BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
To say that I was delighted with this success would hardly express it; I was almost happy in thinking that I could now get queen-cells of the best type, and by the quantity, as long as I could keep that old queen alive at the head of the colony, for it was an exceedingly strong one.
Upon leaving this colony, I went to another strong one,and removed its queen, so that I might have a place where I could put these cells as soon as they were sealed, for safe keeping, till they were old enough to give to nuclei; for my object was to keep this colony rearing queens constantly, as long as the mother lived. As soon as the cells were sealed, they were removed and placed in the queenless colony, and another prepared frame given to them.
This last frame was accepted the same as the other, and, if my memory serves me rightly, this colony completed eleven sets of cells, before the old queen gave out entirely. At any rate, they reared so many that I saw the plan was a complete success, for all these queens were of the highest possible type, as to color, size and fertility ; while the amount of royal jelly put in each cell was simply enormous, so much so that one cell taken from the frame would have jelly enough to start the twelve cups on a prepared frame at any time; while large quantities were left in the bottom of each cell, after the queens had hatch out.
Before going farther, I must digress a little. In January, 1883, I met Mr. D. A. Jones, of Canada, at the "North-eastern "bee-convention, which was held that year at Syracuse, N. Y.; and in a private talk, regarding how to best secure the greatest yield of comb honey, he told me that he had found that he could get the most honey by having it built in the brood-chamber of the hive, fixing things so as to have the sections surrounded with brood, as it were.
To briefly describe the plan, as I now remember, it was as follows : When the honey season arrived, the brood-chamber was divided into three parts, the central one having five combs in it, which were to be enclosed with perforated-zinc, or, what we now term, queen-excluding division-boards. These five frames were to contain, as far as possible, only hatching brood, so that the queen might have room to lay, as the brood hatch out. On either side of this small brood-chamber, sections were to be placed, by hanging in wide frames filled with them to the amount which it was thought that the colony required; while beyond these wide frames of sections, the remainder of the frames of brood, taken out when reducing the brood-chamber, were to be placed, having an equal number on each side.
In ten days the hive was to be opened, and the queen hunted, and, when found, the frames she was on was to be put outside, when the remaining four frames were put over to take the place of those outside of the sections, while those outside were to be placed in the brood chamber, and the frame having the queen on it returned. By treating the colony in this way every ten days, the queen furnish as much to use, where trying something new, I made only two hives to be workt on this plan the following season. Without going into the details farther, suffice it to say that on account of pollen in the sections, and some other difficulties, the plan did not succeed with me as I had expected, so it was given up. There was one thing that I learned, however, which started me on the road to a new discovery along the line of queen-rearing; which was, that in every case, where unsealed brood was placed outside of the sections, the bees would start from one to three queen-cells, and unless I cut them off, the queens hatching from them would supersede the old one, or else a swarm would be the result, when the combs having the cells on, were placed back with the queen again. This I did not like, as it was too much bother to look over the combs carefully, every ten days, in addition to the other work, when a change of combs was to be made. One of the colonies so tried, had one of my best queens in it, and when I came to cutting off the cells, I was not slow to see that they might be made to form no small part in my queen-rearing business. However, the cutting of nice combs to get these cells stood in the way of my desiring to get all of my queens in that way, and besides, all the queens so.reared did not please me, for the colony was often so spread out with sections between the brood, that the necessary heat to get good queens was not always present. I now began using the queen-excluding metal [Fig. 8,
Figure 8: Queen-Excluding Dtwiston-Board.
page 42], between the upper and lower stories of the few hives that I workt for extracted honey, and in one or two cases, brood from the lower story was placed in the upper one, over the queen-excluding honey-board. Again I had queen-cells built as in the former case, which were cared for as well as any I had ever seen, altho, as a rule, but two or three would be built on one lot of brood.
In thinking the matter over one night, while I was awake, doing some planning for the future, it came to me that these cells were built under precisely the same conditions that the cells were when the bees were thinking of superseding their queens, at which time I was enabled to get the best of queen-cells built. To be sure, the queen below was a good one, but as she could not get above, the brood that the bees had there did not increase any, so they concluded that they must have a better queen in this part of the hive; hence, they went to work to produce one.
One thing that I had always noticed was, that where the bees had their own way in the matter, where cells were built to supersede a queen while she was still in the hive, they never started more than three or four cells, while one or two were more often built than otherwise. That the bees only built about the same number in these cases of! brood above a queen-excluding honey-toard; and, also, that I have never known a swarm to issue, simply from having queen-cells in such an upper story, when none were below, shows that they consider the conditions the same as in case of supersedure.
