cups painted at the base where they come in con- tact with the cell l.,i r. A kettle slioidd i)e kept at haiiil for melting .■Mlditioiial wax to ad. I to tliat ill the DIPPING CELLS— Chapter V. inner tray, in onk'r that siinioient wax may l)e luul to make the cells the necessary one-iiaif ini-li in depth. If the wax in either becomes dark- colored or impure it should be discarded, and an entire batch of new clear wax placed in the tray. However, the darker wax may be used to paint the bases of the cells to cause them to adhere to the bar. When the wax has become thoroughly cool, the frame is lifted off and all of the forming sticks come out of the cells easily. If properly done, the cells will remain on the bars even if subjected to considerable rough usage. When the cell bars are all finished, they should be wrapped carefully in paper to be kept free from dust, since the bees will not accept dirty or dusty cells. If you have on hand the cardboard cartons in which founda- tion is shipped, they make ideal containers for %> the cell bars. Suggestions in Making Cell Cups. Of course it is not advisable for the beginner to have a dipping outfit made as previously de- scribed. After mastering the grafting method, he may enlarge upon his equipment as he wishes. The beginner can either dip his cells one at a time and mount them or he can purchase ready-pressed cells from dealers in bee sup]ilies. Either one will give perfect results. These cells may be mounted on bars as needed, thus elimi- nating the necessity of purchasing a large num- ber of bars. The base of these cells may be dipped in hot wax and stuck on to the bar when needed. To avoid the necessity of get- ting the swarm box, he can also use the queen- less and broodless method de.?cribed in Chapter XIII. However, I believe it pays to use the swarm box, for one can, as a rule, get better re- sults. In this way it is possible to experiment until one gets his hand in without putting much money into equipment, and as he pro- gresses can add to the equipment to fit his re- quirements. If one has difficulty in making his cells, one at a time or collectively, he can use to advantage the ready-made pressed cells sold by all dealers. Where only a small number are required the beginner will probably do better to buy what few he uses. The making of dipjied cells is a nice art, and, unless they are made just i-ight, the bcos will reject tliom. Pressed cell ROYAL JELLY. CHAPTER VI. Every tliinji- in readiness, we await the coming- of spring with a great deal of enthusiasm and no little impatience. Sometimes it seems spring weather will never come; but it does no good to worry and if you look backward, you remember that spring has never yet failed to come. Is there anything more interesting tlian to watch the bees bring in their first loads of pollen? If the beekeei)er has done his duty toward them the season before, there will be no need of tinkering with them until later in the spring. The soft maples blossom and go ; then come the pear and apple blossoms, and soon a few heads of white clover can be seen. It is now time to get busy at queen-rearing. Some seasons the weather permits grafting soon after the first blossom ; but it does not pay to be in too great hurry lo rear queens before the real queen-rearing season arrives. I know of no definite rule concerning the time for it. Each person will have to find out by experimenting until he knows his location well enough to be reasonably sure -when to begin. Many times in the Mid- West, the bees are strong and the conditions ideal for cell-building during apple blossoms; but later the weather turns cold, so that virgin queens can not get out to mate. As nearly as I can come to it, when the hives are getting nicely filled with brood, when plenty of pollen is coming in and the bees are gathering a little nectar, then it is time to begin grafting. Before grafting, a supply of royal jelly is necessary. Some very suc- cessful queen-breeders report they get satisfactory results without its use ; but I have never been able to procure as large acceptance or as good strong queens without it. J. W. George of El Centro, California, gave to the bee- keeping fraternity a valuable little kink when he explained that royal jelly can be bottled and kept in perfect condition from one season to another. I have practiced this to advantage, and find one of the great difficulties of queen-rearing is thereby removed. If you have no royal jelly on hand, a colony may be made queenless until they build queen-cells, when you can get the jelly from them. After the first gi-afting, some of the jelly in a few cells you have produced may be used ; but, in this way, you continually destroy good queen-cells. As a container for royal jelly, I use a small porcelain jar with a screw cap. A piece of waxed cardboard in the cover makes it air-tight. Let me offer a suggestion as to where you can get one of these jars. Make a raid on your wife's manicuring outfit, and, if luck is with you, you will find one of these jars. To be sure that luck will be with you, better do it when she is out. This jar usually has some pink dope in it. Take this out, put it into a tin can, present it to your wife with your compliments and make off with the jar. Thoroughly sterilize this jar by boiling, for the bees seem to ob- ject to (he fiuiiiy smell that comes with it. If your wile does not have this, ROYAL JELLY.— Chapter VI. or if you do not liavc a wife, you can .uo to tlio drui:' stori' ami liiid just iIm' size and style tliat suit you. The dope looks as tliousili it niiiiht l)e of use if you put it into tlie grease cups of your Hivvoi', hut 1 do not want to su;:- j,''est too many daniierous exi)orinients for you to try all at onco. Foi' a jelly spoon, 1 prefer to make one out of the hone handle of a toothhrush, which also may be found in the manicuring- outfit. Hreak off the lirush and wliittle down the small end until it fits nicely into a worker-cell. This jelly spoon and the jelly jar are to be carried in the ])ocket of your trous- ers or dress, whichever you wear. "While woi'king with your bees during the season, you Avill be running- acioss colonies that lune royal jelly to spare. Whenever a swarm issues, just take out the jar and spoon and get the royal jelly, I have found that I come across enough in my regular work so that I never have to make any special hunt I'oi' jelly. It is well to have two of these jars; keep one in your pockcl and the otiici- in the grafting- room. THE SWARM BOX. CHAPTER VII. There are several methods used for lietliuu- cells accepted and started by the bees; but wben all things are considered, I believe the swarm box has more desirable features than any other. For best results the swarm box must be kept in even temperature. It gives perfect results during cool A\eather, for, by placing it in the cellar, cave or basement, the outside temperature does not affect the bees. During hot weather it gives equally good results for the same reason. By using- the swarm box it is not neces- sary to have any colony queenless at any time. The box is made eight inches wide, inside measurement, and should be the right length and depth to take the sized brood-frame to be used, allow- ing about an inch sjiace below the frames. The bottom is covered with wire-screen cloth. Four legs one inch long are fastened to the bottom in order to provide plenty of ventilation. At each end of the box two strips of wood are nailed inside to support the cell bars. These should be placed so that the cell l)ars will be a little lower than the top of the brood-frames. A cover is made with cleats running entirely around, forming a telescope cover one inch deeii. In the center of this cover is made an oblong opening- large enough so that three cell bars may be passed through it with ease. The object of this cover, which is little more than a rim around the edge, is to prevent the bees from boiling out over the sides when the bars are being put into the swarm box. A second cover slides on top of the tele- scope cover, thus closing the opening in it. The end-cleats on tlie telescope cover extend a little above, and thus kee]) the n))iier cover in place. Two 111- >uariii liox. rilK S)VM!M IIOX. ('liai>lrr I'll. which is merely a thin board hold the thiee cell bars. In the bars to koop out li.iiht an to make tlie lillin- hole at tli lor the l)ars. h('a\y wire handles swini; up over the ends so that, when the swarm box is beintr carried, these covers cannot fall off. A round openin,si- is made in the top of the upjier cover by the use of an expansive bit just the size to take the cap of a INIason jar. When feeding the bees, a Mason jar with a perforated cap is used in this opening, which is also utilized for i^utting the bees into the swarui box by inserting a tin funnel and shaking the bees from the combs into the box. The box is given two coats of paint to prevent its warping so it will thus remain bee- tight. When made in such a way as to have the cell bars inside, the bees may cluster all around them and thus keep the temperature uniform, which gives much better results than the old style where the bars were placed in slots in the cover. The old-style swarm box is somewhat easier to make and _. lor experimental purposes inig'ht be preferi'ed by some. '" "*^- It is similar to the one just described except the cover, with an opening cut in the toji large enougli to using this it is well to jilace a cushion over il rolain the heat. In this style it is necessary (' cud ol' the cover to avoid the ojiening made GETTING THE BEES IN CONDITION FOR CELL-BUILDING. CHAPTER VTII. Let us reuieiiiber that for the best results in eell-l)uiUlin^- we must have plenty of j'ouny bees which are being lavishly fed either from a honey flow or from receiving' sugar syrup. This condition is necessary where even a few cells are being built by the colony. Now, as we wish tliem to build a large number of cells, the colony must be exceedingly strong. As we are starting early in the spring while only a little nectar is coming in, it will be necessary to feed sugar syrup in order to get the best results. The method of feeding that I have found very satisfactory is to take a two-quart Mason jar and punch in the cap eight nail-holes 1-16 inch. Fill it with syrup, equal parts of granulated sugar and water. Many rec- ommend a weaker syi'up, but with me the heavier syrup gives best results. There is no loss as the bees store in the combs all that they do not need. A bee-escape board is used for a hive cover, and the Mason jar is inverted over this hole. An empty hive body is set on, and a regular hive cover is placed on top of all. By this method of feeding there is no robbing, and the bees take the syrup night and day even if the weather is quite cojd, which they will not do when this style of feeder is used at the entrance. However-, our regular bottom-board feeder, as described later, has so many advantages over any other that I am now using it for all purposes. As the swarm-box colonies as well as the finishing colonies are very strong, it is an advantage to slide the hive forward on the bottom-board, thereby affording better ventilation. This also provides an opening into By tl ni.ahod of feeding tli ?7 lO robbiiiiJ. 'ii-:iri\(. i:i-:i:s i\ (oxurnnx i-oi; ( H/j.-iii/LDixa-cinip. viii. wli it'll tlie synip is poured. INIany advo- cate iiiving- them a very little thin syrup from an entrance feeder, using about a pint a day. This will answer very well if some nectar is coming in; but, when this is not the case, better re- sults can be obtained bj' giving syrup in abundance. Two quarts of syrup, equal parts sugar and water, jier day will give excellent results, f^nough must I i. I , '- . 1 be given to cause the bees to build white comb, and this enables llieiii to draw u;it liic cells to perfection as well as to secrete an abundance of royal jelly. My experience has been that the ijees do every bit as well when the feed is given them all at once every night as they do when they take it through three or four holes from the INIason jar. It must be borne in mind that there is no waste in giving them more than they use at the time, for all surplus is stored in the combs. The colony that is to furnish bees for the swarm box must be very strong in bees. If it is not in this condition, it must be built up by giving it frames of emerging brood fiom other colonies. If a hive smaller than the ten- frame Jumbo is used it should have a double brood-chamber, and both stories should be full of bees and brood. The hive should contain ten or twelve pounds of bees. Rearing good, vigorous queens without strong colonies and plenty of feed is an impossibility. The colony that is to fur- nish bees for the swarm box must be fed at least three days before the swarm box is filled. It will do little good to feed theiu just before they go into the iiox. 1 do not know why this is true, but it seeuis to take a few days for the bees to assimilate the food and make it o\ er into royal jelly. So I use the term, "fat bees." Vou must fatten the bees before they can do good work at feeding larvae. Poor, hungry liecs will nut accei)t cells. 11" there is a j)i'etty good honey (low on, no lecditig will l)c rc(|uii'ed. CELL-FINISHING COLONIES. CHAPTER IX. Since wo lia\o tlio swann-hox colony in fine condition M'illi al)undanc(' of bees ami siipplicil willi Food, we will prepare tlie finisliiiiii' colonies. As we expect to start three hais ot cells in the swanii box, it will l)e neces- sary to ])reiiare three colonies to linisli them, for one bar of twenty cells is enongii for even the strongest colony. However, if the finishing- colo- nies are sufficiently ]iopulous, they will do exactly as good woi'k at finish- ing twenty as can be done by a colony ])reparing to swarm, in building cells in their own natui-al way. The method of i)re])aring the linishing colonies is similar to jireiiaring the ^w -nni liox colony. They must also be kejjt running ovei' with liees. At the be- ginning of the season when the colonies have not had. time to build up to maxiiuuiii strength, a 1 a r g e amount of brood is required to i)ut theui in condition to do the best work. All emp- ty c m b s in the brood-nest should be reuioved and replac- ed with bi'ood froui other colonies. They ni u s t be iiinde a two-story (•(ijony. Tlu' second story must be added with a queen-exclud- er between the two hive bodies. If the colony is of sullicient strength to care for nine frames of brood, the frames are placed in the ui>per story after shalcing off all the bees. If the lin- ishing colony is not sli'ong e n o u g-b to take care of the extra CELL-FINISHING COLONIES.— Chapter IX. frames of brood, it is best to give it the nine frames of brood with ad- hering bees. There is some ^ HHlflHIMMlHI ifr St^ptpinluT cells. CELL-FISISUISG COLONIES— Chapter IX. cell-buildiug as we have with a strong colony during- a honey flow. Tt is evident that to buiUl up colonies to cell-building- condition in early spring or late fall is expensive, as it will rob a number of colonies of their brood; but, if queens are needed at such times, it can be done with profit. The illustration shows some bars of cells built in late September after the flowers have all gone. But few of the virgins that emerged from these cells ever became laying- queens, for the weather turned cold and they could not venture out on their honeymoon. One should bear in mind that it is the best queens that make the records at honey getting, so it pays big dividends to be extravagant with brood and feed. If all cells have dried-down royal jelly in them after the queen emerges, you have done all that can be done in the way of providing bees and feed to the cell-building colony. If some cells have no jelly in them, you are not rearing the best of queens. True, some may be fii'st class for they may have had enough after consuming it all, but there are sure to be some that do not have enough and dwarf queens will result. How manj- cells can a colony finish? During the summer of 1923 some experiments were made at our yard to determine the number of cells a colony should finish. In stating- the number in this book, we wish to st-and on firm ground and not advocate anything that might bring poor re- sults to the beginner. If our experiments prove conclusive, we shall give them to the public later : but at this writing I believe that, when the colony that is to st-art or finish the cells is in perfect condition, it will build a large number of cells, and when not in good condition, it will not do good work on one cell. This is somewhat similar to the perplexing problem of "over- stocking." When the honey plants are in good condition, overstocking is almost impossible: but, when the plants are not in proper condition, a single colony can not make a surplus. FILLING THE SWARM BOX. CHAPTER X. Two coinhs coiitjiiiiiii^' some linnoy .-md |>(illen are placed in tlie swarm box. Tliese slioiild he old ooinl)s and not too licavy, toi", in tlie liandliuti they are to receive, tliey will he liable to break down if new or iL' they contain much honey. These combs are placed one at each side of the box and are held in position by the two blocks that are to support the cell bars. Jf one has never used a swarm box, it is well to i)lace it on scales for a few times until able to judge accurately the weiiiht of the bees the box con- tains. A funnel, such as is emjaloyed in filling- pound packages, is use^l for putting the bees into the box. Wiiile good results can be had Avith no pollen in the swarm box, better results are obtained by having plenty of it in the two combs that are used. It is surjjrising to note the amount that the bees will consimie while con- fined in the swanu box. If the two combs have an abundance, it will usu- ally be eaten after the combs have been used three times. Before filling tjie box with bees examine the combs, and, if they do not contain sufficient pol- len, they should ])e remoxed and other frames containing plenty put in their l^lace. Set the swarm box in front of the colony from which the bees are to be taken, put the funnel into the hole and all is ready for the bees. It is quite desirable, ujion all occasions when removing frames from the hive, to see that they are^^ut back in the same position as found. If not, queen- cells are apt to be started, and, when the virgin emerges, she will kill the laying queen. This subject will be discussed more fully under "Introducing Queens." A good method is to take out the frame nearest you and set it several feet away from the entrance. Then examine the next frame to find the queen. I f she is not on that frame, set it back, lift out the next and then the next until the queen is found. Pick her u\) by the wings and put her on the frame that you first took out. Set all frames hack in their regular [ilaee except the one that has the queen. The reason we set the first frame with the queen some distance away is to prevent the bees and queen from crawling back into the hive, thus getting the queen into the swarm box. Nothing that I can call to mind creates siu-li a stioug desiie to kick one's self as to get the queen into the swarm box. 1 loiow from expei'i- ence. While you are working with the bees, they begin to fan and tlie first thing you know all the bees, including the queen, begin a grand march for the entrance or go o\er the top and into the hive. You do not know that the queen is there, and your grafting comes to naugiit. Instead of accejited cells you find them mostly torn out by the roots and made over into some fine worker comb containing eggs. In order to avoid this calamity, set the t rame with the queen so far away that the bees will not heed the call of their companions, 32 FllJjyC rilF. .sir. I //.I/ l!