BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Rearing queens was so fascinating that I soon began to rear them in great numbers, in fact I had them growing at all times during the warm months. Of course this was only for amusement as no bee-keepers were in want of queens, nor was there any demand for them. Well, I continued to advance in the art and enlarge my experience, not only in rearing queens, but in bee-keeping generally. About this time I found a man who had also been "'stricken" with the bee fever and he had as much experience with bees as myself, and had reared queens merely to exhibit at a cattle fair held in his town and only three miles from my place. This man had made a frame about twelve inches square, to which glass was fastened on both sides, thus forming a one comb observation hive. A small piece of brood comb containing eggs and larvae was fastened at the top of the frame by strings, and the bees, of which there were about a pint, were actually building queen cells. Thousands of interested people were watching the bees while at work, and many of the people were asking all sorts of questions about queens, bees and honey. My first queens were reared in about the same way as above described.
In the year r86o I practiced queen rearing on a larger scale, as we had then heard about Mr. Langstroth and his wonderful book and still more wonderful hive, which is today more marvelous than anything else connected with apiculture. From this time on rapid advancement was made not only in queen rearing but in
**all branches of bee culture.** We soon went from box-hives to movable-comb hives. About this time the famous Italian bees came in, and then queen-rearing was carried on in earnest; not for amusement but queens were reared by the thousand for sale. At first they were sent by express in small one-comb boxes, then by mail to all parts of the United States; later on queens went by mail to all parts of the world.
I have continued to rear queens'for sale every year since 186o. At that time no one had much knowledge of queen-rearing, and Mr. Langstroth's book was the only guide for every queen-dealer, and without his hive and book but little could have been done in the way of rearing queens.
**FIRST IMPROVEMENTS IN Queen-Rearing**
Having told you how queens were reared in the early days of the queen-rearing business, I can now only give the process of doing the work in other ways by improved methods. It will be understood that after the advent of the movable-comb hive,bee-keeping took on a rapid move. The second advance of importance was made when Mr. J. B. Parsons of Flushing, N. Y., imported some Italian bees. It was soon noised all over the United States that the yellow-banded bees were better than the common black ones, or the German bee.
At this time many bee-keepers were in condition to rear queens and they did so, and thus the queen-rearing and supply business has been on the increase since the year 1862, or the advent of the Italian bee. We all had, or thought we had, a lot of "know how." Whether we had the know how or not, no one experienced any trouble in rearing good queens, all being satisfactory except in purity. Every one who purchased Italian queens expected them to throw _all_ three-banded bees, and it was found almost impossible to get a breeding queen that could becalled strictly pure. There was no fixed purity to the Italians; they were and are to this day nothing but a hybrid strain of bees. With the exception of purity everything went on smoothly in queen rearing. Although some improvement has been made in the purity of the Italians, there are very few pure queens reared; and beekeepers continue to find fault with the queens they purchase if there happens to be even but'a dozen 'one-banded' bees in a large colony.
Now LET US DISCU SOME OF THE IMPROVED METHODS OF REARING QUEENS
First the nucleus system. Any number of combs and bees taken from a full hive constitutes a nucleus colony. We will start on a three-frame nucleus with the L frame as a basis. Three such combs, say one of brood in all stages and two of honey and pollen, with all the adhering bees, are sufficient to form a good nucleus colony.
As there are but few bee-keepers who do not understand the above work, and as none are likely to begin queen-rearing unless they can handle bees to some extent, I need not go into the little details to describe how to form nucleus colonies. But'we will suppose a three-frame nucleus has been formed, and the bees have been confined in the hive at least 24 hours with a supply of water, for bees that are deprived of their liberty, and are rearing brood or queens, must have plenty of water or the uncapped brood will perish. After 24 hours confinement the colony can be given its liberty and placed on a stand anywhere in the apiary somewhat remote, of course, from where they were first taken. After being queenless for this length of time, the bees will have started several queen-cells and have quieted down and only a few of the older bees will return to the parent hive.
Now, to increase the population of the nucleus and to make it thoroughly prosperous, other bees should be added each night, for three or four nights in succession, say at about sunset. This is easily and quickly done by taking a comb of bees from some strong colony and brushing or shaking them down on the ground in front of the nucleus. In doing this care must be used that the queen of the full colony is not taken.
The above was practiced by me in my early queen-rearingImproved Queen-rearing 13
experience when "vamping up" nucleus colonies. I was not long in discovering that there was great advantage in adding young bees as per above. By so doing I found that with each fresh lot of bees given the nucleus there would be a new lot of queen-cells started.