Having become satisfied that I was right on this point, the next step was to see if the plan which had proved so successful with the colony about to supersede its queen, would work a'hove the queen-excluding honey-board; and if it would, I would be a step farther in advance than I had ever been leftore; for in it I saw something of great value to the bee-keeping fraternity in the future.
A frame of queen-cups was now prepared as before, and to make sure of success, if such a thing were possible, I raised two frames of brood (mostly in the larval form) above, so as to get as large a force of nurse-bees about the prepared cells as possible, to properly feed the queen-larvac. The prepared frame was placed between the two having brood in them. In two days I examined this frame, and found that my conclusions were right, for every cup had grown to a half-built queen-cell, while the larvae were floating in a quantity of royal jelly that more than half filled the cell. These were finish in due time, and from them hatcht queens which were every whit as good as any I had ever seen.
I now had things brought to where I was master of the * [44] DOOLITTLE ON QUEEER-REARING.
* [45] situation, so that I could rear the best of queens, just when and just where I wanted them, and that, too, with a laying queen in the hive at all times, so there would be no loss in honey-production, to any applarist, while rearing queens; and the beauty of it all was, that these cells were all on a stick, so that they could be made use of without injuring any of my good combs, or in any way endangering any of the occupants of the cells.
* [46] Not knowing to what extent this plan could be carried, and yet secure good queens, I went slowly at first, not giving any one colony a second prepared frame till after the first had been removed and more brood placed above. As I leave the cells where they are built, till they are nearly ready to hatch, or for ten days, this took five colonies to give me a lot of queen-cells every other day, as I desired them, during the height of the season.
* [47] The next season, wanting to see how much there was in the plan, I put in a prepared frame as soon as the first cells were sealed, and then another as soon as these were sealed, and so on indefinitely. As far as I could see, the last lot of cells were as good as the first, alto, as a rule, I did not get quite as many accepted. It was a rare thing that the bees finish less than nine out of twelve prepared cells during the first season, while the bees would frequently build and properly care for the whole twelve. In crowding then so fast, they would sometimes give me only five or six, yet, as a rule, they would average about eight, so that I really gained nothing by thus crowding things.
* [48] For this reason, I now kept along the line of work followed the first season, till the past summer, when, to see what might be accomplish, preparatory to writing this book, I gave a prepared frame to a colony every two days, and, while they did not complete as many cells on each frame as formerly, when I gave them less often, yet some cells would be built on every frame.
* [49] In this way I had in one colony having a laying queen below, queen-cells in all stages of progress, from those just ready to hatch, down to larvae that the bees had just commenced to feed, by adding to the royal jelly which I had placed in the cups; and besides this, I had queens kept in nurseries in different parts of the upper story. I also had in the same upper story, queens just hatch, and some just commencing to lay, by having a part of the upper hive formed into nuclei, by using perforated-metal division-boards, as will be explained farther on. It will be seen that there is scarcely any limit to what can be accomplish by this method of queen-rearing, and queen-fertilizing.
However, as a rule, I think that a little better queens can be reared by the way I workt the plan the first season, for the cells are better supplied with queen-food, where unsealed brood is placed in the upper story every ten days--enough better, in my opinion, to pay for the extra work.
Again, I would not put over twelve wax-cups on a stick, for if more are used the young queens are not fed quite as well. In my experiments I have used as high as twenty-four cups, and had every one accepted and finisht; but unless the colony was an extremely populous one, I did not get quite as good queens as when only twelve were used.
To show what may be accomplight by this method, I will say, that in the honey harvest I have prepared sticks having from.four to eight cups on them, the sticks being made of the right length to crowd into any section of the hive that I was using, so as to keep it from falling down, when the section was placed between two others, in which the bees were at work over a queen-excluding honey-board; when upon going to the hive at the end of ten days, I would find as nice queen-cells, nearly ready to hatch, as any one needs to see.
I have also had queens fertilized and kept till they were laying, one in each section of the hive, yet this plan of producing queens in sections is not to be recommended, as it spoils the section from being first-class for honey, ever afterward.
By way of caution, I wish to say, that if a queen is by any means allowed to hatch in the same apartment where the cells are, these cells will at once be destroyed. If the bees with such a queen are shaken off the combs, so as to get her out of the way of more cells being built, and the bees are allowed to enter the hive below, with this queen (as would be natural for any apiralst to do), this young queen will destroy the one below, no matter how prolific or how valuable a queen you may have there. This queer procedure I bring to bear on all queens that I wish to supersede, as will be explained farther on.
