BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
**Rearing Second and Third Batches of Queens in a De-queened Colony.-As soon as the queen-cells are sealed over, namely, four days after they were started, they may be placed in nursery cages (see page 2.3) and a second batch of larvae in cups may be started, any adventitious queen-cells being cut out. Four days later a third batch may be started. But it will generally be found that the bees will reject at the start a larger proportion of larvae in the second batch than in the first, and a still larger proportion in the third batch, although they will usually rear well those that have been started. This difficulty, if serious, may be overcome by giving them started cells from other colonies. It is not advisable to try to get a de-queened colony to rear a fourth batch of queens, because the bees usually become listless ten or twelve days after their queen has been removed. It now becomes a question what to do with the queenless colony. It may be broken up into a few nuclei, but containing so many old bees it is not well suited for nucleus formation. The best thing to do with it is to give it a fertile queen,
Figure 15: A fine Queen-cell.
**Combining Queen-Rearing with Artificial Increase.** --The above method of rearing queens with de-queened bees may be modified so as to combine it with artificial increase, which is sometimes very convenient. For this purpose the colony selected should have at least enough bees to crowd on ten combs. It is moved to a new stand and an empty hive is placed on the old stand. The two combs of sealed brood with the adhering bees and also the bees shaken off two of the other combs of brood, are placed in the new hive, with two or three combs of honey, care being taken to see that the queen remains in the old hive. Two or three hours later the bees in the new hive will be ready to accept larvae in cups. It is to be noted that although this colony will be reinforced by bees returning from the fields and from the new location, such bees are of hardly any value for queen-rearing, and a colony thus divided should not be allowed to rear more than ten queens. _It is the young bees_, many of which will remain with the old queen in the new location, _that prepare most of the style food_, an abundant supply of which is essential for rearing good queens. _Consequently, to attempt this method without putting a sufficient number of young bees into the queen-rearing hive will only result in undersized and inferior queens._ A strong colony is also necessary for another reason. Two-thirds of the moved bees are likely to return to the old location. The hive containing the old queen should, therefore, be examined on the evening of each of the first two flying days in order to remove the brood that is not well covered by bees and to place it in other hives where it can be properly cared for.
**Rearing Queens in a Colony that is Superseding its Queen.--** A colony that is superseding its failing queen will accept the larvae in the cups readily and will supply them with an unusually large amount of jelly. If there is a colony in this condition in the apiary, it should be employed for rearing queens in preference to any other. Queen-cells that already exist on the combs should, of course, be removed ; the cups may be primed with the jelly from one of these. If the colony is not strong, combs of hatching brood from other hives should be given to it. Should the old queen linger on the colony can be kept for a long time in condition for rearing successive batches of queens by supplying combs or brood as required.
* 18 'Queen-Rearing in England.
**Rearing Queens in a Colony Containing an Ordinary Fertile Queen in a Compartment from which the Queen is Excluded.** - Queens may be reared from the larvae in the cups by a colony containing an ordinary fertile queen by placing them in a portion of the brood-nest from which the queen is excluded by means of the perforated zinc queen-excluder which is commonly used to exclude the queen from the surplus honey chamber.
This is a very good and convenient method, especially when it is desired to rear successive batches, and it is my favourite one.
The queen-rearing compartment may either be in the brood-chamber, or it may be in a super taking brood-combs.
I prefer the brood-chamber, because **I** find that, worked in the manner that will now be described, it does not require so large a force of bees or so much manipulation.
The brood-chamber should be large enough to take ten or twelve standard frames, one that will take fourteen frames is better still.
To make the queen-excluding partition, an ordinary sheet of queen-excluding zinc is cut into the shape of a division board, with projections at the two top corners, by which it hangs in the hive. It should fit close to the sides and floor. To prevent it from twisting the top and sides may be strengthened with strips of thin wood or metal. The colony chosen for rearing the queens should be a vigorous one, and the bees should be numerous enough to cover at least ten combs.