<>\. Cha,,hr X. We are now ready to put m the bees. Take out the lirst frame cov- ered with bees, put one end of it down into the funnel, take hold of the other and with both hands jrive it a quir-k shake downward, then ui)ward. Two little shakes, in whii-li the condj is not moved more than two or three inches, Avill dislodge all of the bees except those that have their heads down in the cells. Set this frame back into the \uve and do the same with the others until the desired nuuiber of bees are in the box. From five to seven pounds is the right amount. Try to get six pounds as nearly as possible. With a little practice you will not vary more than a pound either way. There should still remain in the hive a sufficient number of bees to care for the brood. When the box has the required amount of bees in it, re- move the funnel, place the cap of a Mason jar in the hole, replace the comb containing the queen, close the hive, and cairy the box to the basement. Caution. When a heavy honey flow is on. take care that the bees are not daubed with honey when they are shaken into the swarm box, for if they are tliey will suffocate and both bees and cells will be lost. True, if a little lioney is smeared 'on them it does no harm; but too much is disas- FTLLIXG THE SWATIM BOX.— Chapter X troiis. When a lieavv honey flow is on, slmke the comb lightly so no nectar is displaced, and, if sufficient bees are not obtained in this manner, the bees not shaken off may l)e bruslied off witli a bee-brush. When more than five pounds of bees are put in the swarm box, it is advisable to set the box on two by four seantlincs to afford more abundant ventilation. The Dungeon. In one corner of the basement I have what I call the "bee dungeon." This is a room made by stacking uj") extracting sujiers and hive bodies to the ceiling to make it dark. The opening tliat serves as a door is made in break-joint style so that no light can get in. It is wide enough so that a person can walk in carrying a. swarm box in each hand, which is anotliev advantage over a swinging door for plenty of fresh air can enter. Back in the dungeon the bees remain quiet as though it were night, away from noise, light and strong air currents, and are as contented and satisfied as though they were in their own hive. If no basement is available, any room in the honey-house where it is not too hot or cold will do; but it Avill pay to make a basement. It is the ideal place. I usually fill the box at one o'clock in the afternoon and leave the bees confined there in the basement until three o'clock. I find that two hours of confinement is all that is necessary, for, as the bees are queenless, broodless and on strange combs, they realize their queenlessness to the fullest extent in that length of time. Why the Bees Accept the Cells. Now, while the bees are contentedly clustering to the lid of the swarm box, licking the honey off any luckless individual that was daubed up when Are as coi'itenlcd and satisfied as lliougli in llieir own hi FITJjISa rilK SWAUM JlOX.^Chapler X. they wei-e shaken from tlie combs, let us consider the condition brought about with tlie bees tbat causes them to do L;ood work at cell-accepting. For some days previous, the younii nurse bees ha\e been leedin.L;' .qi'eat hoards of larval food, which is the same as the food we call royal jelly. We have suddenly taken them away from these larvae, so they continue to secrete the royal jelly liut have no larvae to feed. They also realize their queen- lessness. Tiiey are crying' for a queen; they have the food with which to raise many queens, but they have no larvae with which to do it. It is our pi'ivilege to accouuiuxUite them in this respect, so now we will proceed. gi-apevine cii)iar\ GRAFTING THE CELL CUPS. CITAPTKR XI. The best place lo do the uia I't in.: i> in tlie honey-house or the room of a (Iwellinii \\ here thei'e is ph'iilA ol' liiihl (-oiiiing' through a south window. A room is better than out of (k)i)rs for several reasons. It is cool, and the larvae may be kept away From stron,i>' lisht, heat and drying- winds. It is more comfortable for the operator, and lie is away from robljei' bees. The araftins outfit is quite simple — a ui'aftinL: nccMJlc that can be bouL:ht I'rotn dealers in bee supplies, a jelly spoon made out of a loothhiush handle. a little jar of royal jelly and a small individual salt dish in which to mix tlie jelly. With the Jelly spoon. |dacc some of the loyal .jelly in the salt dish and dilute it with pure w.-itci-. It should he as nearly as ])ossible like the thin larval food seen in the bottom of the w oi-ker-cell soon after the egii' has hatcheil. \\'hen this is done, uo to the lii\e containing' your best breeding- queen and take out a fiame \\ ith as many youiiL: larvae of ]>roper age as possible. When no nectar is coming in, this (olony should have been fed the same as the cell-finishing- colonies alread.\- desciihcd -. but. if even a very little nectar is coming in, no feeding will ])o lu'cessary. 'fhe best results cannot •y lar\a('. If they lie in the bottom of the d food ai'ound them, they ai"e not fit to be Itc acce|)ted by the bees so readily nor ued. Stunting the larva at the begin- ning of its develoinnent can not be overcome at a later period, no matter how ideal the conditions may be. If the larvae are floating in royal jelly, they ai-e in perfect condition for graftiiii;-. If they are not, it indicates be obtained by grafting- hui worker-cells, dry with no lar\al used for grafting. They will n can so good, strong ijueens he GEAFTfXG THE CELL CUPS.— Chapter XT. that the colony needs feeding. Should the colony not have a sufficient num- ber of larvae of the right size, it is a good ])ractiee to insert occasionally an empty comb in the center of the l)rood-nest in wliich the queen may lay. If possible a black comb should be selected since the larva can be seen much better than in a new white one. Use a brush to remove the bees from the comb for, if the comb is shaken, the nectar will be scattered over the larvae, in which case they are not accei)ted so readily. Carry the comb into the grafting room. Now take tliree l)ars of cells that were dipped during the winter. Be sure that the cells are perfectly clean. If they contain any dust or dirt they must be thoroughly washed and dried before being used, as the bees will not accept dirty or dusty cells. With the large end of the grafting needle place a little diluted royal jelly into each of the sixty cells. A drop about twice the size of a pin- head is sufficient. Endeavor to get this in a neat round ball right in the bottom of the queen-cell, for the bees accept them nuich better when it is placed in this mannei'. Keep the cells and the comb out of the briglit sunlight as much as possible. When the Aveather was hot and dry, I for- merly sprinkled water on the floor to keep the air moist that the jelly and larvae might not dry out and die. One day as I v;as doing this the Office Force was looking on in that inquisitive manner common to the gentler sex, and she said, '"What is the use of dampening uj) the whole room when you merely want to keeji those cells moist? Why don't you dip a bath towel into some water, wring it out and spread it o\er the cells'? "Yes, why didn't I? For the very good reason that 1 never thought of it. Thanks for the bright idea." I tried it. Jl works to perfection, so I have used it ever since. A moistened towel kee|)s the cf-lls fi'om drying out and protects the larvae from light and dust. Now sit down in a cliair with your back to the window so that the light will come oxer the right shoul- der. Place one of the cell bars on the side of the to])-bar of tlie liroud-fiaiiie and par- allel witli it, holding it there with the thumb of the left hand. With the grafting needle in the light hand careful- ly slide the point un- ler XL 8. Grafting larvae that are the right size and age. 9. Be careful tliat the larvae have not been overheated <>r drinl liy the sun's rays. If they are, the bees will always reject theni. 10. Keep till' larvae from chilling. 11. Careful handling while grafting so as not lo injure or kill tiie larvae. 12. Be sure the swarm box is ke))t in a place that is neithei- too hot nor too cold. EMPTYING THE SWARM BOX. CHAPTER XII. The bees should remain in the «Avarni box until three or four o'clock of the clay following. If taken out earlier the cells are not suHiciently advanced to insure their completion by the finishing colony. Jf left in too long, the nurse bees seem to exhaust their supply of royal jelly and the larvae are not sufficiently fed. The}' can be taken out at any time before the night of the following day; but, as a general thing, the cells suffer if left in over night of the second day. From twenty-four to thirty hours is the proper length of time for the bees to be confined. Carry the box out to the hive from which the bees were taken, remove the upper cover and lift out the bars. If the work has been properly done nearly all of the cells should be accepted. One should average an acceptance of eighteen cells out of twenty and frequently all should be accepted. When the bars are taken out the larvae should have an abundance of royal jelly literally swimming in it, and the cells be drawn out into proper shape. If condi- tions are rigid all sixty are accepted. (I lift out 41 KMI'TYIXlr THE SWAItM BOX.—Chapter XTT. pepted. Give the bar a very light shake to remove most of the bees that are clustered on it and then carefully brush off the remainder. Do not shake the bar too severely or some of the larvae will be displaced, in which ease they will be removed from the cells by the finishing- colonies. Foi: suspending the cell bars in the finishing colonies, there is nothing- better than a regular cell-bar holder made to hold three bars. Place one bar in the bottom section, spread the brood-frames apart, put in the bolder frame, and give it to one of the finishing colonies. The best results are secured by placing frames of unsealed brood on both sides of the frame that holds the cells, for this draws the nurse bees right to the cells and they immediately talke hold of the cells and carry the work on to successful completion. Eeplace the cover and see that the feeder is kept liberally sup- plied with feed so that the bees will receive an ample supply. Take the other two bars and give them to the other two finishing colonies. Go back to the swai-m box, take off the lower cover, remove the combs and shake off all the bees possible and brush off the remainder. Pick up the swaini box, invert it and give it a ra]:» on the ground to dislodge all the bees. Replace the combs, put on the covers and take it back to the l)asemcnt to remain till needed THE PRITCHARD FORCED CELL-STARTING COLONY. CHAPTER XIII. Wliile I myself luiu-li prefer the swarm box for securiiiii- cells, there are others, like my friend Pritchard of The A. I. Root Company, who pre- fer to use queenless and broodless colonies for cell-starting. Instead of going to a colony and sliaking bees into the swarm box, as already described, Mr. Pritchard prefers to reverse the process by leaving the bees in the hive, removing all the brood with the queen, and placing them temporarily on another hive. He proceeds as follows : All the combs, including the bees, brood and queen, of a medium colony (not a strong one) are removed from the hive. Two combs of pollen and honey are selected and set back in the hive, one on each side, taking care not to get the queen. Two frames for holding cell bars (without the cell bars) are then put in the center of the hive. The two combs of pollen and honey are shoved over next to them. On either side is put a thin division- board feeder containing thick syrup. The remaining space on each side is then filled out with dummies or division-boards. The two cell-bar frames are now removed, and all the other combs of brood and bees are shaken into the space vacated, taking care not to get the queen. The brood and the queen are now put in the ujiper story of a strong colony, over a f|neen- excluder. It is necessarj- to cage the queen. In from half an hour to one hour's time, or as soon as the bees in the made-up colony set up a roar of distress when they have discovered their loss of queen and brood, the two cell-bar frames are supjilied with prepared cells, and are then jiut in the open space left, where the bees are crj-ing for a queen. The queenless and broodless bees, supplied with an enormous amount of pap which they expected to use in feeding their young larvae but which has been all removed, immediately accept and supply the pre- I)ared cells with pap. The two feeders containing thick syrup and two combs containing honey and pollen will give the bees all that is necessary to supply them with material for making more pap. The prepai-ed cells will usually be accepted and lavishly supplied with pap in about 24 hours. It is not advisable to remove them before. When nicely started the cells are put in cell-finishing colonies as previously explained. The removed brood and the queen are restored to the colonj'. While it might and could make a second batch of cells, ^Ir. Pritchard does not advi.se it. Mr. Pritchard says he ]>refers this method of getting cells started, be- cause it saves the extra ef|uipment of swajrm boxes, toting them back and forth from the cellar, and because the bees during the time that they aro starting cells are not confined. He thinks this is very important. The un- confined bees, he thinks, will do more and better work. By the plan de- 43 I'lirmiAin) FOUCKI) CKLL-STARTiyCi COLOXT.— Chapter XIII. scribed, he says he ciui yet 200 cells staited, each cell literally jiorged with a big supply of ])ap. These cells, when jiiven to cell-tinishing colonies, will be conii)lete(l in the regulation time, and every cell will be perfect. The fundamentiil difference between the forced cell-starting colony and the portable swarm box is that Mr. Pritchard moves the brood and the queen, whiJe I move the bees. He thinks that the unconfined bees do bet- ter work. I am not so sure of that. I succeed better Avitli bees that are confined in a cool place. Mr. Pi'itchard will doul)tless continue his way, and doubtless I will go on with the way that has niven me the results I have secured. It will be noted that the Prit^'hard i)lan of making up a cell-starting colony amounts virtually to a swarm box left on the old location. Fuhda- mentally the principle is exactly the same, but the ijrocedure is different. Of course it is necessary to feed these iirepared colonies the same as the bees in the swarm boxes. This is important. A Modification of the Doolittle Plan. I have used a modification of the Doolittle method witli the best of success, and it may be preferred by many to the swarm box. "With fur- ther experimenting and practice, possibly we ourselves may prefer it to the swann box. This method is as follows : The colony for starting these cells should be one of extraordinary strength, being a two-stoiy colony. Any standard hive will do, but Ave use the Jumbo hive, and in preparing this Ave see that it has tAventy Jumbo frames of brood. The queen-excluder is kept betAveen the upjier and the lower story. After all of the brood above has been .sealed, Ave remove the loAver story containing the (jueen and the l)rood to a location about ten feet distant. The upper story, containing only frames of honey and capped brood, is set on the bottom-board of the stand from Avhich the hive containing the (|ueen and brood Avas removed. Three frames are taken out to make room foi- three frames of cells, A\'hich are to be ])ut in later on. The hive containing the queen is noAV opened, and the frame containing the queen is set outside. The frames are then lifted out and the bees from eight or nine of them shaken into the hive on the old stand. The queen, Avith her frame of brood, is then set Ijack into the hive on the ncAv stand and the cover replaced. In a short time, half an lioui- oi- an hour, as soon as the bees have cleaned up tlie honey or syrup liiat has been daubed on them, they are ready to leceive the cells. Three bars are grafted, placed in a frame to hold them and i)ut into the starting colony. A second and a thii-d are prepared in the same AAay, which fills up the space. In this manner nine bars are started instead of three as Avith the sAvarm box; though it is not adAisable to start so many unless the colony is of tremendous strengfh. After twenty-four or thirty-six hours these frames are removed and given to the finishing colonies, the same as Avhen the swaiiii. box is use n\) bi-ooil-roarin^-, and the work is much less than with the method whereby the queen has t-o be caged and bees brushed ott" from the brood. In using- this, if there is no honey flow they must be fed the same as when the swarm box is used. Some will prefer this to the swarm l)ox. and some will not. It has one advantage over the swarm box, in that if more bees aie put in than necessarj-, they can cluster on the outside and no harm is done; while some have reported bees being- suffocated in the swarm box. Another time-saving- feature is that, if this colony is made tre- mendously strong as described, a larger number of cells may be started. To say that a colony must be strong does not mean much ; but, if both stories are kept full of capped brood before being used, it will build the colony up ta greater strength ; and, if it should run down, the upper story may again be filled with brood. But this should not be left in this story when giving- the cells until the brood is sealed, for the bees will not do so good work at cell-starting where they have other brood to feed. Recently we had a field meeting in our apiaiy in Yincennes. Always willing to do their part, my bees decided it would be a good exhibition if thej' would swarm: so one of these cell-building colonies did so just before the crowd arrived. I put a piece of burlaj) on a saw-horse and i)laceer "babies" uive some l)etU'r r( takinji' a res'ulai' brood-fiame ba used bAr nearly all wlio vvnv man I sti'onuly adx'ise a nucleus tbat is used in your liixes. Tin l)artnient lai'ue eiiouiib In bold |v Its llu and boiiey Ibey aio taken out ;ind idaeed in tlie nucleus Iiive. J. K. "Winu', tlie well-known quoen-breeder of San Jose, Cali- fornia, prefers tbis bive to any ntlior. 