BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
The "'Doolittle " method of transferring young larvae to artificial cell cups and getting the cells raised, either in a queenless colony or over the queen-excluding honeyboard in the super of a strong colony, has the advantage of enabling one to know exactly when the queen cells will hatch. The same advantage can be obtained by the "Alley " method without disturbing the young larvae. Queensland bees are compelled to raise queen cells under the impulse of self-preservation, whether the conditions are suitable or not. Often they appear to raise them rather hurriedly. Thereis no doubt that good queen cells are produced by bees bent on swarming (in the proper season). They are raised deliberately, and only when conditions as to food supply and strength in bees are suitable. But the bees of queens from swarm-cells inherit the swarming impulse, which the best apiarists of all countries are trying to eliminate, and such queens are therefore not desirable in any numbers.
There is yet another impulse under which bees will raise good cells ; the superseding impulse. When a queen is in her third season, and long before the apiarist can notice any decline in her prolificness, the bees usually prepare to supersede her by raising one or more queen-cells. They do this at a time when the conditions are most favourable ; they are usually better judges of this than their owner, excepting in the case of a queen suddenly failing from disease or accident. If the bees are inclined to swarm there may be a swarm issuing before or after the cell or first cell hatches Where the bees are less inclined, the virgin queen on emerging from her cell will destroy all other cells but will take no notice of the remaining old queen, her mother.
The number of cells raised under the superseding impulse is not large --from one to three usually ; but they are invariably fine large cells producing splendid queens. For a number of years I have obtained some of my best queens in this way, but as the number is limited I could not get sufficient, till I made use of the superseding impulse for raising them
from larvae supplied repeatedly to the superseding colonies from selected breeding queens. For this purpose it is necessary to know the ages of all queens. Colonies having queens in their third year are examined periodically when conditions are favourable. If there are indications of superseding, the cells are removed and larvae from the breeding queen, over which cell cups have previously been started by temporarily queenless bees, are given in place of those removed. The colony should naturally be populous and thriving enough to raise good cells. If the queens which are not up to standard are replaced every year irrespective of age, these three-year-olds are those which passed all the musters and there will be no lack of the necessary condition. Should none of the superseding colonies be of sufficient strength other strong ones may be made by exchanging queens between colonies with old queens and strong colonies with younger ones.
To have all the queen-cells mature at the same time, so as to be able to leave them where they are raised till the day before they hatch, it is necessary for the young larvae from which the queens are to be raised to be all of the same age. This is not a difficult matter for any one knowing from experience the size of the grubs at different ages. At eighteen hours old, they are of about the size of the small c of ordinary type and will hatch on the twelfth day. For the purpose of obtaining larvae of the right age in sufficient numbers, I do not find it necessary to insert an empty comb into the brood chamber of the colony with the selected queen, because, at a time suitable for queen rearing, sufficient larvae for the purpose should be in every hive. To obtain the larvae I cut a piece, four to six inches long and the width of three rows of cells, out of a comb in a suitable place. By cutting it again through the middle row of cells two single rows are obtained. These are fastened with liquid wax cell end on, to a thin strip of wood. The open row of cells is then cut down to half the depth (Fig. 1) by means of twirling a wooden match head first into the surplus larvae. Those of the wrong age and any eggs which may be present are removed, leaving as far as possible one larva of the right age in every third cell. These strips of comb are then fixed in gaps cut into a comb and given to queenless bees for 6 to 12 hours to mould queen-cups round the larvae. They are then fitted into an outside brood comb of the superseding colonies.
When the cells are sealed the strips may be removed and grouped into a comb, as shown in Fig. 2. This is placed into the super of a strong colony over a queen excluded where they may remain till distributed in cell protectors to nuclei about the tenth or eleventh day after they are started. Started queen-cells may again be given to the colonies which raised the cells as soon as the sealed cells are removed but the brood combs should be examined occasionally for a cell they may be raising on their own account. Three to six cells are all **I** raise in a superseding colony at a time. When greater numbers are raised they are not so perfect. The thirteen cells in Fig. 2 are on three strips, each from a different superseding colony.
The great advantage of this method of queen-rearing is that, having a laying queen in the hive, the bees will not raise the cells given, unless conditions are as they should be. No inferior que
## Xiv.--Nuclei.
The word nucleus in bee culture means a small colony of bees taken from a normal colony and established separately in a small hive. The number of bees in a nucleus may vary from 500 to several thousands, the strength of population being regulated by the beekeeper according to the season or the purposes for which nuclei are formed. There are two distinct objects in making nuclei by the division of a stoek of bees or of a swarm, one being increase, the other the mating of virgin queens. If the object is increase in the number of colonies, each nucleus should consist of not less than one-fourth of a normal colony, otherwise the end of the season will have arrived before these small colonies have developed sufficiently to winter safely.