At about the time the first young queen should appear, (say the twelfth day from the day on which the eggs were given the bees), provision must be made for preserving the cells or the young queens. Other nucleus colonies must be made up for each cell or queen, as the case may be. The cells may be transferred at once without danger of destruction from the bees, provided the bees have been queenless for twelve hours. While bees might not destroy queen-cells if given them before they miss their queen, I find that they cannot be trusted in this respect, and that it is much safer to give queen-cells to bees that have been queenless at least 24 hours. It is not necessary to cut a hole in the comb to insert a queen cell, but push your finger down between the combs at the top and place the cell in the space thus made. If more convenient to use a queen nursery when the cells are ripe, full directions for so doing may be found on another page.
Some of the disadvantages of rearing queens by this above plan
The above way of rearing queens has some advantages and some few disadvantages. The objections to such a method are not very serious, as they affect only those breeders who rear a large number of queens. When bees are left to rear queens and select locations for the cells, many of the cells will be built so near each other that they cannot be separated without destroying some of the young queens. I have found that if holes are cut in the combs to make convenient places for queens cells, the bees are 14 Improved Queen-rearing pretty sure to build them exactly opposite each other, that is, cells are built on opposite sides of the comb. Yet these cells can be removed ; but in separating them the knife must pass through the base of one of the cells ; damage that is easily repaired by a little warm bee's wax. With the above minor exceptions, the nucleus system as above given is very good. For rearing queens on a small scale, I consider the above method as good and as practical as can be desired. Such queens will be found large, long-lived and in every way will equal those reared under the swarming impulse. If you desire to practice and experiment in queen-rearing, do not be afraid to try it. It is a good way for the novice to start in on rearing queens. Removing the queen from a full colony of bees is practically he same method as above given ; the difference is, however, that no-more queen's cells are likely to be made than in a three-frame nucleus, and I hardly think one could get any better results by the full colony plan in the end. I very much prefer the nucleus system for rearing only a few queens, and it will be found much less trouble and much less expensive.
REARING QUEENS ON A LARGE SCALE
I think I have given as much advice as a novice will need on the subject of rearing a few queens, and will now describe how to rear queens by the thousands. In this system a much smaller hive is used for nucleus colonies for keeping the queens until they have become fertile. The little hives, or boxes, used in my apiary have always worked as well with me as standard frames. The reader can do as he pleases about using them, but I advise testing the system and judging for ones sell as to its merits. Bear in mind that I am not laying down any stereotyped system of queen-rearing. I shall give only that part of my long experience that will prove of value to the inexperienced bekeeper who desires to enter queen-rearing ; and I hope it ;will result in the production of much better queen bees than many that are now being reared and sold. I advise the reader to carry out any experiments that this work may suggest to his mind. If any of my readers can improve upon the methods herein given, I advise them, by all means, to do so. I shall hold back nothing, but give in this work a full
description and explanation of every valuable point I have found in my forty years' experience in rearing queen bees for the beekeepers of the world. In connection with this business I have conducted hundreds of experiments that were found to be impractical and of no value.
PROPER CONDITION OF THE APIARY WHEN QUENRearing IS commenced
**All who undertake to rear queeens should understand that before such work should begin the whole apiary should be put in the highest state of prosperity ; and the colonies to be used in queen-rearing made very strong in numbers. The combs of all cell-building colonies should be well filled with honey and pollen. It would be the merest folly to attempt to rear queens when the whole or even a part of the apiary is in a state of semi-starvation. So you see queen-rearing should not be commenced in the spring until the weather is quite warm and the bees have had a chance to breed up, fill all combs with brood and gather nectar from the early bloom. Give the bees time enough on the early bloom to get the swarming fever on.**
**Here in New England, in Massachusetts particuiarly, the 8th of May is about as early as it is safe to commence to rear queens. However, if the weather is fairly warm in April and the first week of May, colonies can be so fed and stimulated that they may think it is about time to get ready to swarm. By the way, I have heard of swarms issuing as early as the toth of May, and had one swarm on May to, 1902.**
**Now here is a point at the start that should not be lost sight of. In breeding queen bees the same rules should be observed as in the breeding of animals. If desired to rear a colt, calf, chicken or any other animal, the parents selected are not taken fromscrubs or inferior stock. The very best are selected. The same principle applies to bees. Now for a queen mother take the best queen in the apiary, also for a drone mother equal care should be taken to obtain the best. Of course in the selection of the mother queen color and beauty are important factors to be considered, and so is prolificness, longevity, and honey-gathering qualities. It takes pretty good stock to combine all the above named points. As for genteness I find almost any strain of bees docile enough to be handled with the use of a good bellows smoker. However, bees that have vigorous dispositions are usually good honey-gatherers, and no queen need be rejected as a breeder on account of the vicious disposition of her worker progeny. Only an occasional queen breeds vicious bees, and this trait is but seldom transmitted to offspring. TO PROCURE EGGS FOR CELL-BUILDING; WHERE TO KEEP THE BREEDING-QUREN
If only a few queens are to be reared, the mother bee may be kept in a full colony ; and if a few dozen queens only are required, I advise placing a comb that the queens have used once or twice for brood in the centre of a large colony. In about five days this comb should contain several thousand eggs. Now some good queens can be reared on this comb by the plan given as the nucleus system ; but if you like to work with bees for amusement and experiment, try the plan I shall now give. When a large number of queens are to be reared, it will be found a good plan to keep the breeding queen in a small hive having frames about five inches square, with five frames to a hive. I have used such an arrangement a great many years as above stated, and find it superior, in many ways to a full sized frame for getting eggs for cell-building. By this plan no combs are cut or mutilated when a few eggs are wanted, whereas if full frames are used many good combs will necessarily be destroyed during the season. Then again, it is very much more trouble and work to open a large hive than a small one when necessary to have some eggs to use. Any person rearing queens feels the need of time saving devices, as there is always something to do when queen rearing is going on; I have found it so every day during the season. One of the small combs will contain enough eggs for fifty
Improved Queen-rearing 17 queen-cells, and a good prolific queen will fill such a comb and put an egg in every cell during each twenty-four hours. Does not the reader see that by this arrangement there are always fresh eggs at hand, and the exact age of the eggs can be known to with-in almost an hour?