1 ie bas special bives )nade to bold large numbers of tbese frames, for stocking tbose for tbe nucleus bives. In this way he overcomes one objectionable fea- ture, that of fitting- them into a regular Hoffman frame. Mr. Wing's system of management is Taxorable to these small bives for be i)iactices migratory f|ueen- rearing, moving' to locahties where there is a honey flow. He moves to one district where there is a bea\y How from honeydew. It should be reniembei-ed tbat tbe small niudous bives give much bettei- results when there is a honey (low than when there is a dearth of pasture so tbat feed- ing becomes necessarj-. The lar- 11 the smaller ones; but the ones (' so many advantages tbat they are being ■ (|ueens. i\ e that will take tbe regular brood-frame (ine that T use is a twin bive, each com- o .linnbo frames and a division-board. Tbe )iiil>:irfin(nl lursc fiiough to liold two .Tmnbo franios MCI.I-.IS lll\ i:s. Clniplrr AT. entrances are at opposite corners. ,V telescope cap is used with cleats that support it and give the air a chance to circulate, thus keeping it cool in hot weather. Usually onlj' one frame is used with a thin division-board feeder to keep the bees from l)uilding comb in tlie vacant space. This gives tlie liees so much room that there is no absconding. It is comfortable in the hottest weather and has given perfect results. During a honey flow these nuclei are strong enough to fill up with honey. In fact in many caseSj I have had to give them sheets of foundation to keep the bees from going over the feeder and building comb. Another nucleus hive among the best is that used by M. H. Mendleson, the veteran honey producer and queen-breeder of Ventura, California. This is a'stT'('TIOX.—Chapler XVT. K> 0^<> OO lliiiii is ahsoliitcly iiccessaiy. A iiuiiibcr of yc'ai's auo I used to lay tlie fells on tlieir >i(U's in a box (:outaininii cotton ])atting. I found that, if lliey were left in this box for any length of time, many queens that emerged fi'om tiiem would 1)e criiiitled. Their legs and wings in particular would suii'er. In convcisinu with ^\\. Snodgrass, of the Bureau of Entomology, Washington. I). ('., hf infoniielrr Xi7. Tig. 4. — Day alter cell was capped. This series of ))lioto,iiraplis shows tlie a is SO very rapid as to seem marvelous. This takes place in twenty-four hours and in that short time, head, legs and short wings are formed so it appears a fully developed queen with tiie exception of wings and color. At first this pupa is exceedingly soft. While han- dling one, I accidentally dropped it on my foot. It splattered out much like a drop of clabbered milk, and no form of the pupa could be found. The pupa remains in this form with very little change, as far as ap- pearances are concerned, for about seven ter XVIH. ent, a heavy feed will offset tiie lack of the fornier to a hii;li (leyree. When there is no brood, cell acceptance is more uncertain. You ask, "How about laying- workers?" Well, we were talking about the laws that govern bees, and these do not ajtply to laying workers as the laying' worker is a Bee Bolshevik and knows no law. However, a Bolshe- vik is more amiable on a full stomach ; so some laying workers can be made to get into line by feeding, but it is better to give them a frame of emerging brood, after which a hearty feed gets tliem ready to accept the cell. If this idea of feeding is applied to the different phases of beekeeping, the same results may be obtained during a dearth of pasture as during a honey flow. Many have observed how much more successful queen introduc- tion is during a honey flow than at other times. Since discovering that feed- ing prevents cell-destruction, 1 have lecouunended to those having trouble in introducing f|ueens that they feed the colony lieavily while the cage is in the hive. Several have reported that this gives as good results as they can get during a honey flow. Some time ago the honey method of queen intr(i(luction was advocated. The plan was to daub the queen with honey and run her in. Some rei)orted success ; others, failure. Those who poured a pint or more of honey on the bees and queen had better I'esults. Xow, it was not the daubing of the queen that helped : it was the feedin(j. Tn other Avords. for successful intro- duction, duplicate a honey flow by heavy feeding. The feeding should lie done at night to ])revent robbing. In feeding with the division-board feeder it is necessary to keep tiic nuclei in strong condition, for robbers are always hanging around ready to pounce upon the nuclei if opportunity offers. By jiroviding ventilation in the ])ottom of the nucleus iiive and conti'acting the entrance to one bee- space, and keei)ing it strong in l)ees, no serious trouble is caused Ijy robbers. Sometimes, Avhen tliey are exceiitionally bad, we close the entrance entirely. In this way all j'obbers that get on the combs are shut in the nuclei and can not go back home to sinead the news that free plunder is to be had. Conse- quently, other robbei's aic not sent out to hunt the source of sui)i)ly and marauding- cxiicditions ww rcstrirted. Altci- lifteen i>r twenty minutes, llio entrances nrc opened, when {\\v i-(»hl)eis that were tiapped rush for liome. The nuclei are by this time reorganized and able to stand off all oncomers. In feeding either nuclei or cell-])uildiiig- colonies, it is necessary that they liave some em|.tv coml) in which to deposit the food, for, if all available space is occupied l).\- stores, tliey will till up on tliis ami become Inzy and are (■asil\- lobbed out. /•v FORMING NUCLEI. CHAPTER XIX. Let us now tnko up oni' i)ro,ur;iiii where we left olT. lU'lore Jorining- nuelei, we should luive the nueleus hives in theii' phu-es on the stands where they are to remain through the season. Ours are ]ihieed in rows running l)etween the colonies, which are set four in a group tor wintering in the quadruple cases. There is a big' advantage in having tlie nuclei among the colonies, for much time is saved in drawing brood from tlie colonies, get- ting cells from the finishing colonies, etc. Again, when the virgins take their mating flight they have to run a gauntlet of drones, and mating is made certain. In addition all virgins are mated to your own drones, elimi- nating anj'- chances of mating to drones in nearl)y apiaiies oi' with diones fi'oiii colonies in trees. I do not believe queens go so far to mate as is generally supposed. I believe that Xature intended that the virgin should mate with drones from her o.wn colony, for you will notice that Ijees never kill oft' their drones when they have a virgin in their hive. In their natural state, where bees are in trees, in many cases they are from half a mile to two miles from their nearest neighbor. "What chance would a vii-gin have in uniting with drones at such distajices .' Tsually in the afteinoon the young bees, the virgin queen and the di-ones all come out for exercise, and while circling within one or two hundred feet of the hive, the virgin mates. Xature has put a check on injurious imbreeding, in that tlie drone that mates with the queen immediately dies, and if there should be an after-swai'iii the accom- panying virgin would mate with a difl'erent drone. Formerly, when forming nuclei, we used to place a nundjer on a wheelbarroAv and take them to the hives. All them and then set them on their stands. I prefer now to place them on their stands and take frames of brood to them. Right here let me mention two articles of yard furniture quite necessary to the comfort of the queen-breeder — the hive-seat and the eomb-box. One should have a hive-seat large enough to accouuuodate the necessary equii^ment. In addition I certainly recommend the comb- box, one of the handiest conveni- ences about any apiary. This box is made of half-inch lumber and is large enough to hold seven frames. It has a bee-tight cover and can be used t-o store empty coud)s or frames of honey and to caiiy frames of brood and bees to form nuclei or ]iut into the finishini;' colonies. roiiMisc .\!Jr:Li-:i.—('h«ii,i,u- xix. if \hv handiest conveniences. Into each nucleus, as it rests upon the stand where it is to be for the summer, we put a narrow division-board feeder, which holds about one quart of syrup when full. We have found these much better than the two- quart Mason jar with perforated lid, which we first used, for, while these jars give good results, during a robbing season the robbers are apt to be- come a nuisance to the nuclei. This nucleus feeder measures % inch, inside measurement, is made out of ^/4-iiich material, and is the regulation size of a division-board. This feeder should be filled the day before a cell is given, and when this plan is followed there is practically no loss of cells. Two days before time to form nuclei and introduce our first cells, the colonies froui which the frames of brood are to be taken should be fed lib- erally. Any feeder will do, but I prefer to fill their bottom-board feeders at night for two nights. Tliis is necessary to put the bees in condition to accept cells upon their arrival in the nuclei. It is now the fifteenth, tlie time for introducing the cells from our fii'st grafting. The comb-boxes are taken to the colonies that have been thus fed, and frames containing brood and some honey witli the adhering bees are put into them. All frames should have considerable capped brood. Into each nucleus put one frame with its adhering bees, fill the feeder with one quart of thick syrup, and close the entrance. Then go to one of the finishing colonies, take out the bar of ripe cells, and with a sluirp, thin knife cut between the cells in case these have been built totiethcr, wol)-rootf'ply lor all purposes i< constaiitl\- ;it hand. MISFORTUNES OF THE QUEEN-BREEDER. CHAPTER XX. From the -raftin-' ol' n hu'va to the (akiii^' out of a fine hiying queen is a lonii' step. Many tliin.ys may liappen to that hirva to prevent her "coronation." Even if the queen-breeder has done the very best he knows, there will be accidents and blunders. Things may be going along nicely when suddenly the weather turns cool, the rain pours down and the wind blows. Now, a little of this does not hurt much, but let it keep up for several days and it hurts a whole lot. Cells are torn down in finishing colonies and in nuclei. Virgins fail to mate and come up missing. Grafting time is on and you are not expecting this "duck-hunting" weather to con- tinue, so you do not feed. The result is tliat when you graft, there is a very poor acceptance, and you go sulking around with the grouches, saying to yourself, "Looks like I am just about out of the queen business." Xow if you get in a muss like this and you happen to be a commer- cial (jueen-breeder, you will begin to hear murmurings from the "office force." She will want to know why it is that, although the output of queens is falling off, the correspondence is rapidly increasing. She says, "Here are a lot of letters asking why you have not sent those queens as you promised; and here is one who says he is going to report you to the "bee journals if you don't send those queens by return mail!" Well, it serves you right if he does, for not having a "tornado clause" in your contract; so you turn your back on the "office force" and tell her something like this, "Oh, give them some of that threadbare, moth-eaten dope about un- favorable w'eather conditions and so on!" But the skies are clearest after a storm, so the clouds roll away and a soft warm south breeze comes uv). In the morning you go out into the apiary, feeling that this world is not, after all, such a punk place in which to live. A meadow lark sits on a metal hive cover washing its feet in the heavy dew. As it points its bill up at the sky and begins to sing, you wonder why it was a day ago you were in the dumps. Bees come scamper- ing in with their baskets bulging with pollen. Occasionally they lose some of it at the entrance of the hives where it gets water-soaked and makes a mess in the doorway. The day is clear, the sun is shining, the bees are bringing in nectar, and queen-reai'ing goes on at high tension again. Xow what are we going to do when bad weather hits us? As our be- loved .Tauies Whitcomb Riley says, "It ain't no use t« grumble and complain, It's just as cheap and easy to rejoice; When God sorts out the weather and sends rain, Why, rain's my choice!" MISFORTUNES OF THE QUEEN -BREEDER.— Chapter XX. Nothing we can do will make tlie conditions as favorable as tliey are during good honcy-gatliering weather; but wg can do a few things that will materially lessen the loss. When it begins to rain or turn cold, a good policy is to feed the cell-finishing colonies as well as the colonies that are to furnish bees for the swarm boxes, and give a little to tiie colony contain- ing your breeding queen. If the weather is very cold, contract the en- trances considerably, and give the bees the feed rather warm. If the weather turns warm immediately the feeding was unnecessary, but no harm has been done. Another incident that often "plays hob" with the queen-breeder's hopes is a queen-cell overlooked above the excluder, when a virgin has emerged and tears down all the cells in that hive. One cannot guard too carefully against this. Every few days examine the frames in the upper story of the finishing colony for queen-cells. Shake off all the bees from each frame and look closely. Sometimes a very small cell will escape notice if a care- ful search is not made, and the virgin emerging from it will play havoc with all the cells. Such cases as the above are when the extra swarm boxes must be brought into play in order to make up as soon as possible for the cells lost. But if care is taken there will be a natural surplus of cells, so that it takes an unusual setback to require more cells tlian you normally have ready. Another and i^erhaps the greatest problem with which the queen-breeder has to contend is that of robber bees. When no nectar is coming in, these rascals make life miserable for the beekeeper and interfere with queen- production seriously. If a nucleus becomes weak they rob it out and, stinux- lated by their victory, hunt all over the yard for others of insufficient strength to resist tlieir attacks. When a hive is opened these robbers fairly swarm into it. They soon learn to follow the beekeeper around so as to be on hand instantly when he opens a hive. Even if a strong colony is left open too long, it is robbed out. Colonies from which bees are taken to fill swarm boxes will be robbed if not carefully protected ; and wlien the queen- less, broodless method is used, the colony is powerless against them. In our yard, when robbers are exceptionally bad we remove the brood and queen from the cell-starting colony late in the evening and graft early the next morning. In that we "put one over" on the robbers. RECORDS FOR THE NUCLEUS HIVES. CHAPTER XX] . If one has even as small a number as one hundred hives, some sys- tem of keeping tab on the condition within is necessary. Some keep a book containing- the record. I tried this, but after it got pretty well stuck up with propolis, it failed to function and was indeed a closed book. Keep- ing the record on the hive with a pencil is better. But too much time is taken to place the record there and too much time is required to read it, since it is necessarj' to get up close to the hive in order to see it. A record to be satisfactory must be so made as to be seen readily at a distance. I tried various schemes imtil the present "block system," which has given such en- tire satisfaction, was worked out. Four conditions within the nucleus hive must be known. They are Queenless, Cell, Virgin and Laying Queen. To indicate these conditions we use a block of wood 2V2 s 2I/2 x I14 inches. It is painted white on top and red on the bottom; while the sides are painted black, red, white and blue, reading to the right. The block is laid on the hive with the white side up. When the nucleus is queenless, the black side is to the front; when a cell is given it is turned a one-quarter turn making it red; when the virgin emerges it is turned to white, and when she begins to laj' an- other quarter turn brings it to blue. These colors may be seen at a glance from a distance and the condition known without close inspection. These colors are suggestive. Black for queenlessness, conditions are dark within, lied when the cell is given and danger for the cell that is being introduced. When the block is turned to white, the presence of a virgin is denoted, white being symbolic of purity. The laying queen is what you are working for and denotes a "blue ribbon.'' Sometimes there may be other conditions in the hive that need atten- tion, such as the lack of stores or bees. When this is the case, the block is turned the red side up, which shows that it needs attention. The reading on the side of the block may remain the same. This record is very simple and effective, and has proved verj- satisfactory. Nearly every one has his own "system" in such matters. Now we come to the matter of dates, which is equally simple but may not be quite so easy to explain. After a laying queen is taken out two weeks will pass before another can be taken out even if all goes well, which condition does not happen in every case. Consequently we divide the hive into four imaginary parts, for in the two weeks' period there will be need of four operations — four introductions, four removals of laying queens, etc. As you stand looking at the side of the nucleus hive, the first position is at the left end, the second position is just left of the center of the hive, the third position is just to the right of the center, and the fourth position is at the right end. Let us suppose we are going to introduce cells IIFA'OIIDS l-Ol; IIIF. XrCLHIS IIIVFS.