The queen-rearing compartment is prepared the day before the larvae are given, by selecting two combs containing chiefly sealed and hatching brood from this (or another) hive, and by placing them at one end of the brood-chamber, together with a comb containing honey and pollen,
Figure 16: Section of Queen-rearing Hive.
which is placed between these combs and the wall (Fig. 16). The queen-excluding partition is hung between these combs and the rest of the combs in the hive. To make sure that the queen is not in the queen-rearing compartment, either she must be found, or each comb that is placed in the queen-rearing compartment must previously have all the bees shaken off it into the other part of the hive. The comb of brood which is next the queen-excluder should be the one that contains the most hatching brood. The cups are hung between the two frames of brood.
When rearing successive batches (which can be done every four days by caging the sealed cells, or every three days if the cells are started by other bees), in order to maintain a sufficient amount of brood in the queen-rearing compartment, it will be necessary, at intervals of about eight to ten days, to place in it a comb containing brood from the compartment containing the queen, or, if the colony requires strengthening, from another hive. This comb of brood should be placed at **A**, Fig. 16, between the queen-cells and the outside comb of honey ; the previously-given comb of brood, which now contains only old brood, is then placed at B, between the queen-cells and the compartment containing the queen, and the comb of brood that occupied this position takes the place (C) of the outside comb, which is removed. Thus each comb of brood that is given occupies successively the positions A, B, and C, and is then removed.*
Footnote *: It is well to remember that it is possible for queens to be reared from the larvae in the combs that are placed in the queen-rearing compartment, and that should any such queen batch it will destroy the cells. I used to search regularly for queen-cells on these combs, but having found only one in the course of many years, I have discontinued the practice.
The colony should be fed every evening unless a decided honey flow is in progress.
Rearing queens in the super is advantageous in the case of very strong colonies that are already working well in the super. All the brood combs, except three or four, may be placed in the super, and if there is a good honey-flow going on their places may be occupied with frames of foundation. This treatment is often effective in preventing swarming, and the brood combs in the super, with the adhering bees, will be in just the right condition for forming excellent nuclei (see20 Queen-Rearing in England.
page 33) nine or ten days later, when the queen-cells are ripe and ready for distribution. It is useless to place brood in the super and to try to rear queens there unless the bees are already working in the super, for, if they are not strong enough to do this, much young brood will be destroyed, and few or no queens will be produced.
The bees in the queen-rearing compartment of a hive containing a fertile queen will sometimes destroy or neglect many of the larvae when given to them in the cups, although they will accept them readily and attend to them well after they have been started. In such cases the larvae in the cups must first be given to bees that are in a better condition for accepting them, and then when started by these bees they can be given to the queen-rearing colony.
**Methods of Starting the Queen-Cells.** -- The best methods of getting the larvae in the cups accepted may be enumerated as follows :--
(1) _By placing them in a colony that is superseding its failing queen._
(2) _By giving them to a colony that has been deprived of its fertile queen and most of its brood in one operation from three to twenty-four hours previously, as explained on page 10._
(3) _By giving them to strong nuclei from which the fertile queen has been removed one, two, or three days previously._ This, although in average cases less effective than method No. 2, has been my favourite method, because in my system of testing queens I have usually had many such nuclei.
(4) _By giving them to bees that have been deprived of their fertile queen and all their brood in one operation, and have then been confined in a box for four or five hours._ Prepare a box (Fig. 17), made to take three combs, covering it with wire-cloth on the underside so as to provide plenty of ventilation, yet not much light, and fitting it with a removable lid \(b\) containing a slot large enough for the insertion of two carriers and capable of being closed with the strip \(d\).
Go to a strong colony about noon, when the bees are flying freely, and after having found the comb carrying the queen and laid it on one side, shake the bees off four or five of the brood combs into the box. Immediately after this Fig. 17.