For the mating of queens, nuclei are indispensable to the queen-breeder and the modern apiarist, but for this purpose the number of bees in each little hive may be mueh less, the object being merely to provide a separate habitation for each young queen, with a minimum of worker bees, consistent with taking care of their abode and resisting climatic influences.
In the raising of queens for the purpose of superseding those which are either too old, or otherwise inferior, bee-keepers often encounter difficulties in any one of a number of methods employed to get the young queens safely laying.
The most direct, but also the crudest and most wasteful way, is to kill the old queen and either let the bees raise cells themselves or supply them with a queen-cell previously raised elsewhere. If the queen killed were old, but had been a good one in her time, the bees may raise a good young queen from her brood, but in the case of an inferior queen no improvement, except in age, need be expected. When a queen-cell of good stock raised under the proper conditions isgiven, the result will be as good as by any other method, so far as the vitality and prolifiness of the young queen are concerned.
In either case, however, there is a considerable loss in the reproduction of the worker-force of the hive, much less certainly, but still considerable, when a cell, ready to hateh within two days, is given. When allowing the bees to raise a new queen themselves after destroying or removing the former queen, it will be at least 21 days before the young queen commences egg-laying; when a cell is given, it will be twelve days during which reproduction is at a standstill. Now, as good queens cannot be raised, excepting under the very conditions which cause brood-rearing to be at its best, it follows that breeding is interrupted just when it should be at the maximum. Even a poor or old queen will at such a time lay 500 eggs per day, representing for 21 days a worker force of 10,500 bees and 6,000 for twelve days, but as young bees continue to hatch for 21 days after the old queen is removed, the weakening of the colony does not become evident till a month afterwards, by which time the circumstances have probably passed from memory.
It is a generally understood faet that there can be only one queen in a hive at a time and, with the one exception referred to further on, that holds good, as, on the average, from the time the young queen hatehes till she begins to lay, ten days elapse, and a break in egg-laying for that period must of necessity oeeur. To reduce this interruption of breeding to a minimum, or to do away with it altogether. different methods have been evolved and practised, principally by American bee-keepers in the first instance.
The plan which does away with stoppage of egg-laying altogether is to confine the queen to the combs of the lower chamber by means of a queen-excluding honeyboard. About half of the combs of brood are placed in the upper story, to which a separate entrance is provided. A queen-cell is given above and the young queen will take her mating flight from the upper entrance, and in due course will commence to lay while the old queen in the lower chamber still continues. The young laying queen may be removed and used elsewhere and another cell given.
This is an ideal method in theory, but success depends upon a combination of circumstances. These are : a colony covering the combs of two stories ; a queen in the lower chamber at least two, but better three years old ; and a free use of the upper entrance by the worker bees, otherwise the virgin queen when returning from her mating flight, finding no bees at the upper entrance, will be attracted by the lower one, will enter, and either kill the laying queen or be herself destroyed by the bees.
To reduce the total interruption of breeding to a minimum for the number of queens required, the usual practice is to divide one colony into a number of nuclei of two or three combs, each being given a queen-cell and placed apart from others. Many of the bees will, however, return to the former stand, leaving but young bees behind. These are unable to properly take care of the brood and the queen-cell and to defend the little hive against intruders.
There are several ways of overcoming this difficulty. The bees for each nucleus may be taken from any hive which can spare them; they are shaken into a small empty hive, such as the one shown on the right of the illustration. A wire screen is fastened over the top of the box, and it is placed in a dark, cool, well-aired position. On the evening of the day following, that is, about thirty hours later, the box is taken to the spot where it is to be located. A comb of brood and one or two combs containing honey and pollen are taken (without bees) from some strong colony and given to the nucleus, a rip queen-cell in a cell protector, or a virgin queen, in an introducing eage, being inserted at the same time.
Another way of making nuclei is to break up into lots of two or three combs each, a colony which has just thrown a swarm. As a number of bees will return to the old stand, only one comb of brood should be left in each nucleus. Select for the purpose those combs containing the greatest amount of sealed brood, and place the combs of young brood in the hive on the old stand, where it will be eared for by returned bees.
A swarm may also be divided into nuclei. It is best to allow it to cluster somewhere; then hive it in an empty box and about sunset divide it amongst a number of nuclei hives, each containing a comb of the brood from which the swarm issued and one or two combs without brood. As bees which have swarmed and clustered will stay in any new stand, a greater number of nuclei can be made out of a swarm than a swarmed stock. The queen of the swarm should, however, be removed, otherwise the bees are likely to erowd to the particular box she is in.