—CUdplrr XXI. on Tuesday. Tliis is at the first of the week, so we put in the cell, place the block at the extreme left end of the nucleus and turn the red side to- wards us. The next time Ave are introducing cells we examine this, and if the cell has jiroduced its queen we give the block a (|uartcr turn to white, but leave it in the same position on the hive. When the block is turned to white, it needs no more attention until the lime comes to remove the laying queen. AVhen we introduce cells the next Saturday we go to those not having cells, supply them and i)lace the blocks just to the left of the center since it is the last introduction of the week. Then turn the blocks to red. Do this in a similar manner on the following Tuesday and Saturday, when the blocks will be placed at the left of center and at the extreme right of the nucleus hive for these days respectively. Now on the following Monday the (lueens that have emerged from the first cells we put in should be laying and should be removed and the blocks turned to black. On Tuesday we can give this nucleus another cell, or a cell may be given immediately upon removing the laying queen provided the feeder was filled with syrup or honey on the day previous. If every cell we jjut in resulted in a laying queen, the ]>osition of these blocks would never be changed on the nuclei and they would only be turned to the different colors. But if we are introducing on Saturday, let us say, and we examine one that is red on the previous Tuesday position and we find that the \irgin is missing, we should have to move the block down to the Sntiirday | ositioii. All comijlications that might arise are taken care of with this system. Xow s\ippose we come on Monday to re- move a queen and she has laid only half a dozen eggs, not enough so that we can properly judge her merit. If we left the block in that position turned to white, we should be unable to tell whether she belonged to the lot that were ready to lay or the lot that were due to lay two weeks later. So in that case we turn the block, to blue and leave it until the next shipping- day and examine again. However, suppose the virgin when the shippinj; day comes is not laying, bitt looks as though she might in a s'.iort time, you would not turn it to blue for she is not laying, and if you left it at white it would not be examined till two weeks later. In that case we turn the block one-eighth of a turn, which brings it midway between virgin and laying, and thus it will be looked after when the next shipping date arrives. Now su]ipose we look for a^ virgin and cannot find her. Maybe she is out for a flight, as it is well known that, as soon as they are able to fly, they spend nuich of their time flying out for exercise before mating. You do not want to turn the block to white, for, if the queen is lost, that nucleus will remain queenless for too long a period juid you will lose the use of it until the shii)i)ing date ari-ives when you will s-c it is <|neenless. In such cases the block is given a one-eighth turn backwai-d, which brings it half way between cell and viiiiin. The next time you are introducing cells you will examine it, and, if you can still find no queen, a cell is given. If the queen is there, it is turned to white if a vii'gin, oi- l)lue if she is laying. These blocks are made at the i)laning mill. They are of hard wood so they are heavy and will remain in place. At first, 1 had some misgivings as to whether they would stay in position. I wondered if the wind might blow them off. Soon after ])ntting them there a tenific wind and rain REGOIUJS FOR THE NUCLEUS HIVES.— Chapter XXI. storm eanie along- that tlireatenea to blow everything away. Not a single blofk was moved in the least. I never had a bit of trouble except once, and that lasted onlv a short time. I would (ind the blocks moved or turned around while some were on the ground. Was it possible the wind did do it after all? The children do not play up there, for discretion forbids. One morning the blocks were disarranged again. It had been a very still night with no wind. Xow we have had an owl's nest in our oak trees every year, and that owl and I are not on the best of terms, for when he can catch me out in the apiary after dark, especially if I am bai-eheaded, he seems to take much pleasure in scratching me on the head. This owl is one of the smaller editions, about four inches in height, but golly! how he can scratch-! I made up my mind it was that consarned owl, and now that I had a double •n-udge I had a good case against him and T could shoot him, so I prepared for Mr. Owl. But one day T ha])iiened to look out and I saw what the trouble really was. A blue jay was hopping from one block to another in the most j u 1) i 1 a n t spirits. Sometimes he would kick a block off, and sometimes he would spin one around. Xow I do not want to shoot any of our birds that build their nests in our woods, but this blue jay was throwing the system all out of kil- ter. Why, he had some marked queen- less when they had a laying queen, and he had one marked a Position of blocks on nnciei. laying queeu whcn it had laying workers! So 1 had to ask inyseir this question, "xVm I engaged in the bee or blue jay culture?" Decidedly 1 was in the bee business, so I took mv shotgun and as the guilty bird started to fly away I shot him. There were two nests of blue jays in the trees, but, strange to say, there never was another block disturbed. The owl continues to scratch my head, heedless of the bricks and clubs that are shied his way ; but, since he in no way interferes with queen-rearing, we get along i)retty well. The first nucleus contains a virgin queen that emerged from a cell placed in it the first of the week. The second nucleus in the same hive shows the block in the queenless i)osition. The (jueen has just been removed on Friday. The third nucleus illustrates the block turnetl to white, indicating a virgin that should be laying the first of next week. The fourth nucleus indicates that no (lueen could be found when looking for laying (lueens; RECORDS FOR THE NUCLEUS HIVES.— Chapter XXI. but it was thought the queen miyht be flying out, so the block is turned between cell and virgin. Study this picture and see if you can tell from the blocks what day of the week it is supposed to be and where we are now working. The position of the red and blue could not be shown. These hives are too close for mating queens, and are placed in this manner merely to illustrate the block system. Colonies packed in qiiadruple cases furnish brood for forming nuclei early in the spring. CARE OF NUCLEI. CHAPTER XXII. Too much emphasis can not be placed upon the impoitance of keeping the niielei in the best possible condition. They must be strong in bees, with abundance of brood and rich in honey if the best success is to be achieved in incubating the cells and mating the queens. Honey in Nuclei. If plenty of honey is provided in the nuclei tliere will be no abscond- ing; but, if not, the bees will abscond about the time the queen should be- gin to lay. You should bear in mind that a nucleus in the proper condition is a valuable asset and will pay you big dividends ; but if it is allowed to run out of brood, if it gets weak in bees or has not sufficient honey, every thing will go wrong. Cells will be torn down, virgins will be killed, and bees will abscond. Take good care of your nucleus. It is the goose that is laying the golden eggs. Do not starve it or it will cease to lay. Fre- quently frames in nuclei may be exchanged with advantage to both. In case one has an abundance of honey and no brood, and another has an abundance of bees and brood, these combs should be exchanged and both wnll be put in better condition. Laying Workers in Nuclei. If, for some reason, several cells that are given to a nucleus are torn down, all brood will have time to emerge and laying workers will result. To cure them of this bad habit, take away their comb and give them an- other with unsealed brood and all adhering bees. They will usually accept a queen-cell, and the trouble is over. However, as is the case in many other lines of human activity, prevention is better than cure. Laying workers never develop while there is brood in the hive. So, whenever you find a nucleus that has no brood, some should be given the bees at once. This puts them back into normal condition, and they will accept a cell and no laying workers will develop. To resume our program, let us consider that it is now Monday, the 28th of the month. If all has gone well, the queens reared from our first grafting will be ready to be taken out from the nuclei. The cells were intro- duced on the 15th. The queens emerged on the 16th, the virgins should mate on the 23rd or 24th and begin laying on the 2.5th or 26th. By the 28th they should be laying enough so you are able to judge as to whether or not they have all the appearances oC good queens, and yet they have not laid enough so that injury will result on account of their removal from Ihe nuclei. CABE OF yUC LEI. —Chapter XXI 1. Layin g Queens and How Injured. These queens are noAv ready for sliiimient or to he introilueetl to colo- nies at any time you are ready. It is a well-estahlished fact that, when a queen laying to full capacity is removed from the colony and placed in a mailing cage, she seldom makes good at the head of a colony as far as pro- lificness is concerned. When it is necessary to i-emove a queen in the height of her egg-laying, as for instance, if one wishes to ship a hreeding queen that is in a strong colony, it is best to place her in a nucleus for a few days. In this case she can reduce the number of eggs she lays, gradually becomes much smaller in size and therefore she can stand the trip better. If the queen is extra laige in size and laying to full cajiacity, I have found a splendid "reducing exercise" as follows: Take out two frames of brood with bees and the queen, and place them, in a nucleus hive on a new stand. In two days' time, move the nucleus to a new location, and on the next day move it again. The bees that fly out do not return. The nucleus is thus Aveakened in bees and is not getting any honey or pollen; so the queen rapidly curtails egg-laying. To remove her when she is laying in a limited way does not injure the queen in the least, for this is in perfect hainiony with bee nature. For instance in the case of a swarm, aftei- t!ie swarm has gone out, a few eggs will be found which the (|ueen laid within a very shoi't time before her de]iarture from the hive. (Consequently, if you can get the (|ueen down to laying only a few eggs before removing her from the luicleus, sic will ii )t he iiij u'cd in t':e least. MAILING CAGES. CHAPTER XXIII. All features of (iiieen-reaiinu are fasi-inating; bill T enjoy looking for laying queens more than any other feature of queen-rearing. As some who read this are interested in commercial queen-rearing, and others who pro- duce honey may at times find it advisable to ship queens to other yards, I shall describe the process of mailing queens. For very short shipments the common three-compartment Benton mail- ing cage will do. However, I believe even in short shipments the use of the larger cage that has six compartments is advisable. This cage is good for any shij)ment in the United States and Canada. For export, I prefer a cage nearly s(]nare with nine fOin]>aitiiionts, each of the same diameter Queen cages as in the regular Benton cage. These compartments should be about one- half deeper, however. The secret of good shipments is to have the cage of sufTicient size so that it will accommodate plenty of nurse bees and still leave abundance of room for them. There should be space for every bee to have a footing on the bottom and top of the cage and still leave room enough so there can be a si^ace all around the bee equal to its own size. If the bees get too warm, they then all have plenty of room to fan and thus keep down the tenq>erature. In the six-comi)artuient cage, when the weather is hot, I fiml that about tifteen nuise bees give tlie best lesult. If the weather is cool, doiil)Ie tliat iuiml)er is satisfactory. If it is neces- MAILIXG CAGES.— Chapter XXIII. sary to ship queens when the weathei' is cold or where the route is througli a cold district, as for instance, going over the mountains in early spring or fall, the use of the export cage is advisable. IMore bees can be put into the six-compartment size; but, in case the bees pass through a warm dis- trict, they would suffocate. The cage should be large enough so that the bees can spread out when it is hot, and yet large enough to hold sufficient bees so they may form a cluster in one or two compartments to keep warm in case the weatlier turns cold. Such a cage is ideal as far as size is concerned. Some years, the shippers of queens suffer a much heavier loss than in others. In the main, hot weather is the cause although the blame is usually laid on the queen candy. If the candy is made hard so the bees Avill not become daubed, it will give perfect results, at least for all ordinary ship- ments. Some have suggested that pure sugar candy lacks the nitrogenous food contained in j^ollen, and that this causes the loss in long shipments. Pollen could not be used in candy, as it would cause death by dysentery. Our friend, Allen Latham, queen-breeder of Norwichtown, Conn., has been experimenting by mixing a little royal jelly with the candy as this would furnish the nitrogen and, being predigested, would cause no intestinal dis- order. We have been experimenting with it also, but have not gone far enough at this writing to come to any conclusion. However, Mr. Latham's plan looks good. We believe the principal cause of loss in hot weather is the lack of ven- tilation. Imagine a queen with her escorts, in a mailing cage with two little slits in the side of the cage, pacjked in a mail sack, with all sorts of mail matter crowded all around the cage, and then perhaps with twenty-five or fifty more sacks piled on top of it and all out in the sun, with the ther- mometer reading one hundred in the shade. The wonder is that any survive. During very hot weather we use and recommend what we call "the hot- weather cage." It is the regular mailing cage with a heavy fibre cover raised about one-eighth of an inch with wooden cleats. This remedies much of the hot-weather troubles. .oatlipr cages. QUEEN CANDY. CHAPTER XXIV. The other important feature in the perfect shipment of queens is tlie food during transit. Much trouble is experienced in shijoping queens with candy not sufficiently hard. I have experimented quite extensively along this line by keeping a number of cages containing worker bees and different kinds of food in the attic, the basement and various other places under all sorts of conditions and temperature, and found the chances of success greatly in favor of the harder candies. Not realizing how decidedly candy affects the bees, many make the mistake of using candy too soft. Watch the bees in the mailing cage. You will see them continually rubbing their sides against the candj^ If it is a trifle too soft they gradually get it on their sides and into their breathing tubes. Then they fret, which makes a bad matter worse, and they die from worry and suffocation. Upon exami- nation the dead bees do not appear candy-daubed at all, but that is what really caused death. The commonest method of making cage candy is to take honey or in- vert sugar, put it in a vessel, set it on the stove and heat to a temperature of about 140 degrees. Then stir in as much powdered sugar as possible, put it on the bread board and knead in more powdered sugar until very, very stiff. You cannot get in too much sugar or knead it too thoroughly. An- other difficulty is encountered in the use of this sort of candy made with powdered sugar. As is commonly known, powdered sugar contains from three to five per cent starch to keep it from becoming lumpy and hard. This does not make the best grade of candy, for starch causes dysentery to bees in long shipments, but for short shipments no harm is done. Pow- dered sugar without starch may be obtained by special order, but it be- comes so lumpy after a few days that fine, smooth candy cannot be made with it. However, good candy can be made with either the sugar containing this small amount of starch or the pure powdered sugar. The pure sugar is to be preferred. During the war when powdered sugar could not be pro- duced we made a fondant out of granulated sugar that gave excellent re- sults; but it is a vei-y exacting process to make it, so that we abandoned it. The candy that we consider the very best, however, is made from pure powdered sugar and homemade invert sugar. As to the use of honey for cage candy, it is generally acknowledged that American foul brood has been si)read in this manner. Even if the present Liavs are complied with, there is still danger. If, for instance, the shipment is accompanied with a certificate of health from an apiary, the candy may have been made of lioney from some other apiary, disease in- fected; or, the diseased honey may iiave been jjroducod some time before when the apiary was infected. The source and spread of bee disease ai'o so mysterious and disastrous that wc cannot be too careful of contagion, 75 QUEEN CANDY.— Chapter XXIV. and, while llie i»arty usiiiji' siic^li diseased honey would of course be ignorant of the fact, the damaije is done nevertheless. Theret'oi-e not only should the bi'eedei- he ])articular hut the i)urehaser should also exercise precaution and, for introducing' the queen, he should never use the cage in which she is shipped. Let him always transfer the queen to a cage of his own, and burn tlie shipjung' cage. As to boiled honey, it is about the worst thing which can be used in making candy. Bees that have been fed on it for only one day fre- quently show distended abdomens, indicating they will soon die of dys- entery. For ordiniuy ^shipments, invert sugni' has been uselrr \X\f. this must Solomon ; bo the but she [[ueei \v;is Th like t stood them around tlie liive in various places; but eould not "eateh the queen." I looked and looked. There were more bees in that hive than I had expected to see in ten hives. The separation of a mixture of the proverbial haystack and needle would have been a cinch compared with the task in hand. 1 hunted all the afternoon, and had to give it u]i on account of darkness. 