Box for confining bees without brood or queen, \(a_{i}\) portion of side removed to show wire-cloth bottom, \(b\), lid, \(c\), funnel, \(d\), strip of wood to close slot in lid.
inclusion of a few drones with the confined bees does not affect the results. Formerly I employed this method extensively, but finding less laborious methods sufficiently satisfactory I have almost given it up.
Whichever method of starting the cells is employed, the cups should be left with the starting colony over night, and
## 23 Queen-Rearing in England.
then, when they are placed in the rearing colony, the imperfectly started ones may be weeded out.
Some colonies accept the larvae and rear the queens more readily and better than others. Races also show a marked difference in this respect. English black bees and hybrids generally accept larvae more readily and pay more attention to them than pure Italians.
**Other Methods of Rearing Queens in a Colony Containing a Fertile Queen.** - Several other methods are mentioned by American writers. One of these is to cage the queen in the hive from a few hours before the queen-cells are started until they are sealed, when they in turn are caged.
Another method is to place the queen-cells, as soon as they are started, in a small cage made of queen-excluding zinc. I do not consider this to be a good method, because in testing it in my apiary I find that the queens are smaller, and take rather longer in developing than those reared by the methods already given. This is probably due to the queen-excluding zinc preventing the bees from attending to the queen-cells and larvae sufficiently.
**Recording Notes.** - The date the batch is started, the name of the queen bred from--I use letters of the alphabet to denote my breeding queens--and the numbers of the hives to which the larvae are given should be noted in a pocket-book at the time. Should any cups be placed in new hives as the result of the examination made on the next morning, the additional facts are duly noted in the book.
Also, on the fourth day, or later, the cells are caged and placed in a new colony to incubate, a note is made of the number of the hive into which they have been moved. When the cells are distributed to the nuclei this number is crossed out. By consulting the book occasionally one need not be afraid that one will leave a batch too long in a hive, and one knows where to find it at once. Also, a record is preserved of the parentage of all the queens bred.
My system of numbering my hives may be worth mentioning, because it prevents serious confusion being caused by moving the hives about the apiary. It is really the stands, and not the hives, that are numbered. The apiary contains five rows of permanent stands, each consisting of four bricks
## 6 Queen-Rearing in England.
1 On which the hives are placed.1 The stands in the back row commencing from the left are numbered roi, 102, 103, 104, and so on. The stands in the second row are numbered 3or, 303, 203, 204, and so on. Similarly those in the third row commence at 3or ; those in the fourth at 4or, and those in the fifth at 5or. In an apiary where the numbers of stands in each row does not exceed nine, the numbering of the rows may begin at 11, 27, 31, 51, etc. Should a hive in which rearing or incubating is going on be moved to a new stand its number is altered in the recent entries in the book.
Footnote 1: Empty hives are stored under shelter and are not carried out until they are needed. The practice of leaving them amongst the occupied hives was discontinued because it was found that, in the spring especially, they decayed many bees to their death.
QUEN-REARING IN ENGLAND.
and humidity found in the brood-nest of a normal colony. In fact it is a decided gain to remove the queen-cells as soon as they are sealed and incubate them in cages in such a colony ; for as long as they remain uncaged in the queen-rearing colony this cannot well be used for rearing any more queens, and if they are caged there the correct temperature will not be maintained, with the result that the development of the queens is retarded, and they may be affected injuriously.
Caged queen-cells should always be incubated between combs containing brood in all stages.
Two forms of incubating receptacles have been used in Ripple Court Apiary, the Sladen combined incubating and introducing cage, and the Sladen multiple incubating cage.
The Sladen combined incubating and introducing cage is shown in Fig. 19.