By any one of these methods from four to ten nuclei may be made out of a single stock, and thus brood-rearing is interrupted only to the extent of one queen for four to ten new queens. In order to still further economize, American bee-keepers some years ago adopted a system of very small nuclei with miniature frames and only a tea-eupful of bees in each. These are known as Swarthmore nuclei. Owing, however, to the liability of such very small hives being robbed out when near an apiary, and the erratic behaviour of these small communities in frequently swarming out, the few Australian bee-keepers who experimented with this system have abandoned it. For the raising of the best type of queen, it is essential that from the first start of the queen-cell to the commencement of laying of the young queen, the most favorable conditions should exist. In the case of very small nuclei these conditions are absent during part of the chrysalis and the adult stage of the queen's life. Even in nuclei on standard combs in thin walled boxes holding two or three frames, the period between the hatching and laying of the queen is often unduly extended by climatic influences and the vigour of the young queen impaired.
The influence of extremes of heat and cold may be reduced to a minimum by having three or four nuclei in an ordinary hive body, as shown by the uncovered hive in the centre of the photograph. A ten-frame body will hold four, an eight-frame three nuclei of two combs each. The compartments are made by thin, tightly-fitting division boards, extending upwards to the level of the top of the hive. Each has a separate entrance facing in a different direction and a separate thin cover board independent of the ordinary hive roof.
As it is always desirable to have some spare queens at the end of winter, to make good any losses of queens, these nuclei grouped together in one hive may be carried through the winter, provided there are enough bees in each to nearly cover the combs. When queens have been removed, the divisions may be withdrawn and the bees united under one queen.
Nuclei may be grouped in yet another way by standing, close together, two boxes of two compartments each, as shown in the second hive from the right in the illustration. The advantage of this method is that, after one queen is removed from each box and the bees united, a four-frame super may be put on each, allowing an extension of the brood nest upwards, as shown on the left. When all combs are occupied, an ordinary hive with entrance in the same position may be substituted for the four-frame boxes, the hives moved apart by degrees, and run as independent colonies.
For convenience the nuclei are numbered, the numbers being painted on tablets secured by a nail in the centre and used to indicate the state of each. The number is in normal position for queen laying; upside down, for queenless; diagonal upwards, for queen-cell; horizontal, for virgin; and for queen-fertilized but not laying yet, diagonal downwards.
### 11.4 Introducing Queens
The beginner in bee-keeping often has difficulty and sometimes absolute failure in introducing a new queen to a colony of bees. Many of the queens obtained annually from queen breeders are lost in introduction, even by bee-keepers of some experience. The mood or temper of bees and their behaviour towards man and towards their own species are governed by climatic influences, variations in the secretion of nectar, and the methods of manipulation of modern bee-keeping. Incidentally it may here be pointed out that viciousness is a characteristic of some strains, and even of individual colonies of bees, and that such bees will sting when handled even under the best condition; there is, however, no additional difficulty in their inherent wickedness so far as the acceptance of a queen is concerned.
When colonies are in normal condition, the printed instructions usually sent out with queen bees will insure safe introduction; under certain conditions, which will be referred to further on, the usual method must, however, be entirely departed from. To introduce a new queen to a colony it is, first of all, necessary to find and remove the queen which is to be replaced. It is during this operation that, in most instances, the foundation for future trouble is laid. When the queen to be removed is a black or brown one, it often takes considerable time to find her. Bees from other hives are attracted, and the bees of the colony operated on are reused to a state of attacking any stranger; and, when the new queen appears amongst them a day or two later she may be killed right away or balled and worried to death.
Trouhle is sometimes created by returning to the hives newly-extracted combs at a time when, unperceived by the bee-keeper, the honey flow has ceased, and a commotion is caused which is communicated to all the colonies; bees may be seen at the joints between the hive bodies or wherever the odour of honey escapes; when a hive is opened they hover round or boldly dive in between the combs. Under these conditions bees sometimes ball their own queens, and are very unlikely to accept a strange queen when deprived of their own.
The hunting up of queens should be done towards evening, when bees have ceased to fly; care should be also taken that no honey is spilt from combs so as to attract robber bees or ants next day. Bees will most readily accept a new queen after being queenless for from 24 to 48 hours. If queenless longer, queen-cells will have been started and the bees will be less friendly disposed towards a new queen.
In such a case it is better to wait a few more days, when all worker brood will be capped, and, having no means of raising a queen of their own, the bees will usually readily accept a new queen--provided _all_ queen cells are destroyed before she is introduced. With a populous colony it is difficult to find all the cells, some of which may be quite small and on the face of the comb. To make sure that none are left it is best to shake the bees off the brood combs, one at a time, and carefully examine the comb all over.