1 Avas disgusted but not discouraged. This problem confronted me, "If I fail to find one queen in half a day, how long will it take to find several thousand queensV" (the number I expected to liave in a year or two). Nothing succeeds like a fail- ure, and the next day I went after them with more zeal than ever. On lifting out the third frame my eyes rested on a bee the like of which I had never seen before. It Avas a long bee, and she walked with a more ma- jestic tread over the comb, and did not seem to be in such a rusli as the rest of the bees. She was of a dark-brown color, and how handsome she looked! Verily Sheba might have looked jjood to iiis one. The next thing, "Catch the ([ueen. " 1 tried to make the catch, but she was not so easy. Just as 1 would close my fingers on her she was not there. At last T got hold of one wing, but slic hu/.zed around so that 1 let her droji. .jir,^^;^,-^^^. ST iR k ^'fC |^^?1"^' ^^^^^Jmb^- it^ If aho\it nne-tliird of tlio \vii>i;s is rliiiiiHrt off no, Mr. G. M. Doolittle wrote, '*l'erliai)S (lieie is no one sul)ject eonneeted with beekeepinji' that has received so nmch no- tice in our bee pa])ers and elsewhere as has the introduction of queens." We find the condition in this respect very nuich the same today. Methods come and flourish for a time, and then (juietly vanish. Many of these so- called "new methods" wei'e used and discarded before any of us were born. I have been s;uilty of making' some startlinii discoveries, only to find that they had been known many years ago and discaided because they weie of no account. Other interesting- facts T have come upon, only to realize after a certain period of time that they were advocated by others yeai-s ago. For instance, I proved to my own satisfaction that the i)resence of queen- cells in a hive has little or no effect upon the bees' accepting a queer!, l)rovide(l no viigins emerged before the queen was laying. This is contrary to the general belief and 1 thought I stood alone in this, yet Mr. Doolittle says the same thing in "Scientific Queen Rearing." Lately the "Honey Method" of introducing queens has come forward and was thought by many to be something new, but Mr. Doolittle also desci'ibes that. Yes, and it is just as unieliable today as it was forty years ago. One year 1 used tobacco stems in my smoker to introduce queens, closing the entrance until the bees came out of their debauch. T thought I had something good as well as new, but we find that Alley used it many years ago. 1 think it is the best of any "smoke methods," but it is poor enough at that. We can all avoid traveling in a ciicle in (his nuinner if we will only lead all of the older publications in beekeeping. The old "masters" can teach us much. Many times we can find the very thing we are getting ready to "invent" and also the reason why it is "no good.'' All kinds of torture have been inflicted upon the innocent queen and bees during queen introiluction. Tlicrc are the "Starvation Method," the "Drowning Method," the "Honey Daub Method," "Peppermint," numerous "Smoke methods," "Chloroform," "Car- bolic Acid," etc. Yes, and away back in 1744 the Knglish had the "Puff Ball Method." When one of these balls was "puffed" al the bees, tliey be- came unconscious. Dr. Phillij)s tells me that tlicy claiiiK'd it made the bees "forget," and when they came out of it they had forgotten all aljout the queen (juestion and couldn't remember whether the queen they then ]iossessed was the one they always had or not. Xo doid)t many of tlic qneens introduced in that uiauiicr also foniot to hiy. and many wduld "forget" to live. All of the above "heroic" uielhods lemind me of tiic w;iv the students of Anthi-opology tell us the cave man who lived a few hundred tliousand years ago got his wife. Xow the cave man was not at all sentimentM in his make-u)) but rather intensely i)ractical and conducted his business af- IXmODFCTXa QCKEXS.— chapter XXMI. Fairs in a tlrastii- inanuer. lie did not believe in all this serenadinji" by moonlight, neither did he ever buy :50t' gasoline to take his prosi)ec'tive bi-ide joy-riding- in his flivver, and he had no use for this swinging-on-the-gate ^tuiT. Not he I When he wanteil another wife to add to his heterogeneous eoUeetion, or if one was getting' old and he thought she needed super- seding:, he picked up his club and went after another wife. As the peoi)le in those days were vegetaiians, he knew where to look for one; so about supper time he would find her out in the alfalfa or sweet clover jiateh en- joying: the evening- meal. He walked up behind her, swatted her over the head with his club, and cairied her back to his cave where slie became his dutiful and obedient wife. Xow, he got a wife sure enough and maybe it is a matter of sentiment, but don't you know I like the way we do it nowadays much the better ! So likewise I like more sentimental methods of introducing- queens. If the heroic methods just mentioned were sure in their results, we might over- look the rough treatment; but they are not. There is no method that will permit the taking away of a queen and immediately releasing another in the colony with anything- like certainty, for it is entirely against bee nature and you cannot change bee nature. Let us try to understand and work in harmony with it. I am sure better results can be obtained. Loss in Introducing w ith the Mailing Cages . Probably the method used today in the majority of cases is that of introducing the queen in the same cage in which she was shipped through the mail. The loss of queens by this method has been frig:htful. ^len who have had many years* experience as inspectors and are in position to know, have told me that they believe oO per cent of queens aie lost in this manner. An expert honey producer in California told me that he had kept track of his loss, and found it to be one out of three in the introduc- tion of all queens he bought through the mail. Various reports have come to me where six queens out of twelve are lost by using the conuuon mailing cage as an introducing cage.* Now if the bees would kill the queens out- I'ight the damage would not be so great, but frecjuently the queens are in- jured so they never make good ; yet they remain at the head of the colony, possibly a year or more, losing- for the beekeeper the surplus that colony would have made had the (|ueen been i)roperly accepted. It has often been a wonder to me how the beekeepers have been con- tent with this heavy loss. Tf a stockumn in buying cattle lost fifty per cent or even five i)er cent by having the cattle fight when he united the herd, he would look for better methods. The loss to the beekeeiier is not so nuich in one lump, but the i)ercentage is the same whether it is cattle or bees. In (his connection we are reminded of the .story told of a man who, in telling his friends how to teach their boys to swim, said : "All that is necessaiy to t«icli a boy to swim is just to catch the kid and pitt-li him right into the deep * My friend. M. T. Pritchard. one of the best iiueenbreeders in the country, says the mailing cage is quite reliable for introducing provided the queen is kept c-aged 4S hours before the bees get at the candy to release her. He says if this precaulion is observed the loss will be negligible. He recommends plugging the candy hole with a ping of beeswax for two. and in some hard cases, four days, at the end of which time Ihe plug is removed and fresh candy |>nl in. INTRODUCING QUEENS.— Chapter XXVII. water. He will swim all right, for he has to. I know that method works, for I taught my eight boys to swim in just that very way, and I lost only one out of the eight!" However, if this method of queen introduction must be used, the best way, in our opinion, to use this cage is to remove the queen from the colony to be requeened, take out a frame and set it away in the honey-house, spread the brood-frames apart, place the cage between the frames with the wire screen downward, and press the combs tightly against the cage to hold it in position. In this manner the bees cluster on the wire and get ac- quainted with the queen. It is well to tack a piece of tin over the candy for a day so the bees cannot release her too soon. When there is a honey flow on, this method will be successful, probably in four cases out of five. However, I believe this is the most unreliable method of any that I shall describe. The Doolittle Cage . The Doolittle cage is better. To make this, saw off two pieces from a broom handle, one five or six inches long and the other piece one inch long, for the ends of the cage. Then construct a cylinder of wire-screen cloth the size of a broom handle to fit between the ends. The wire screen is tacked permanently to the short piece. A hole about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, to be filled with candy for introducing, is bored through the long piece, which is withdrawn from the wire cylinder in order to put the queen into the cage. To introduce a queen, she is first transferred from the mailing cage to this one. A frame of honey is taken o;it to make room and the cage placed down between the brood-frames, which are pressed together to hold it in place. mI I &iW 1 ii 1 Ha k The Doolittle cage and two forms of tlir- Mi lyTHODUCIXG QUEENS. —Chapter XXVII. The Miller Cage. Dr. r. C. Miller eonstruc-tetl a cage similar in principle to the Doo- little; but he made his flat, using two wooden cleats so that he could shove it into the entrance or place it between frames without removing a comb to make room for it. A modification of this cage is shown with the queen- excluding attiichment. Either of these gives some better results than the mailing cage, but still there is considerable loss when conditions are not just right. ]Many of the Doolittle and the Miller cages are in use throughout the country. Some jirefer one, some the other. With their use, the mailing cage is discarded, thus ju-eventing the possible spread of American foul brood, as this disease has been scattered far and wide through diseased honey in the mailing cage. The Push-in-the-Comb Cag e. Eealizing the shoi'toomings of the above methods and reviewing the methods used in introducing queens, there seemed to be one style of cage that gave nearly perfect results, and that is the cage known as the "Push- in-the-comb cage." Mr. Doolittle used this cage and stated that not one queen in a hundred was balled when it was used. To make this cage, take a piece of wire-screen cloth about six inches square and cut a notch out of each comer, so that when the edges are bent down it will form a bee-tight cage with one side open. The queen is placed on the comb, the cage is put over her and pushed down into the comb. In two days the bees usually bur- row under the cage and release the queen. If she is not out by that time, the cage is taken out and the queen released. This cage gives much better results than any of the others described, but it has some undesirable fea- tures. Sometimes it comes out of the comb or the bees gnaw away the comb, release the queen prematurely, ball and kill her. Moreover, since there is no convenient way of getting the queen into this cage, some are lost. Our Introducing Cage . Realizing the heavy loss in queens, I have been experimenting for a number of years to perfect a cage that is sure in its working by using the principle of the Push-in-the-comb cage, and overcoming the objectionable features. I believe I have succeeded. Known as the Push-iii-tlie-comli c.if 87 J.\ rUODrCiyO QUKEXS.— chapter XXV 11. Smith Introduci (age. (^iir ca^e is made of lialf-incli material in a rectansiiilar form. On the inside of tiie frame is nailed a strip of heavy tin so cut as to foini i)ointe the fanning as they run into the hive, they seem to put themselves into 93 DISPOSING OF NUCLEI AT CLOSE OF SEASON— Chap. XXVIIJ. the condition of a new swarm and they will stay anywhere they are placed. 1 have never seen a single bee return to the old stand after it had once joined the new hive. Another peculiar thing in this connection is the fact that bees never fight against the colony with which they are united and never kill the queen. They seem so demoralized that they are willing to accept things as they find them. In uniting them in this manner it is well to make the colony extra strong, for many of these nucleus bees are old and will die off before spring. This plan of disposing of the nucleus bees has been of much value to me, for it has enabled me to build up weak colonies to good sti-ength and winter them over, where otherwise it would have been necessary to unite these weak colonies to save them, thus reducing the number of colonies. Packing Cases for Nuclei. Many honey producers use extra hive bodies or extracting supers for nuclei; but some will undoubtedly find it more profitable to make or buy a special nucleus hive. In using an extra hive body it is necessary to have an extra bottom-board and cover, so there is little if anything saved in using them. A twin nucleus hive, with room for two frames and a division- board in each side, is a splendid equipment and is hard to beat. It is a source of great satisfaction to have on hand throughout the season a nuai- ber of queens to use in ease of emergency. This is especially true in the spring, for in a large apiary there are sure to be at least a few colonies which come though the winter queenless. If the beekeeper has an extra queen wintered in a nucleus, this can be united with the queenless colony and it will build up ready for the honey flow in fine style. In wintering the nuclei in cases if the opening in the winter case were directly in front of the nucleus entrance, the two entrances would be so close together as to cause drifting. We, therefore, make a tunnel one-half inch inside measurement, which is placed at right angles with the nu- cleus. In this manner the bees fly out at the side instead of in front. The tunnel is whittled off round at the end, and a round hole is bored in the winter case. That the bees may easily find the entrance, the end of this tunnel is painted black. For packing, sawdust is used, four inches on bottom, and six inches on top and sides. It is important to use saw- dust which has been kept under cover for one summer and which is per- Nucleus packing case. f^^^jy ^^^^ q^,^^^ ^^^^.^^^^^^ -^^ ^^^,. ^^. ]ierience is no betti-r than no packing at all. CARE OF COMBS. CHAPTER XXIX. After the uuclei are united, the combs must be taken care of to pre- vent their being destroyed by the wax worm. If the combs are allowed to freeze a few times, they are free from that pest until spring, or if they can be kept in a cool place during the wunter they are safe. Do not, however, store them in a warm place such as a basement or attic without first fumi- gating them. A good way to fumigate is to put them into a close room and bum sulphur. This must be done several times, as the sulphur does not seem to destroy the eggs of the moth. Bisulphide of carbon is more effective, but it is very explosive and is dangerous to use in a room. A good method to employ in using it is to stack the hive bodies up outside, putting a thin super cover on both the top and the bottom of the pile. The top hive body should be empty to make room for a dish of bisulphide of carbon. Pour half a pint into the dish and let it remain till it evaporates. This will kill all wax worms. To make doubly certain, another application should be made in two weeks, and then the combs will probably be safe. It is a good plan to examine the combs at times to be sure that no wax worms are present, for it is rather depressing to ^jne's s]iirits to lift off a hive body in the spring and find everything a mass of webs and all combs destroyed. Coinl) made from Airco foundation drawn above an excluder. 95 SUPPLEMENTARY TOPICS. CHAPTER XXX. Queen-Rearing for the Honey Producer . Although 1 have now described the method of queen-rearing- as prac- ticed in a commercial way, the primaiy object of this book is to help the honey producer in reai-ing- his own queens, for if a beekeepei' expects to get the most out of his bees he must surely look after them carefully. Let us now adapt parts of the queen-rearing' methods just described to the special use of tlie honey i)ro(hicer and recommend such changes as will best suit his needs. Let us consider tluit you are a honey jiroducer operating- two hundi'ed colonies and upward. How far will the methods just de- scribed apply? In the first place, I feel certain that the use of the swarm box, dipped cells and the manner of having cells finished above the queen-excluder are the very best for the honey i)roducer to adoi>t. WHiile a little more i)a- lienee and study are required for its nuistery, it certainly jiays handsome returns for your time and labor invested. Many successful honey pro- ducers all over the world are using similar methods with the best of suc- cess. Many who use the grafting- method and rear their own queens have informed me that with them it had simply meant the difference between success and failure. However, after the cells are completed and are rii)e, the honey producer may branch off from the methods of the commeicial (jueen-breeder and ado])t those best suited to his needs and circimistances. Queen-Rearing from Commercial Cell Cups. Mr. M. T. Pritchai-d, queen-breeder for The A. 1. Root Company, Me- dina, Ohio, has probably reared more queens than any other man in the world. He uses the Root wooden cell cups into which are pressed the wax cups. He pi-efers the wooden bases because, he says, they protect the wax cups before and aftei' they are completed by the bees; because they facilitate handling of the cells with tlieir occupants; and last but not least, because he can easily separate the cells when they are finished by the bees. They enable him also to pick out the choicest and best cells from the cell- starters and give theui to the cell-finishers. These wooden cups are mounted on a bar by using- a little i)inch of wax. Mr. Pritchard prefers the (jueen- less, broodless method for starting- the cells. He chooses larvae twelve houi-s old and endeavors to get the larg-est larvae of that age. He says, "the larger the bettei'." He determines the age by keeping- a lecord of the time the comb is given to the colony having- the breeding queen. As soon as tliere are eggs in the comb it is an easy matter with him to determine the age of the larvae. He jn-efers laivae slightly cuived but not coiled up. SUPPLEMEXTARY TOPICS.— Chapter XXX. Pressed cell cup. ^fr. Pritf'Iini-d says there arc times when he finds the coll-proteotor a .yreat convenience and tlie wooden cell cup fits the eell-protoctor better than the dipped cell. Mr. Pritchard also helieves it better to choose larvae near the center of the coinb. as he considers the ones near the bottom of the comb not so well suited for grafting-. The high quality of the queens turned out by Mr. Pritchard is known the world over. A number of years ago the author visited Medina while queen-rearing was in full blast and learned a number of valuable features of queen-rearing from Mr. Pritchard. Requeening . Some have preteried to introduce the ripe cell to the colony, while some ]n-efer to introduce the laying ciueen. For the pur- pose of improving the stock as well as to replace worn-out queens I have requeened my entire apiary of several hundred colo- nies every year, and sometimes when I thought I had discovered a better breeder many were requeened tw.o or three tiiues in the year. I find the use of both methods of introduction, sometimes the cell and sometimes the laying queen, is very profitable. T believe it will i^ay all honey producers to have on hand a number of nuclei in order to have young queens to draw on when circumstances de- mand. In the main, however, since learning that it is a matter of feed that causes the bees to accept the queen-cells, I am using the cell method more and more. The principle or law of the bees that a well-fed colony will not de- stroy cells should have a far-reaching effect with the honey producer, for we can now give ripe cells directly to strong colonies immedintelij upon re- movifif) the old queen it:ilh almost unfailing rertaintif that theif ir.ill he ac- cepted. ^& must remember that it is hungry bees that tear down cells; well-fed ones do not. When bees are hungry, they themselves tear down cells. When they are well fed they pass the task of cell destruction up to the queen. If she wants to swarm, she does not destroy thexu. If she does not wish to swarm, she attends to the destruction of the cells herself. True, the workers are doing most of the work; but if you catch the queen and remove her, the cell destruction ceases like magic if the colony has plenty of food. Therefore, if the colony is well fed and if you remove the queen, the cells are allowed to produce queens, and a strange cell w^ill remain untouched the same as one which the bees themselves rearetl. Therefore, if the honey producer raises a lot of nice large cells well supplied with royal jelly, he can requeen with very little labor and with small loss of cells. I strongly recommend that requeening be done after SUPPLEMENTARY TOPICS.