Now it may be that one queen will not supply all the eggs needed, or that it is desired to rear more than one strain of queens. When this is so, more breeding queens may be used, and they may be kept in small hives. I have found that one good queen will supply enough eggs for 1500 young queens in one season.
**HOW TO START THE QUEN-BREEDER COLONY**
can make the entire thing. Sides of hive, 6 in. high x 7% in. long x% in. thick ; ends, 6x6 in., % in. thick. Make rabbit for frames to rest on %x% in. in the 6x6x% in. thick pieces. As the top bar of frame is but % in. thick, there will be a bee-space of % in.
between the cover of the hive and the top of the frame, and plenty of room under the frames for the bees to cluster and be kept out of the way while the combs are being handled. The bottom of the hive is **gx8%** in. **x %** in. thick and is nailed firmly to the bottom of the box. The top, or cover, is the same as the bottom only there are two **lx%** in. thick clamps nailed on to prevent the board from warping. Use 7-8 in. boards for the entire hive, excepting the sides, as these hives must necessarily be out in all sorts of weather, and rest upon the ground.
It will be found that the width of the hive allows for more room than a regular bee-space for four frames, but this is quite an advantage when handling the frames, as just a bee-space does not allow sufficient room for easy handling the combs; and if they go in closely the queen and many of the bees may be crushed when the frames are removed.
The dimensions of the frames are as follows : Top bar 6%x7-8 x% in. ; bottom bar 5%x7-8x% in. The top and bottom bars are nailed to the end pieces. A block is used to form them on when nailed, so that when the frames are put up they are all alike.
To stock this live with bees, brood, stores and queen, remove from a full colony one comb containing brood in all stages of maturity with the queen and adhering bees. Place the hive on the grass, or a cloth, and brush the bees from the comb directly in front of it. They will at once run in, or, at any rate, stay about the hive until the combs are transferred to the small frames. To cut the combs in the small frames, lay the full comb on a clean board, place one of the little frames over it, and with a sharp knife cut the brood into the frame. If nicely done no strings or sticks will be needed to keep the brood in the frame. One of the combs should contain honey, pollen, etc.
In four days after inserting the comb it will be filled with eggs and lavae in just the right condition for cell-building and queen-rearing. From this time on a new comb can be given the
**Improved Queen-rearing** 19
**nucleus each day.** If desired to start cell-building every day in the week, eggs will always be found in the right condition for use if the above instructions are followed.
**Now, I dislike the bother of starting queens every day. To avoid doing so and still have plenty of eggs, I use three breeding queens and start cell-building every fourth day. I like the idea of having hundreds of queen-cells growing at one time. Then when queens hatch they come in large numbers, and can be sent out by mail in the same proportion. A large queen-dealer cannot do a successful business on a small scale. He must branch out and have queens by the hundreds on hand at any time during the season from which he can draw a supply of fertile queens when orders are to be filled.
**PREPARING A COLONY OF BEES FOR QUEN-CELL BUILDING**
**I think I have made the matter of getting eggs for queen-cells so clear that all may understand how to proceed, and now will give several methods for preparing colonies of bees for queen-cell building.**
**I have always worked on the theory that bees should be put in proper condition for rearing queens several hours before any**
**eggs are given them from which they may rear queens. The entire colony should be put in a 'brooky' state by dequeeing and then given six hours at least to realize their queenless condition. There are three ways for doing this.**
**method number one**
**Before giving any of the methods I will describe some of the necessary apparatus to use in this arrangement. One of the handiest things for use in the apiary is a wire screen shown in fig. 2. This screen is made in about the same style as a common20 Improved Queen-rearing window screen and the size of the top of the brood-nest of the hive. I always have at hand some half dozen of these wire covers and they come into use many times when necessary to confine bees in the hive.