Another thing: In the fall (or in this locality after Aug. 15), when the bees begin to be inactive, or cease brood-rearing to any great extent, the warmth generated in the upper story will not be enough to produce good queens, and as the season draws toward a close, no queen-cells will be completed, unless we feed sufficiently to arouse the whole colony into activity, and keep them thus all the time while the cells are being built. At such times I have had cells that usually mature in eleven and one-half days, to be from sixteen to twenty days before hatching; while the queens would be almost black, from the same brood which produced very yellow queens during June, July, and the first half of August.
In all parts of the country where fall flowers abound, I presume just as good queens will be reared in September by this plan, as at any time; but as we have no fall flowers here, I cannot be positive on this point.
At any time when the bees work the cells very slowly, I know no better plan than that which was given in the last chapter, only I use the wax cells, prepared with royal jelly, as given before. Then in early spring, before the colonies are strong enough to go into the upper stories, we must use that way also, for there are not enough bees in any hive to use the above method, which I believe to be the best of all. However, much can be done by way of getting a colony strong, by giving sealed brood, so this last process can be used much earlier in the season than otherwise would be the case.
In this chapter, I think that I have given something of great value to the fraternity ; and if it shall lead to the universal rearing of a better class of queens than have formerly been reared, I shall be well paid for all my efforts in this direction.
Getting the BEES OFF THE CELLS.
It would hardly seem that a chapter should be devoted to this subject, but from what I know of others doing along this line, and what I used to do myself, I am satisfied that many queens are materially injured before they are out of the cells, and many more are killed outright. We frequently see in print, the instruction given, when handling frames after the bees have swarmed and before the queen-cells have hatch, that to get the bees off the combs the "frames should be shaken," or "' the bees shaken off in the usual way." Many write asking why their queen-cells do not hatch, or why so many queens hatch with crippled wings, or having a dent in one side of the abdomen. When answering such an inquiry, and asking for more particulars, these almost always reveal that they have shaken the frame having the cells on, to get the bees off.
One man came a long distance for some brood from my best queen, from which to rear some queens to cross with his stock ; and after securing some 50 or 60 splendid cells from this brood, by the transposition process, he came after more
If the bees have filled themselves with honey, they are rolled off the comb with the brush very easily, and seldom offer to sting; but if you undertake to brush them, when the frame is first lifted from the hive, you will find that they will stick to the comb and cells "like tigers," while their fury will be scarcely less than would be shown by the tiger herself, if push around while being robbed of her cubs.
Where frames of queen-cells are obliged to be handled on a cool day, or in a rain-storm, it is sometimes best to take them, bees and all, into the warmed room where the work is done with cells. When there, remove the cells as quickly as possible, allowing the bees to remain on the comb, which they will generally do if we do not smoke them very much while removing the frame from the hive. Upon reaching the room, they will begin to fill themselves, and if spray, we can remove the cells while they are filling, and carry them back to the hive without losing any.
Once having the cells in the warm room, we need be in no hurry, for if the room is of the right temperature (from 85deg to 95deg), the inmates of the cells are advancing toward maturity just as fast as they would be in the hive.
## Chapter 12 What to do with the queen-cells.
Having the queen-cells all built, and being nearly ready to hatch, with the bees all off from them, the next thing we want to know, is what to do with them.
There are three ways generally employed in using them, the one used most being to give the cells to nuclei or queen-less colonies; next, putting the frame having the cells on, in a lamp-nursery, leaving them there, and taking out the queens as fast as they hatch; and, lastly, putting each cell in a separate cage having food in it; while the cages are so arranged that from twelve to twenty-four of them will just go inside of a frame, filling it solid the same as a comb would; when the frame of cages is placed in the center of a full colony of bees, where it is left till the queens hatch, when they are to be disposed of as thought best.