— Chapter XXX. the honey flow is well along and the swarming season has j^assed or nearly passed. If colonies are given cells when they are preparing to swarm, they Avill swarm anyway. They likewise swarm if a laying queen is introduced. I have found that, if a laying queen is introduced to a colony before it has any notion of sw^arming, it does not swann that year ; but, if preparing to swarm, it swarms with the new queen as readily as with the old one. The same thing occurs with a cell ; if the cell is given before the colony has any notion of swarming, that colony is effectually prevented from doing so that season. However, except under unusual conditions, requeening with the cell method before swarming season is not advisable, for the absence of a laying queen at this time seriously affects the honey yield of the colony. In case one waits until the honey flow is well along, the colony may be re- queened with little loss in strength, for the bees that would have been reared at that time would be too late to help in that harvest. The method of giving the cell, which I have found entirely satisfactory, is to requeen during a heavy honey flow by simply removing the old queen and putting in a ripe cell. The bees seldom tear this down. However, to do all requeening during such favorable times is not possible. Just as the honey flow closes and the supers are off, you can remove the old queens in the evening and give the colony a heavy feed. Next morning give it a ripe cell, which the bees invariably accept. We nuist remember that in nature bees do not have cells except when they are receiving food in abundance, and Ave must duplicate these conditions if we hope to succeed. After the cell is given, it is well, in a few days, to look to see if the queen has emerged. This may be determined by the appearance of the cell. If it has a small opening at the lower end, you may be sure the virgin is there. If the beekeeper has little time he can wait for ten days, and if eggs are present he may be sure the queen came from the cell given ; but if there are other queen-cells started, it indicates that the cell given was destroyed. In such cases the frames should be removed and all bees shaken off in order that every one of these other cells tliat are started may be de- sti'oyed. Queens coming from such cells would usually be inferior. As the colony has been without a queen for some time, it would be better to introduce a laying queen, if you have some on hand, rather than give it another cell, for this Avould leave it queenless so long that it Avould become greatly depleted in bees. Furthermore, if the second cell given should lie destroyed, the colony would probably run into laying workers and be ruined. If you have no laying queen a cell should be given as previously described, feeding heavily as before. However, in this case it would be well to examine it one or two days after the virgin emerged from the cell, and in case this cell is destroyed give another immediately. We should bear in mind that cells are destroyed in this manner very rarely; but, in order to avoid ruining a colony from queenlessness, it should be carefully watched. However, if the work is properly done few cells will be destroyed. Uniting- Bees. In the previous pages frefiuent mention has been made of uniting colo- nies. By far the easiest and safest method is what is known as the "news- SUl'l'LKMI'JX TA I,' ) Tories. -(Uu,pU:r XX X. paper method." The inventor of this system was Dr. Millci-, and it is one of the many splendid things that he luis given to beekeepers. To unite two colonies, place two thicknesses of common newspaper over one colony on the brood-frames, set the other colony that is to be united on top and put on the cover. In a day or two the bees will gnaw away the paper and become acquainted. As they coiue in contact with each other, a few bees at a time, there is no fighting- whatever. The bees in the upper hive body seem to realize that they have been moved, for they mark their new location and do not return to the old one. In very hot weather it is sometimes advisable to punch a hole in the paper witli a com- mon lead pencil to prevent suffocation. Uniting Laying Worker Colonies. If one has a colony containing laying workers to which he does not wish to introduce a queen, it can be united with any other colony by the newspaper method and the queen will not be injured in any way. The colo- nies sliould not be disturbed for a week or more, after which the workers will cease to lay. When this occurs, the hive body which originally con- tained the laying- workers may be set on the bottom-board of the present stand and the queen left with them, while the other hive body containing most of the brood may be moved to a new location and a queen introduced. Making Increase. There are many methods of making increase. If a large increase is desired, one should begin early in the season. For this, a good way is to proceed in the same manner as described in the first part of this book for forming- nuclei, but it is better to give the new colony two frames of brood and bees instead of one. If done early in the season and a honey flow follows, a two-frame nucleus should build up into a good, strong col- ony before winter. If no honey flow is on, they can be built up by feeding sugar syrup. The remainder of the hive is to be filled out with comb or full sheets of foundation. This method should be used only when a large num- ber of colonies are to be made from a few. Where a limited increase is desired the method I have used for a number of years has given such per- fect satisfaction that I recommend it in preference to any other. It is as follows : Take the colony to be divided and set it temporarily to one side. On the stand it has occupied place an empty hive. Take out from the colony one frame of brood with the queen, and place it in the empty hive. Then move the colony from which the queen and frame were taken to a new stand and introduce a queen to it or give it a ripe queen- cell, as previously explained. Fill out the hive that remains on the old stand with combs or foundation. The field bees from the colony just moved will return to their old location and build tliis colony up at a rapid rate. A queen is easily introduced to the moved colony, as the old bees that cause the trouble have gone back "home to mother's." Xot enough bees will leave the moved colony, however, to injure the uncapi^ed brood. If only sheets of foundation are used in the new colony, it is better to give two frames of brood ; but, if drawn combs are used, one frame is sufficient. SUPPLEMEXTAltT TOPICS.— Chapier XXX. Mending Damaged Combs. How oi'ien every beekeeper litis (Ii-chukmI of liavinii' iicrfect combs built clear to tlie bottom-bar, one Imndred jier cent worker-cells! All who have such combs please rise. Well, I shall remain seated with the rest. Even when by carefully wired full sheets of foundation we get fairly good combs, in time they get roimded off at the corners and later are drawn out into drone comb. Then mice get in and make holes in the combs. ^yax worms do their woik, and, as yeai's go by, our combs become more and more filled with drone-cells. Xow, if we take a little pains we can have our combs continually im- })roving and the drone-cells gi-adually diminishing. It is known that nu- clei or weak colonies build worker comb only. Therefore, when we dis- cover a damaged comb, let us put it into a nucleus for repair. If it con- tains drone comb, cut out the drone-cells, and the bees in the nucleus will l)iiild worker comb in its stead. Then, in order to get the combs built to the bottom-bai-, draw the nails in that liar so that it will be about % of an inch lower. The bees will build comb to within one-half inch of it, the nails may be driven back into place, thereby bringing the bottom-bar ujj snugly against the bottom of tlic comb, and you will have a perfect comb as the result. Tf it is desired to mend combs when no honey is coming in, the bees will do excellent work at comb-mending by having tlieir division-board feeder kept filled with sugar syrup or honey. Now it is unnecessai-y to have regular nucleus hives to mend combs, but any weak colony will do it if onlv two or three combs are given thein at one time. r.'iuly SUPPLEMENT ART TOPICS.— Chapter XXX. it is the usual rule, where combs are mutilated or imperfect, to cut them out, melt them up and convert into wax. This, of course, involves work and expense for foundation and perhaps new frames. Where frames are good and combs, except for lioles (for all drone comb should be out out), are otherwise good they can he repaii'ed )jy the bees in the manner just described and save expense. REQUEENING COLONIES ABOUT TO SWARM. CHAPTER XXXI. What is said about giving a cell to a colony preparing to swarm holds good in introducing a laying queen ; that is, if a queen is introduced to a colony that is in tlie swarming notion, it will swarm just the same, the newly introduced queen going out with the bees. It is generally con- ceded that a colony headed by a young queen, one reared the current year, will not swarm. ISTow, many amateurs, and some experienced beekeepers, too, have sought to cure the swarming fever by introducing a young queen. Failure is usually the result. A beeman, more progressive than his neighbor bee- keeper, in order to get ahead of him, bought a queen from a breeder some distance away. He was veiy proud of the queen and rubbed it in on his neighlior, telling him he could not buy this queen for $10. It so happened that he introduced her to a colony preparing to swarm. He stopped his beekeeping neighbor and led him out to the hive to show him his fine new yellow queen. Before they got there, they met a large swarm of bees go- ing to parts unknown. When they looked into the hive, there were a lot of queen-cells and a few bees! A swarm and that new queen had taken to the woods. It was now his neighbor's turn. He said, "Say, I can now buy that queen for ten dollars, can't 11" However, if a young laying queen is introduced to a colony before the colony has the swarming notion, my experience is that when the colony is run for comb honey it will very rarely swarm that season, and when run for extracted honey I have never had one swarm when requeened in this manner. Hive Body Used as Nucleus. A very popular method of requeening under certain circumstances is by using one of the brood-chambers where colonies are run two stories high. Certain localities have no early honey flow. The bees build up in the spring, go "over the peak of brood-rearing" and are on the down grade before the honey flow comes on. This is the case in many alfalfa dis- tricts. A si:)Iendid method under such circumstances is llie following : We sliall suppose the colonies are in two-story brood-chambers. As the hives are getting well filled with bees and brood, remove one story, place it on a bottoiii-I)()ard, give it a cover, and put it close beside the hive body from which it was taken. To the queenless part, give a ripe queen-cell. This will in time build u}) to a strong colony. When the honey flow begins, kill the old queen and unite these two colonies by the newspaper method described further on. In this manner the colony has been requeened, and, as there is a young queen in the hive, there is little danger of swarming. REQUEENIXG COLONIES ABOUT TO SWABM.— Chapter XXXI. By this sj^stem, the colony has the brood reared from two queens, and becomes a stronger colony than was possible to get from one queen. This same method can be used to advantage in the eastern states where there are a clover flow and a fall flow. In that case, the upper hive body is raised up and supers added between the two hive bodies during the clover flow. When most of the brood in the upper hive have emerged, it is set on a new stand at the side of the parent colony with enough bees to make a small colony. A cell is given in the regular way. This colony is allowed to build up until the fall flow opens, when it is united with the original colony after killing the old queen. By this method of requeening, the col- ony has been materially strengthened instead of weakened. In other words, it has had two laying queens for some time instead of no queen at all as is the ease where the old queen is removed and a cell given. In case the double brood-chainber is used, one can be employed as a nucleus at a little outlay. All that is necessary is some extra bottom- boards and covers. When one makes a practice of introducing the queen- cell directly to the colony, I believe even then it is a splendid idea to have on hand a small number of nuclei. La^nng queens can be kept in these to be used when needed. In working with the bees you occasionally run across a colony that needs a better queen, and, if you have some laying queens in resen-e in the nuclei, they can be drawn on when needed. Should a cell that you have given to a colony fail to provide a queen for it, a laying queen can be given, thus preventing the weakening of the colony from lack of one over too great a period. FEEDING AND FEEDERS. CHAPTER XXXII. If we use a large brood-chamber, we haAe to do little feediiiii, as a ride; but there are times when the honey ero]) fails, or we have been a little too enthusiastic in uiaking increase, so that we find our colonies de- ficient in stores, with winter not far away. All beekeepers have been caught in such a predicament at one time or another. The feeder I prefer is made by nailing a strip across the bottom-board in the deep side about two inches back of the entrance. In fact, when ordering the regular bottoni- lioard I order an extra piece like the one itsed for the back cleat on the deei^ entrance. If this is not going to l)e used for some time, the bees will stop up all of the cracks and make it water-tight. If it is to be used at once, pour melted wax or paraffin along the cracks until it is tight. This feeder costs only three or four cents, and is always there and never in the Avay. ]\Ioreover, it does not interfere in any way with the ventila- tion. If a driving rain comes up, this cleat keeps the rain from beating in. If you find a colony that needs feeding, all that is necessary is to slide the hive ahead about two inches on the bottom-board, and pour the syrup in How to make a feeder out of a bottom-board. by alluvviug it lo (low against the back of the hivo. It will thus spread out and run ilf)\vti into fhe bottom-board feeder. A Jiinnel can be used if ineferrcd. This liotlom-board feeder holds al)oul ten j)Ounds of" syrup. Of course, the hive must bo level to prevent the syruji from running oiil. If a colony needs hcaxy feeding, the bees iiiay be fed tlii-ee or four evenings just at dusk, and l)el'ore morning they will have all of the feed cleaned up away from robbers. 'J'his is a very good feeder for stimulating during queen-i'earing also, i f used evei-y day for this purpose, it is best to have FEEDING AND FEEDERS.— Chapter XXXII. a thin board about two inches wide and the length of the bottoin-board across the end, as a sort of lid. Then, when feeding, this cover is raised and the sj-rup poured in. Preparing the Feed for Winter. There are several waj-s of preparing syrup for the bees. Some give it warm, and some recommend cold syrup. I endeavor to feed early in the fall before the weather is too cold. A large tub or boiler is a good thing in which to mix the syrup. Pour in cold water till it is about one-third full. Then add granulated sugar and keep stirring until there is a saturated solution. After you have added so much sugar that it settles to the bottom about two inches thick and does not dissolve, no matter how much stirring you do, the syrup is right. Let it stand a few minutes. It will clear up and you have a nice, clear, smooth syrup. Now, when this is given to the bees they invert it and there is no danger of its granulating in the hive. If you should follow this process and have the water warm, it would take u]) too much sugar so that when it became cold crystals would form and it would granulate in the combs. Another objection to the warm syrup is that, when the bees get in it, they become covered with sugar as soon as they dry off. and many are lost in that way. Of course, if warm syrup is given and you have the proportions exactly right, it is a good method but it requires much more work than the cold method just described. No meas- uring is necessary and water or sugar may be added at will, and, by stirring, the syrup can be made just right. "We should so conduct our apiary that feeding for winter is rarely necessary. Let us first assign to the bees the task of laying up honey for themselves. Then, after they have done this so that they have an abund- ance, we may consider that all they make above that amount rightfully be- longs to us; but let us be sure they have enough before we dip in. Some- times in spite of care, however, the bees will need feeding. In case we have made a large increase or have had a late swarm or a total failure of the honey flow, a number of well-filled combs of honey on hand for this pur- pose is a splendid policy. When a colony needs feeding nothing is better than combs of honev. REQUEENING TO CURE EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD. CHAPTER XXXIII. It is now g-enerally acknowledged that Euroijean foul brood is a dis- ease of weak colonies and inferior or black bees. Many extensive honey l)roducers testify to the fact that, if all colonies are headed by vigorous, young, Italian queens and the colony kept strong, so far as European foul brood as a menace is concerned, they can forget it. During the winter of 1918-19 I was employed by the Government to do extension work in the Apiculture Department, ray territory being California. During this time I had a rare opportunity to study bee disease, especially European foul brood. The conditions in California are favorable for the development of this disease. I found the statement made above concerning the cure of European foul brood to be correct. In many cases this disease threatened to put the beekeeper out of business until he began to rear queens from good Italian stock and requeen the entire yard. Then, in addition, the colonies were given a large brood-nest, usually two nine-frame hive bodies and an abundance of stores. In such cases European foul brood ceased to be a menace. To be sure, it kept the beekeeper on the alert to see that no colony became weakened or had a poor queen. Now, as we well know, strong colonies are the profitable ones, so it is evident that European foul brood makes a better beekeeper out of the one that has it. For this reason it is commonly known as a blessing in disguise. We admit that, when this dis- ease fii'st strikes an apiary and causes havoc before the beekeeper can form his defense, the incognito of the blessing is complete! The method of rearing queens to eradicate this disease is the same as already given, but it is better to introduce the ripe cell to the colony af- fected. Under no other circumstance do the bees "clean house" as well as when they have a virgin queen. They clean and polish the cells to make ready for her to deposit eggs. Being without a laying queen they have very little brood to attend to, so they seem to devote all their energies to cleaning out the disease. The important point in the cure of European foul brood seems to be to have a large number of bees in proportion to the brood. In any cure now being used, this condition should be present. When we give a cell as stated, we reduce the amount of brood 'that the colony has, by removing the laying queen, thus making: the cleaning out easier. When the queen is caged, the same condition is brought about. In some cases cures are effected by putting the brood in an upper story and confining the queen to the lower- story with a queen-excludei-. The same condition exists, for many of the l)ees leave the queen so that she slackens up on egg-laying, thus reducing the brood. Many have reported tliat, by putting a new swarm into n colony affected with European foul brood, an immediate cure was effected. This: BEQUEENING TO CURE EUROPEAN FOUL BROOD.