If a queen is to be introduced to a colony, assumed to be queenless because no eggs are present in the combs, a test-comb containing young larvae from another colony should first be given to see whether the colony is really queenless, in which case queen-cells will be started by the bees within 48 hours. The comb may then be removed and returned to the hive it came from, and the queen introduced. If no cells are started on the test-comb, then a virgin queen is present in the hive and must be removed, as well as the test-comb, before the new queen can be given with safety.
When a queen is reeeived by post, remove the cover of the eage and note her condition. If satisfactory remove the eork or covering slip from the end of the cage containing the candy and, if there is a queenless colony ready for introducing. place the cage wire downwards on top of the broad-frames. The bees, by gnawing out the candy, will release the queen in from two to five days. If, on examining the eage on receipt from the Post Office, the queen is found dead, notify the sender, and as proof return the eage with bees and dead queen--you will then receive another queen--all reputable queen-breeders guarantee safe arrival.
By the method of introduction described above, the worker bees which aeompanied the queen are introduced along with her. If the candy in the eage is eaten out quickly and the queen released very soon, this escert of worker bees may cause trouble. Should the colony be in a perturbed condition, they are by their odour recognised as strangers, and the animosity aroused is often transferred to the queen, while the latter, having some of her own bees round her, will be shy of strangers and frightened when getting amongst them. In introduction much depends upon the behaviour of the queen when first released amongst the crowds of her new home. If the queen is removed from the escort of bees which accompanied her in the mailing eage (Fig. 1), and kept alone for half-an-hour, she will beg food of the first bee she comes in contact with, and this is always given her, and thus acquaintance made. For introduction by this method, what is known as Miller's introducing eage (Fig. 2) is used. (This may be obtained from the dealers in bee-keepers' supplies.) It consists of a thin wire gauze cage into which the queen only is put, the square hole at the end being plugged up with candy from the mailing cage and the eage placed horizontally between two brood-combs.
The queen will be fed by the bees through the wire gauze till released by the candy being eaten out.
Under very adverse circumstances, such as a dearth of nectar in the flora, robber bees in the apiary, or after wet extracted combs have been returned to the hives when nectar is not coming in freely, the methods of introduction usually employed often fail.
If a queen _must_ be introduced, it is best, before attempting it, to remove all combs containing brood, except one which is left till evening to prevent the bees leaving and joining neighbouring hives. At dusk, shake the bees off this comb, give it to some other colony to take care of, and hang the caged queen between the broodless combs. When the brood is removed, the bees should be shaken off and the combs put on other colonies till after the new queen is safely laying, when they may be returned again without bees.
Success in introducing queens is assured largely by a minimum of interference and fussing. Most of the failures are due to two causes; either the colony has been kept open too long when hunting for the old queen, or it has been opened and examined too soon and at the wrong time after introducing the new queen. Over-anxiety of the bee-keeper for her safety often proves fatal to the queen. Under unfavorable conditions bees will sometimes ball their own queens C2
Figure 1: Mailing Cage.
when the live is opened, therefore a live which has just had a new queen given to it should not be interfered with for at least four or five days, unless an unusual conmotion at the entrance indicates that the queen is balled. If desirous of ascertaining whether the queen has been accepted, do so on the fourth or fifth day after the bees have ceased flying for the day.
If a queen is found balled, drop the ball of bees into a saucer full of water, when the bees will release the queen. If smoke is used to scatter the ball the saucer should not be held too close, as hot smoke may cause the bees to sting the balled queen. The queen should be re-caged in the live, allowing the bees to again liberate her by eating out the candy.
## 111 Candy for Queen Cages.
The candy, the food supplied to queens and their escort of workers in the cages forwarded through the post, consists of a mixture of sugar and honey, in such relative proportions that it is much of the consistency of putty--it must be neither too stiff nor too soft. This candy is also used for introducing queens, by means of the Miller Introducing, or any other similar cage, and as food for bees in confinement.
The directions for making it given in textbooks are, to make a stiff dough out of good honey and powdered cane sugar. The honey is warmed till it is quite thin, and as much sugar as possible stirred in; it is then thoroughly kneaded with the hands, when it will gradually absorb more and more sugar. It should then be allowed to stand for some days, when more sugar should be worked in. Roots'.1. B. U. of Bee Culture advises against the use of icing sugar. implying that it contains starch, and would prove fatal to bees. There is no risk of the kind in Victoria since the Pure Food Law has been in operation; the standard brands of icing sugar being quite pure.