The last is called a queen-nursery, and has the advantage over the lamp-nursery, in the fact that no watching is required to keep the queens from killing one another, should several hatch during the night, or when the apiarist was at other duties. As I wish to say something about each method, I will speak of them in the order named above. As a chapter will soon be given on forming nuclei, all that I shall say in this will be in regard to how it is best to get the cells into these nuclei, or into a full colony, if you wish to put them there. Bear in mind, that if you wish to be sure that the cells are not torn down, you must wait about giving them to any colony, whether weak or strong, from 24 to 48 hours after their laying queen has been taken away; or, in other words, the colony must be queenless for that many hours before it is time to take the cells from the colony where they were built. Some claim that an unprotected queen-cell can be given to a colony at the time a laying queen is taken from the same; but all of my experience goes to prove that where this is done, nine out of every ten cells thus given will be destroyed. I am not alone in this, for many prominent apiarists write me that they can do no better. However, I will say that it may be that I do not have my colonies small enough, for a colony so small that there is not over 200 bees in it will accept of a queen or a queen-cell much more readily than will a colony of 20,000 workers. In giving queen-cells to colonies, if the weather is warm enough so that there is no danger of chilling the cells, or say when the mercury is at 75\({}^{\circ}\) or above, I take the frame of cells in my hand, and go to the nuclei with it (unless there is danger of robbing, from scarcity of honey in the fields), and put the frame of cells down next to the hive containing the nucleus or colony, the same as it was placed at the entrance of the hive in getting the bees off, so as to be sure that the cells are not injured in any way. I then open the hive, and, having selected the spot on the comb where I wish to put the cell, I place my thumb on the base of one of the queen-cells and gently bear down, when it cleaves off the bar of wood to which it was fastened, as easily as need be. Now, instead of cutting the combs and fitting the cells into them, the way we always used to do, all I have to do is to place the cell against the side of the comb where I wish it to stay, and gently push against the base of the cell, when it sinks into the comb far enough to make it a fixture. After this comb is lowered into the hive, and the next comb brought up to it, this next comb touches the cell on the opposite side, so that it cannot fall out, even if the bees do not stick it fast, which they are almost sure to do, even if the other comb does not touch it.
Here is another advantage that these cells have over those entirely made by the bees, in that the wax is so thick at the base of the cell that it is impossible to dent them with'any reasonable handling; also, this mode of putting on the comb keeps the nice worker-combs from being injured, as was the case with the old process, given in nearly all of our bee-literature.
If robber-bees are so that they will follow around, trying to get at the frame of honey with the queen-cells, the same is taken to the shop, or other room where I work, when the cells are taken off the bar of wood, in the same way as described before, and placed in a little basket that I have for the purpose, as fast as they are removed.
Why I use a basket in preference to anything else is because in warm weather this lets the air around the cells, it being of open-work, so that when the sun strikes on them there is not nearly the danger of over-heating that there otherwise would be. In a tin dish, when left in the sun, it takes only a moment or two to spoil the inmates of the cells by over-heating, while on hot days I have to be careful, even with the basket. Upon going to the apiary, the cells are now taken from the basket and used as before.
If the weather is very warm, or the colony to which the cell is given, is a strong one, I do not take out a frame wheh inserting the cell, but simply spread the top-bars apart a little, and crowd the cell lightly between them so that it will stay. This works equally well, if we are sure that the colony is strong enough to cluster around it, so as to keep it warm; but in all cool weather the other is the safest plan; as in the first case, I always put the base of the cell just above the brood, so that the point comes down on the brood, which insures the bees caring for it, as surely as they care for the brood.
If the weather is cooler than 75\({}^{\circ}\) in the shade, I heat one of the largest weights to my scales (any iron will do) so warm that I can just hold it in my hands, when it is drop into a wooden box of sufficient size to let it slip into it, and over the weight is placed several thicknesses of felt, cut to fit the box. The cells are now placed on the felt, when a cover for the cells, made by sewing two or three pieces of the same felt'together, and having a little handle attach, is placed over them. The cells are now protected from the cold, so that I can go right on with my work regardless of the weather.
When I go to a hive, all I have to do is to lift the felt cover by the handle, take out the cell and put back the cover. If you have more cells than you think the Iron will keep up the necessary heat for, all you have to do is to leave the rest in the warm room until you can return and heat the iron again.
An oil-stove is very handy to keep this room warm, or to heat the iron or anything else with, and has the advantage in allowing you to control the temperature of the room perfectly, by turning the wicks up or down. However, any stove, or any room having one window in it, will answer all purposes, for any one who has not things fitted for this special work.
What I have to say about the lamp-nursery will be brief; for, to tell it just as it is, I have very little use for it, and none whatever in the way it is generally used. I do not like to be obliged to watch as closely as is necessary to keep the queens from killing ofe another while hatching; besides, the gain when used in this way is very little if any, where the cells can be left in the colony building them, until they are nearly ready to hatch, as is the case with the plan of cell-building which has been given. By the old ways, where the colony was kept nearly, or quite idle, from the time the cells were sealed till they were ready to hatch, the time saved to the colony by taking them to the lamp-nursery as soon as sealed, undoubtedly paid; but where the work of the colony is going on just the same, whether there are cells in the hive or not, the case is different.
The only time when I use it, is early in the spring or late in the fall, when I have to get the cells built in queen-less colonies, and then I use it only in connection with the queen-nursery, which does away with all watching, or sitting up at night to see to the queens.
Were it not for the traffic in virgin queens, which is now growing, and bids fair to assume gigantic proportions, and the few times when we have more queen-cells ready to mature than we have just at that time small colonies to take them, there would be little more use for the queen-nursery than for the lamp-nursery.