— Chap. XXXIIl is the same condition as in the others, a large number of bees in proportion to the brood. It is noticed that the first brood reared in the colony in the spring- is not diseased. This same condition, plenty of bees to clean out the disease, is present. A little later in the season the disease is at its worst. This is due to the fact that the bees are rearing the maximum amount of brood in proportion to the bees, as the colony is rearing brood to the fullest capa- city, and the old bees are rapidly dying off. If the colony survives and is built up strong, the disease disappears. This is due to the fact that the queen has reached her capacity in egg-production, so the number of bees in proportion to the brood is greatly increased. However, if the colony is very weak, it is not a good plan to try to build it up. Better unite it with another colony. If European foul brood is very prevalent in an apiary, I would requeen the entire yard every year until the disease is stamped out. Then every colony that is not strong should be requeened, and if disease shows in any colony it should be requeened. American Foul Brood. Let it be understood that all which has been said about requeening to eliminate disease does not apply to American foul brood. As this book is a treatise on queen-rearing, we need not discuss American foul brood but only touch on one or two points. American foul brood cannot be cured by requeening. At the present writing, the "shaking treatment" is the only cure advocated. In Dr. E. F. Phillip's excellent book, "Beekeep- ing," (page 404) the disease and its treatment are described in detail. Many beekeepers wish to requeen colonies having American foul brood — not to cure the disease, but to replace the queen on account of her age, for a good young queen is needed in the colony after losing all its brood and hav- ing to build up on foundation. The question is very frequently asked, "When is the best time to requeen a colony affected with American foul brood — before shaking or after?" I recommend that they be requeened after shaking; for, if a vigorous queen is introduced and allowed to lay heavily before shaking, she is liable to be injured when this is done from the fact that her egg-laying is suddenly stopped, in the same manner as a queen laying heavily is injured by being placed in a mailing cage. Many have reported that queens that were very prolific before the disease was treated, were worthless after the colony had been shaken for its cure. An- other reason is that it is not a good policy to open a colony affected with American foul brood any more than is absolutely necessary, on account of the danger of spreading the disease through robbing. After the colony has been treated and has several frames of brood, it is a good time to requeen. If the Push-in cage is used it will be necessary to get an old black comb from some other cohMiy on wliich to use it, care being taken that it is from a licaltliv colonv. FINISHING CELLS IN QUEENLESS COLONIES. CHAPTER XXXIV. Sonu'tiiiies, c-oiiditions are not right for builtling up colonies sufficient- ly stiong- to do the best work at finishing cells above an excluder in a queen- right colony. Nothing- but failure will result in attempting to get good cells finished above an excluder if the colony is not extra strong. If these extra- strong colonies cannot be obtained, good results may be secured by giving the cells to a colony of mediuui strength made queenless. To use this method it is first necessaiy to get the cells accepted, as explained. Then take one bar of cells, go to the colony you wish to use as a finisher and re- move the queen, at the same time giving a l)av of cells. The bees will go i-ight ahead and finish them in good shape. The question comes up whether this colony should be queenless for a few hours before giving it the bar of cells. It seems to make no difference, as the bees take right hold and go to work on the cells the moment their queen is removed. They seem to do this through their habit of comi^leting a job that has been started. As the queen is not there to ])rotest, the cells are finished. This colony may be used to build a second bar of cells, and even a third, but care must be taken to see that no cells of its own are allowed to furnish a queen. Finishing Cells While Requeening. A splendii] plan for iiiiishing cells is while requeening. (>o to a coluny that is to be requeened. Kill tlie queen, give the colony a bar of cells that have been started by the swarm box or queenless, broodless method, and at the same opening of the hive introduce a laying queen with the Push-in cage. In four days, by the time the queen is accepted, when you go to take out the introducing cage the cells will be sealed. They are taken out and given to some other queenless colony for incubation, or put oxer an excluder above a strong colony until ripe and ready to be given to nuclei. In this way j'ou lose no time, for the cells are finished while you are intro- ducing a queen. I find this very convenient late in the season after a honey flow when the colonies are not so strong as they ai-e earlier in the season. As a rule, ten or twelve cells are enough for the bees to finish and do the best work. I never use this method exclusively, but do so occasionally in coiiinTH-lio!! Avith the mothod of finishini:- above an excluder CELL-BUILDING DURING A HEAVY HONEY FLOW. CHAPTER XXXV. All are agreed that tlie ideal time for coll-baildins' is during- a light honey flow. However, we have 1x) take the weather and the honey flow as they come, and we seldom have a light honey flow for any great length of time. When the honey flow is beginning: conditions are ideal for a time: then, as it increases until it becomes a heavy flow, the kind that we all like for honey production, a nuinber of elements interfere with queen-rearing, that must be overcome if we would succeed. One of these is the scarcity of larvae of the gTafting age, due to the fact that the bees are gathering nectar so rapidly that the breeding queen is cramped for room to lay eggs. If the case is not too bad, an empty condj inserted in the middle of the brood-nest of the breeding queen will keep her on the job of eg"g-laying. If the honey flow is heavy, however, this will do little if any good, for the bees at once flood the new comb with nectar. It is their natural instinct, when an abundance of nectar is in the blossoms, to gather it and let everything else go, since other things, such as brood- rearing, cell-building and propolizing, can wait until the rash of harvest is over. Now this rush of nectar into the hive is caused by the field bees ; so, if we wish to stop the supply in the colony containing our breeding queen, all that is necessary is to remove the field bees from the colony. This may be easily accomijlished by moving- the colony out to a new location. The workers, upon returning from the field, will go back to their old location, and, if a hive is close to the former ]iosition of their own home, will enter without hindrance and put the fruits of their efforts into that hive instead of the one they formerly inhal)ited. The hive containing the breeding queen will, in consequence, receive verj- little ner-tar for several days. In the meanwhile, young bees will emerge, thereby making room for the queen to lay, and brood-rearing can go forward apace. If the honey flow continues, it may be necessary to move the hive several times to keep the excess of nectar from coming in. Another difficulty, caused by a heavy flow, is found in the cell-finishing colony. Wax will be built all over the cells, sometimes completely covering them. In this case, since we want all the bees possible in the finishing col- ony, it is not advisable to move the hive as was done with that of the breeding queen. The remedy in this case is to remove all combs as fast as they are filled with honey, being careful not to take away any brood since that would weaken it. In the place of the combs removed, give empty combs. Foundation does not answer, for they will feel ciowded for storage room and continue to build comb over the cells. If the bees still build comb around the cells, it is evident that tliey are yet crowded and an extra story of empty combs should be placed on top. Some extra lifting is neces- sitated to get at the cells, but the results are well worth the work it involves. CELL-BUILDING DIJIUNG A HEAVY HONEY FLOW.—Chap. XXXV. Another difficulty arising from a heavy flow is found in the nuclei. This is not so serious as the former, and the only inconvenience is that the combs get crowded with honey and bulged at the tops so that they are removed with difficulty. If only one comb with a division-board feeder is used, the bees will get crowded and go over the division-board and build comb in the empty space. These small bits of comb, when removed, may be thrown into the solar wax-extractor, and, if much honey is placed in the newly built combs, it goes well with hot biscuits and is helped along with a glass of Jersey cream ! At least, that rule holds good in this local- ity. If much of this honey is found, cut it out, put it into tin buckets and tell the neighbors about it. It always moves off at a good price. This condition in the nuclei is remedied by giving empty combs or foundation. I usually prefer to leave one comb with them and give them a frame con- taining foundation. If the flow continues, the heavy comb is taken away and another frame with foundation is given. Cell-Bmlding at the Close of the Honey Flow. By far the most difficult period of queen-rearing is at the close of the honey flow. The flow has restricted brood-rearing, and the fielders have worked themselves to death, so that the colonies are losing strength and the proportion of young bees is small — two serious conditions in queen-rearing. The feeders must be brought into use on the cell-builders and on the hives containing bees for the swarm box. Search must be made through other colonies to find frames containing brood, which will be scarce for the reason that all have retrenched in brood-rearing. Some colonies have more brood than others. All combs not containing brood should be taken out and re- placed with brood. If this is done after an early honey flow, such as white or sweet clover, cell-building will go on nearly as well as at any other time. After a fall flow, to keep the bees interested in the queen business is much more difficult. Finishing cells in a colony made queenless may be necessary. In case a few flowers, such as asters or goldenrod that the bees may work on, still bloom the queen-rearing season may be jirolonged. If brood can be secured good cells can be built, but cold weather and a scar- city of drones make queen-mating difficult. THE QUALITY OF QUEENS. CHAPTER XXXVI. Riding them lestruction. It is a veiy simple matter to rear queens that are just "queens"; but (o rear the very best, those that are long-lived and prolific, and to do this with uniformity under the changing seasons and weather, require not only skill and experience but eternal vigilance which is the price of success. Bees observe the change in nectar secretion much more readily than the beekeeper. From all appearances the honey flow is at its height, with no indications of slacking* up as far as the beekeeper can see, but the worker liees may be seen astraddle of the drones, riding them to destruc- tion. The workers see the slack- ening of the flow. As the only opportunity that the drones might have had is past and they will have outlived their useful- ness before any more queens are reared, the bees seem to reason, ''Why keep these drones around to eat up the profits'?" so the poor fellows are driven out to starve. When the apiarist sees this condition he should put on the feedei'S, or a poor batch of cells will be the result. It is the easiest matter imaginable to rear poor queens. I have seen queens in every stage of size and quality from a worker up to the very finest. Upon several occasions I observed, in nuclei, virgin queens, if we may call them queens, that were no larger than workers. The only way I could tell that they had a touch of queen make-up in their nature was the shape of the abdomen, which was more pointed than a worker's, and the color was a little different, showing more yellow. The first one of these I found w-as a puzzler to me. I had taken out a laying queen and introduced a cell in the regular way. When I looked three daj^s later the cell was torn down, and then it was that I discovered this pygmy queen. I left her to see what would become of her. She disappeared about mating time, as did the few others that were discovered later. Xow this pygmy queen emerged from a regular worker-cell, as no sign of a queen-eell or an enlarged worker- cell could be seen. I believe the pygTay queen was reared in this way: When the laying queen was removed, the bees began to feed some of the larvae profusely with royal jelly preparatory to rearing queens. When the queen-eell was given and the virgin emerged, these larvae that were given the extra feed or royal jelly were not destroyed but were left to go on and develop as THE QUALITY OF QUEENS.— Chapter XXXVI. workers; but, as they had received more of the queen food tluiii a well- regulated worker should, they took on a slight character of a queen. Tliey haye just enough queen nature in them to object to the presence of a queen-cell. Now, why was this queen so small? Simply from the fact that she received such a scant supply of royal jelly. I mention this occurrence to show that all grades of queens can be reared, with no distinct line between a worker and a queen. If the larvae are not supplied with food in abundance, inferior queezis result. Then there are other grades of queens, a little larger than the pygmies, which emerge from a queen-cell, but they have been skimped in their food supply. These will be missing at mating time. Some are killed by the workers, that seem to realize the queen is worthless. Queens a little larger can be reared, and the percentage that is missing at mating time is large. Those that do mate and lay are very inferior, laying very sparingly. They are usually sujierseded soon; but, if it is late in the season, they die in the winter and the colony comes out in the spring with laying workers. Then there are queens a grade hig'her that are fair layers. Next, there are good layers, and so on up the line until we get to the very best, that will keep a large brood-chamber packed full of bees and produce a colony that makes several hundred pounds of surplus honey above the average. These are the queens that bring you the profit and the ones you can raise if you play the game according to the rules laid down by the bees. DRONES. CHAPTER XXXVTT. All recognize the fact that the drone has as much to contribute toward keeping up the stock as the queen. Placing drone combs in colonies con- taining the best queens has been advocated to rear drones. If this is done in a large way and drone comb given to a large number of colonies, good results may be olitained. I believe a much better ])lan, howevei-, is to re- queen the entire yard systematically and i-esti'ict the drones as much as possible by using full sheets of foundation. Enough drones will be reared, and no colony will be injured, as would be the case if a lot of drone combs were allowed in a number of colonies. Of course, if you are able to keep all drone comb out of the colonies, some provision would have to be made for rearing drones, but I have yet to see a colony that could not rear a few. Many say that, if they do have all pure drones, it would do little good as their neighbors have hybrids and blacks. There are many times Avhen this would prevent pure mating of queens, but in many cases it would not. We are finding out that queens do not go so far to mate as was formerly supposed. A number have reported seeing queens mate within a very few feet of their hives. I have witnessed the same thing. If there are no bees nearer than a quarter of a mile, and, if you have all pure drones in your own yard, my experience would prompt me to say that you will have very little mismating. As in the case of American foul brood, a lot is laid to the neighbors that rightfully belongs to yourself. I have had several amusing expeii- ences concerning the aljove. One man said he could not get rid of American foul brood because his bees got it from his neighbor a couple of miles away; and when I called on that neighbor, he told me the same thing about the beekeeper to whom I first talked. It was evident that botli were spreading infection among their own bees. So it is in the case of drones ; see that all drones in your own yard are pure and you will be surprised at the few mismatings which will occur. Of course, it "is still more desirable if you can get the co-operation of your neighbor and interest him in better bees. Get him to requeen I)y rearing his own, or you can rear them and sell to him. MORE THAN ONE QUEEN IN A HIVE. CHAPTER XXXVI] I. Normally, bees permit but one queen in a hive. Frequently, however, during supersedure the old queen lemains for some time after her daugh- ter is mated and laying. In such eases the old queen is so incapacitated that the bees and young queen do not seem to recognize her as a queen, and pay no attention to her. These old queens may be dropped into any queenless colony and are generally accepted. They may be utilized in this manner to carry a colony along until it can be requeened with a good queen. Sometimes a freak case seems to violate all general rules. 