It consists of a \(\Omega\)-shaped strip of strong wire-cloth fastened at the ends to a small block of wood, with a \(\Omega\)-shaped strip of transparent sheet celluloid (\(\epsilon\)) covering both. A stout wire shaft is soldered to the wire-cloth, and is bent at the free end to form a cross piece for hanging the cage between two frames. The celluloid is fixed so that it will swing away in order to permit of the easy insertion or removal of the queen-cell, this being gripped by the wire-cloth. The wire-cloth may be adjusted to clasp queen-cells of any size, not only those built in wooden cups, but also irregularly-shaped ones that may be cut out of the combs. The cells hang about four inches from the top of the comb which is the warmest place. The wooden block has a hole bored through it, and this is filled with soft candy for the queen to eat, should she be allowed to hatch. A tin slide covers the hole underneath, and this is drawn to one side when the cage is used for introducing a queen to a colony. The wooden block is well soaked in hot wax to prevent its absorbing moisture from the candy, and the wire-cloth is coated with varnish to prevent the queens getting poisoned by any salts that may form on the metal. Ten or twelve of these cages can be hung in a row between two combs. They may be placed into or lifted out of the hive one by one without disturbing one another or the frames.
The Sladen multiple incubating cage, which is shown in Fig. 2, is especially useful when large numbers of queens are reared. It consists of a skeleton framework of the size of a standard frame fitted inside with two swinging receptacles made of wire-cloth, containing a number of compartments, separated by partitions of thin wood, each of which is just large enough for the reception of a queen-cell in a cup with sufficient space underneath the cell for the queen to hatch. The cells are prevented from dropping down and filling this space by dents made in the wire-cloth, the partitions being notched to permit the dents to be made deep. In the strip of wood that forms the bases of the compartments are bored little holes to hold soft candy for the queens to feed upon should they be allowed to hatch. This strip is impregnated with paraffin wax to prevent its absorbing moisture from the candy, and a strip of celluloid is nailed on its underside.
The multiple cage is usually kept in one hive throughout the season. The cells are put into it on the fourth day after
the larvae were transferred to the cups, care being taken not to chill or severely jar them. Five days later, viz., on the ninth day after the larvae were transferred, the cells are distributed to the nuclei, unless virgin queens are wanted. In this case, the little compartments are provisioned with candy, a little ball of soft candy being dropped into the hole at the bottom of each compartment and pressed out flat with the end of a pencil. Of course, the cell has to be temporarily removed to permit of this being done. It is unwise to provision the nursery much before the ninth day, because then the candy is apt to dry up before the queens emerge. The nursery is examined again on the evening of the tenth day after the larvae were transferred, and if any queens have emerged their cells are turned upside down (see Fig. 20). The same thing is done on the morning of the eleventh day, and if all the queens have not hatched by then, it is done again on the evening of the eleventh day. This reversing of the cells within about twelve hours of the hatching of the queen is rather important, for, if it is not done a considerable percentage of the queens are likely to die as the result of their creeping again into their cells and being unable to back out. Often, too, they get their antennae stuck in the viscid jelly in the base of the cell, and sometimes a queen will jam herself between the cell and the wall of the cage. Queens are liable to die if allowed to remain long in the cages, so they should be removed as soon as they are ready. In warm weather a queen is fit to travel twenty-four hours, and in cool weather forty-eight hours after she has hatched. The best age for introducing a queen to a nucleus specially formed to receive her is from one and a half to three days after hatching. It is sometimes a good plan to put a worker or two with the queen as soon as it is seen that she has hatched, but it is a curious fact that these workers very often die, though the queen remains alive.
One of the chief advantages of the cages above described is that they permit of the incubating of a large number of 28 Queen-Rearing in England.
queens in a very small space, thus conserving heat. Their thickness scarcely exceeds half an inch, and there is no superfluous space in them.
## Vii.-Nuclei and Fertilisation of Queens.
A nucleus is a diminutive colony, the use of which to the queen-breeder is to provide a home for the queen, from which she may fly and get fertilised.