**Now when ready to ''seize'' a colony of bees for the purpose of forcing them to rear queens against their natural will, proceed in this way :** If a colony working in sections is selected, the super should be removed the previous day and all the bees allowed to return to the hive. When the sections are taken off place the screen on and just fasten it by one or two small nails. The next morning fasten the bees in by using a similar screen and suitable for confining the bees so that none can escape. Now the colony is ready to be taken to the bee-room and all the bees removed from the hive and combs. To the novice this may seem like a huge undertaking, yet it is not and does not require one half the time to perform as it does to describe it so that it can be understood.
I so arrange my workshop that all the above work is easily and quickly done. When the hive is taken to the bee-room it is placed on the cap of a hive and then I just sit down and at once commence operations. The first thing is to give the bees tobacco smoke at the entrance as well as some at the top through the screen, all the while drum on the hive, or excite the bees by striking the hands on the sides of the hive. This causes the bees to fill with honey and in the course of ten minutes they are ready and in condition to be brushed from the combs into a box where they will remain quiet until all are removed from the combs and hive. The screen is first removed from the top, the bees shaken from it, then the combs are taken out, one at a time, and all the bees brushed from them into a hive-cap. While doing this work some of the bees may attempt to fly, or crawl up the sides of the cap, if they do, more smoke is blown among them, when they soon quiet down and remain so for quite a while. When all the bees have been removed, the queen should be hunted up. If the work of finding the queen is rightly done, it will not require but a few minutes to find her. Of course the bees must be pushed over considerably in the operation. The best tool for such a purpose is the wide part of a 4x4 section. Never use feathers or a small broom for such work.
When the queen is found, the bees are forced into one end of the cap by a sudden strike of the box on the floor, and then they are quickly dumped into another box the exact size of the hive the bees were taken from. This latter box has a wire-clothbottom; the cover is a screen same as above described. This arrangement gives the bees all needed air while confined. It is necessary to nail three pieces of wood 7-8 inches square across the bottom of the box so that the air will not be shut out when the box is resting on anything. The bees are then put in a cool place until the time arrives for giving them eggs for cell-building.
The bees disposed of, we now have all the brood of a strong colony to take care of. Now for the first two or three colonies treated as above, I divide the brood among the weaker colonies in the apiary. By this operation, the light colonies soon become strong and in condition for the first flow of honey. At this stage of the work, we have a colony of queenless bees; the brood disposed of, and everything is in readiness for starting the bees to building cell-cups in a natural and practical way. We will now suppose the bees have been queenless six hours. The next move is to get the frame, or piece of comb containing the eggs, cut in strips and fasten in position so the bees will at once commence work on cell-cups.
This work cannot be done in a cold room. Have in the workshop a three-wick oil stove, not only for heating purposes but to use in other necessary work in queen-rearing operation. Another thing that must be at hand is a tin vessel in which there are equal
parts of rosin and bees-wax. Melt these on the oil stove, mix thoroughly and when quite hot it will be ready for use.
We will now suppose the comb containing eggs for queen-cells has been taken from the hive and is at hand ready to be prepared. This is cut in strips by using a thin, hot knife by the lines as shown in fig. 3. Now the egg in each alternate cell of the strips should be removed in order that sufficient room may be given for large queen-cells. I know of no better way of doing this than by taking a common'scratch' match between the thumb and fore finger, inserting the "scratch" end in the cell and rapidly twirling it for a moment. This effectively destroys the egg as shown in fig. 4.
Now the next thing to do is to fasten the comb on strips of wood and in such a position that the bees will construct a large number of queen-cells. Fig. 5 illustrates three rows of completed queen-cells and the manner of fastening the strips of comb to the wood. This is done by lightly dipping the strips of comb
in the wax mixture. Just touch the edges of the cells of the opposite side of those in which the eggs were destroyed and quickly place the comb on the wood.
The strips of wood mentioned here, but more fully described on another page, are i-4 inches thick, i inch wide and cut any length desired. The queen-cells shown are fastened to such strips of wood described. The cells illustrated are completed and nearly matured, or, in other words, are about ripe. The illustration shows but few cells; this was owing to the fact that they were built late in the season and from drawn foundation, in fact, they were the last hatch of queen-cells of the season 1902. Earlier in the summer, the bees under the same conditions would have started many more queen-cells. However, the illustration is the best one I have been able to obtain of completed queen-cells.