1 ha\e known two virgins to emei'ge in a hive and be the best of friends. They would mate and lay for quite a while; but sooner or later the bees decide this state of affairs is irregular and kill one of them. Sometimes two queens get into the same hive upon returning from their mating flight. They get along together for a while; but after a time the Ijees decide they cannot serve two masters. One faction balls one queen, the other faction the other; thus both queens are so badly crippled that they have to be removed. I remember once when one queen had both wings nipped off close to her body and the other queen lost both legs on the same side. The bees were satisfied then and seemed to think that these two queens, since they both had been trimmed, were about equal to one good one. A number of years ago there was considerable talk about the possi- bility of having several queens in one hive, and quite a good deal of ex- jDerimenting along that line was done by many beekeepers. If it were pos- sible to winter over fifty or one hundred queens in one hive and then have them to supply the demand for queens early the next spring, why, it was worth working for. Personally I was much interested. I used up all the old queens I had left from requeening and sacrificed several dozen good young ones. I learned some very interesting things but little of economic importance. I learned it was not difficult to introduce queens to each other, so they would be friends, yes, regular old cronies, always working together, and usually found on the same comb. The only discovery of importance was the fact that it is the bees that make plural queens in a hive impossible. True, the queens usually fight, but they can be introduced to each other. However, the bees will swear allegiance to only one queen and declare war on all others. Once I put twelve queens in a Mason jar to see what would happen. They began to fight, so I shook them around until they were tired. Five had been killed. The other seven called an armistice and apparently signed a treaty that was satisfactory to all. They probably laid the trouble to the dead ones entireh^ They held out their tongues to each other and always clustered together. Xow, I thought, my troubles were over, for I knew I could safely introduce them. I took six frames of emerging brood. MOEE THAX ONE QUEEN I.\ .1 HJVE.-^Chaplcr XXXVIIl. brushed off all of the bees, put the frames into a hive and turned loose the seven queens. They staid together on one frame of brood, and, as they emerged, they all began to lay. They certainly did furnish a generous sup- ply of eggs, placing many in each cell. Now I reasoned that, as the young bees emerged, they would never know how many queens they were supjDOsed to have and would accept the seven all right. Things Avent well for about two weeks, when this small colony began to assume the proportions of a real one. Then trouble developed very rap- idly. Having arrived at the age of accountability, the bees decided there were too many queens. This multiplicity of stepmothers was intolerable, so they killed one. In a few days they killed another, then another. I carefully examined them and found them balling another. For nearly a month this weeding process to get down to one queen continued, but they finally did it and saved the youngest and best. In concluding this subject, I wish to give as my opinion that it is indeed useless to try to get the bees to tolerate more than one queen for any time long enough to do any real good to the colony. The above is given that it may save others costly experimenting. Of course, if one wishes to experi- ment merely for the fun of the thing, that is a different story. In one experiment the stings of two virgins were clipped. These vir- gins could not fight, but mercy, how they did wrestle! The bees stood aside merely interested bystanders until one of the vii'gins began to squeal, when the workers closed in and balled both Cjueens and injured them so it was necessary to replace them. As stated, an old queen is readily accepted. Usually when a queen gets old and lays but few eggs, she is killed by the queen that supersedes her or dies a natural death. I observed one notable excej^tion, however. I requeened a colony yearly for two years and then found an old queen in the hive that had been there for four years. I could tell her by the manner in which her wings were clipped. She had been in the colony, and a young queen was reared to supersede her. This queen Avas removed when one year old ; and another, a year later. As far as I could observe, this old queen had ceased laying altogether and was treated with absolute indiffer- ence by botli bees and queens. WHEN TO REQUEEN. CHAPTER XXXTX. The question is asked many times, "When is the best time to re- queen?" The answer depends upon the strength of the colony and upon the location. From the hititude of St. Louis south, when the colony is strong-, late requeening is desirable. Jn fact, the later the liettei-. In such a ease no benefit will result to the colony requeened that season, for the queen would lay little if any before spring. Being strong, the colony would have plenty of bees to come through the winter in good condition. The queen would begin laying early in the spring and have the colony on the job for the first honey flow. If the colony is of medium strength requeening is preferable about August first, for then there is time to build up and go into winter quarters with young bees. Further north, requeening should be done in August, for, on account of the long winter, it is desirable to have as many young bees as i^ossible to carry the colony safely through, as young bees not only live longer but stand confinement better than old ones. In the north, if the colony is not strong it should be requeened in June or July, depending on its strength. In case one wishes to build up a weak colony for a fall flow, the earlier it is re- queened in the season the better. Some of the colonies that have done the -best work for me in a honey flow from sweet clover in June were requeened in November of the previous year. They Avere strong when they were requeened. In many parts of California, the colonies run down near the close of the season, winter poorly and build up on the first honey flow in the spring, thus failing to get a sur])lus from that flow. In such cases if the colony were requeened in August and given plenty of stores, the queen would build up the colony to good strength for winter. She would take a rest until January or February and then build the colony up strong, ready to give a surjilus from the first flow. Now from the fact that it has been advised to requeen early in the season, many get the impression that it is not a good plan to i-equeen late in the season, even if the colony has a poor queen. This is not correct, for a good young queen is always better than an old one. Therefore, late in the season, if you discover any colonies that have inferior queens, by all means replace them with young ones if they can be procured. If the colony is weak, it is probably better to kill the queen and unite it with another. If the colony is of good strength and a queen is introduced in October or Xo- vembei', she would be in the very best condition to build u]i Hint colony to gxeat strength early the following s])ring. How Often to R equeen. A great difference o\' opinion exists as to how often to lequeen. Some say requeen every year; some say, every second year; and some say, re- WTIEX TO liEQUEEN.— Chapter XXXIX. queen only the colonies that have poor queens; while others say, let the bees do it" theu)selves. Circumstances have to determine; but it is safe to say that there should be vastly more requeening than is practiced at pres- ent. 1 believe in most parts of California the honey crop could be doubled if eacli colony would be requeened every year with good Italian queens reared by the beekeeper himself, especially if a large brood-nest full of stores should be provided. In many other parts of the United States, the same or similai' condi- tions prevail. In the far north where the queen is idle such a long period in the winter, possibly it does as well to I'eciucen every two years as to do so every year where the honey season is longer and the queen kept on the job ten months. In this locality I have found it profitable to requeen every year, with an exceptional case where queens of unusual qualities are found which are desired for breeders. I believe a good rule that applies to all localities is to go over all colonies each year and replace every queen that is not the very best. In case a queen has a big brood-nest packed Avitli brood, is large and has all indications of being a splendid, prolifie queen, I would leave her another year. One can usually tell by the size and general appearance of a queen whether she is to be trusted to do the best work for another year or not. If there is any doubt about it, err on the safe side and requeen. Another point, that should not be lost sight of in requeening, is that one can continually improve his bees by breeding from the best. We should also keep in mind, if we re(|ueen every year and keep all colonies strong, we shall not have to '-cure" Kuroiean foul brood, be- cause we will prevent it. Some have advocated that the best breeder is the one that lives the long- est. Now that depends on the amount of work she has done. I believe the best beekeeper is the man who can get the most eggs out of a queen in the shortest time. If managed properly, the queen should lay the bulk of her eggs the first year. In the north exceptional queens do well the second year; but, if a queen does even fair work the third year, it is evident she was not worked as she should have been during the two years previous. . Sometimes beekeepers believe they have discoxered an exce]itional (|ueeii from the fact that slie lived four or live years. Possibly the i-jueen vas a good one; but I have some doubts alujut the I)eekeei)er himself, for, if he had given her a chance, she could have dom^ her work in one or two vears instead of loafing along for four or five. COMMERCIAL QUEEN-REARING. CHAPTER XL. The question is frequently asked, "Does commercial queen-rearing pay?" So much depends upon the person and locality that it is difficult to answer this question in a satisfactory manner. If one is in a reasonably good honey-producing location, he can make much more money at honey production. Much more skill and experience are required to make a suc- cess of queen-rearing- than to make a success of honey production. How- ever, as we believe every honey producer should learn the queen-rearing business, some will prefer queen-rearing. The main requirement for a successful commercial queen-breeder is a love for the business. If he has that, no obstacle is too great for him to overcome. The many difficulties in queen-rearing on account of failures in the honey flow and unfavorable weather conditions will cause all but the stoutest hearts to throw up the business in disgust. However, some prefer to engage in the queen business for the enjoyment and satisfaction they get out of it, even if the financial returns are not so great as in honey pro- duction. To attend to an ordinary queen trade requires the handling of many details, much time must be given to bookkeeping and correspondence ; therefore, additional help is required in these lines. On the other hand, the demand for queens of high quality is great, and a good queen-breeder should experience no trouble in disposing of his output. Queen-rearing involves no heavy work, but it is an exceedingly busy job while the season lasts. It is an ideal occupation for women or men who cannot do heavy work, but who are willing to be on the job early and late during the queen-rearing season. It is not a "get rich quick" occupa- tion and takes a number of years of careful study and experimenting before one can get things lined up and moving smoothly. Considerable expense is connected with it for office help, shipping cages and other supplies, sta- tionery, and for sugar with which to feed the bees in cell-building and swarm-box colonies. The honey crop largely has to be sacrificed, for, as one uses brood to form nuclei, the colonies, thus weakened by the loss of such brood, will do well if they build up strong and make enough honey to carry them over to the next season. This holds true in a season when the honey flow is good. In a poor season large quantities of sugar must be pur- chased to build u]) the colonies and provide winter stores. Locality plays an important part. Many. localities similar 1o ours have a succession of liglit honey flows which are suitable to <|ueen- rearing, but not heavy enough to give a surplus. For instance, our season opens with peach bloom followed by pear, apple, locust and a little tulip tree and tupelo. Then come white clover and alsike, which are very uncertain, and are frequently mixed with a vile honeydew that ruins the honey for market. Sweet clover is next, followed by a short dearth. Sometinies a little honev COMMERCIAL QUEEN-REARING.— Chapter XL. comes from unknown sources, probably from thoroughwort, fi?, Importance of Abundant 64 Number Accepted 41 Number Colony Can Finish 31 Proper Care of 53 Proper Shape and Size 20 Protection of 53 Surplus, What to do With 64 Why Accepted in Swarm Box 34 Why Bees Tear Down 56 Why Torn Down 59, 60 CLIPPING Does It Injure a Queen ? 82 How to Proceed 82, 83 Must Not be Practiced on Virgins.. 83 Queens by a Beginner 80, 81 Colonies for Cell-finishing 20 Colonies Packed in Quadruple Cases.. 70 Conib Box and its Uses 61, 62 Combs. Care of 95 Combs, How to Make the Bees Mend.. 100 Comn:ercial Queen-rearing, Does it Pay! .113 CONDITIONS Favorable for Queen-rearing 11 for Getting Cells 39. 40 Suitable for Queen-rearing 13 D Dipping Cells 19. 20. 21 Doolittle Cage for Introducing 86 Doolittle on Queen Introduction 84 Doolittle's Modified Cell-Starting Col- ony 44 Drones for Queen-rearing 113 Dungeon, for Swarm Box 34 E Emergency Method of Rearing Queens 12. 15 European Foul Brood, How to Cure.. 106. 107 Entrance Blocks for Nuclei 49 F FEEDINc; and Feeders 10 1. 105 before Forming Nuclei 62 Bottom-board Style of 104 for Cell-building. .. .27. 28. 39, 59. 60 for Cell-finishing Colonies 30. 36 for Winter 10 5 Importance of. for Good Queens... 31 Feeding to Get Cells Accepted .... 57. 58 FOUL BROOD American. Not Cured by Re-queen- ing 107 and Neighbors 113 European, Cured liy Requeening... 106. 107 G GRAFTING Best Place for . . . .' 3fi Cell Cup.s 36- 40 How to Proceed 37. 38 Larva 38 Method 14 Method of Raising Queens 16, 17 of the Larvae ... 20 Outfit ■. . . . 36 Room 3 7 JXDFX H Hive Body for a Nucleus Ifili. lO:! Hive Nucle\i.s for Queen reariiif; .. 47- 50 HONEY as a Food 110 Production Dependent on Queens.. 9 Strain of Queens 10 I Instinct of the Bees in TeariuK Down Cells 5f) TXTRODUCING Cause of Failure 91 Doolittle Cage for 86 Drowning Method 84 Emerging Brood Method 00 Honey Method 84 Laying Workers 90 Loss from 8.t ^[ailing Cage for 85 Miller Cage for 87 Push-in-theComb Ca.ge for 87 Queens 84- 92 Smith Cage for 87. 88. 89 Starvation Method 84 Invert Sugar for Queen Cage Candy. . 76 Italian Bees Much Superior 9 J Jelly. Royal 23. 24 Jelly Spoons. How Made 36 L LARVA How to Pick Up :38 Right Size for Grafting 38 to Pupa 54 Laying Workers in Nuclei 71 Letter Writing in Queen-rearing 65 Locality and its Effect on Queen-rear- ing ". 118 M MAILING Cage for Introducing 85 Cages for Queens 73. 74 Cages. Why Queens Die in 92 Queens Laying in Full Capacity... 72 Mending Damaged Combs lOd, 101 Misfortunes of the Queen-brei'der . .65. 66 N NUCLEI Baby 47 Care of 71. 72 Disposing of. at Close of Season. . . 93 Forming 61 Inii)ortance of Being Strong 60 Laying Workers in 71 Made of Standard Hive Bodies. . . .102 Packing Cases for 94 ■ Where to be Located 61 Why Tear Down Cells 59. 60 NUCLEUS Hives for Queen -rearing 4 7- 50 Hives with Standard Frames 48 Root Twin Mating 47 Nursery Cages for Virgins 51 r Pritchard Cell-Starting Colony 43- 45 Pritchard, the Queen-breeder 96, 97 Program in Queen-rearing 71 Program. Our Daily 46 Q QUEEN Cage Candy 75. 76, 77 Cells, How Destroyed 11, 12 Clipping, is it Injurious ? 82 Does She Sting Herself? 79 Flights 12 Introduction (see Introducing). Laying to Pull Capacity When Sent by Mail 72 Loss in Introducing 85 Mailing Cages 73. 74 Rearing. Affected by Locality . .118. 119 Rearing and Robber Bees 66 Rearing Apiary. Roof 17 Rearing, Commercial 118.119 Rearing. Commercial (see Commer- cial Queen-rearing). Rearing. Conditions Favorable for.. 11 Rearing for Honey Producer 96 Rearing for Small Beekeeper 15 Rearing from Commercial Cell Cups 96 Rearing in Bad Weather 65 Rearing. More Successful During the Honey Flow 60 Rearing. Successful Under Feeding. 60 Rearing. Winter Work for 18 Queenless and Broodless Method of Cell-starting 43, 44. 45 Queenless Colonies for Cell-finishing. . 108 QUEENS Caging 78. 79 Cataleptic . 79 Development of 54 Emergency 12 First Aid to Beekeeper 117 from Supersedure 13 from Swarming Cells 15 from Swarming Impulse 13 How Far to Mate 61 How to Pick Up 82 How to Select the Best 10 Importance of Good 9 Introducing 84- 92 Plurality of. in the Hive. .12. 114.115 Quality of 111.112 Replacing 97 Shape of 10 Size of 10 When They Get Along Togetlier in the Same Hive 114. 1 15 Why Die in Mailing Cage 92 Why Inferior 11, 112 Young. Prevent Swarming 97 B Rearing Queens on a Large Scale. ... 18 Records for Queen-rearing 67- 70 REQUEENING 97, 98 by the Swarming Method 15 Colonies About to Swarm 97 Every Two Years 115 How Often 116.117 to Cure European Foul Bro