**Nucleus Hives.** -- Each nucleus may be placed in a separate hive of the ordinary pattern. But if many nuclei are wanted it is more satisfactory to use a special nucleus
hive made to take two or three nuclei, for then the nuclei help to keep one another warm, occupy less space, cost less to house, and can be more quickly examined and fed. It is, however, important that the entrances should be some distance from one another to avoid the risk of a returning queen entering another nucleus in mistake for her own.
Fig. 23 shows a pattern of nucleus hive that has been employed in Ripple Court Apiary for some years with most successful results. The hive takes three nuclei, each supplied with three combs. It consists of an ordinary ten-frame brood-chamber divided into three compartments by means of two close-fitting division-boards. The entrances are in. long, and \(
rac{8}{3}\)in. deep, and are situated as far as possible from one another. being arranged as shown in Fig. 24. The floor consists of three boards nailed on to two strong joists. No plinths are necessary on the lower edges of the brood-chamber. The roof is flat-topped with the sides descending about \(\sin\). ; it is covered with zinc or waterproof paper. Brood-chamber and roof are painted
Figure 22: Arrangement of Nuclei in Hives, showing best positions for Entrances.
Sladen's Nucleus Hive for three Nuclei.
To facilitate examination the quilt is cut into two pieces, one of them measuring pin. by i8in. to cover one of the side nuclei, and the other ioin. by i8in. to cover the other two. The brood-chamber measures50 Queen-Rearing in England.
\(i_{5}\)lin. across, which provides just sufficient room for the nine frames spaced with W. B. C. metal ends, with the two division boards, each \(i_{5}\)lin. thick, and three strips, each \(i_{7}\)in. by \(i_{7}\)in. by \(i_{7}\)in., one of which is placed next the division board in each nucleus. These strips are lifted out before manipulation, and so provide room to work.
A feeder is placed inside the double wall at the back of the brood chamber. This consists of a deep tin vessel divided into three compartments by wooden strips \(b\), \(b\). The feeder is filled through a hole in the back of the hive by means of a funnel, and the syrup flows into compartments through wire-cloth nailed on to the bottoms of the wooden divisions.
The hole is closed with a cork. Each nucleus c o mm u nicates with the c o mm p a r tment in the feeder oppose it to it t h r o u g h an opening in the inner wall of the brood-chamber near the top, covered with queen-excluding zinc. A wooden fence made of thin slats nailed to cleats is placed in each feeder for the bees to crawl upon when they got in to take the syrup. The advantage of this feeder is that the three nuclei are fed at one filling without the necessity of opening the hive.
**Forming Nuclei.--**In forming nuclei it should be borne in mind that _young bees are better than old ones_, both because the young ones are less likely to return to the parent hive, and also because they will live longer. Also, _unscaled brood is undesirable_ ; it is likely to get chilled and to die, it prevents the bees accepting a virgin, and also it provides the means for rearing another queen, which is sure to be an inferior, indeed a practically worthless one. But brood that is all sealed is desirable, for it strengthens the bees' sense of home and it adds young bees to the population after the nucleus is established, such bees being very valuable should the fertilisation of the queen be long delayed by bad weather. Satisfactory nuclei may, however, be made without any brood at all, but this is only advised when the conditions indicate the probability of early fertilisation.
The nuclei may be supplied either with ripe queen-cells, that is to say, cells from which the queens are shortly due to hatch, or with queens that have already hatched. By introducing hatched queens the queens are old enough to be mated six or less days after the nucleus was formed, whereas if cells are given they are not old enough until at least eight days after formation ; also, as the queens are seen before they are given to the nuclei the most desirable looking ones may be selected and the inferior ones rejected. Hatched queens are, however, likely to be killed when introduced to established nuclei, but for newly formed nuclei they are better than queen-cells, because they can be introduced safely, and they form a stronger incentive than queen-cells for the bees of the nucleus to stop in their hive. The return of bees from newly-formed nuclei is indeed one of the difficulties that the queen-breeder has to contend against.