BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
Some kind of feeder will be necessary to stimulate the cell-starting and cell-building colonies, at such times as no honey is coming from the field. If small nuclei are used, it will often become necessary to feed them as well. Since nearly every apiary is provided with feeders of one kind or another, it hardly seems important in a work like this to enter into a discussion of the different types of feeders in the market, and the special merits of each. The Doolittle division board feeder is very popular among queen breeders, as is also the Alexander bottom feeder. However, practically every type of feeder now in the market is in use somewhere in a queen-breeding apiary. The Penn Company, of Mississippi, use a Mason jar with small holes in the metal cover. This is inverted in a round hole in the center of the cover of the hive, Figure 13.
In passing through the yard, one can see at a glance the exact amount of feed available to every colony. The feeders are easily filled and replaced without opening the hives, and, at the same time, place the feed above the cluster.
**Nursery Cages.**
During much of the season a queen breeder with an active trade will have no use for nursery cages. Each cell will be placed in a nucleus a day or two before time for the queen to emerge, and there she will remain until removed to fill an order to re-queen a colony. However, it often happens that a batch of cells will mature when no queenless nuclei are ready to receive them, and it becomes necessary to care for them otherwise
Figure 13: Feeding with Mason jars set in the top of hives at the Penn Company yards.
for a day or two, until room can be made for them. Then some breeders make a practice of allowing the young queens to emerge in the nursery cages before placing them in the nuclei. In this case, cages will be necessary.
There is a considerable percentage of loss when queens are permitted to remain several days in the cage. Some will creep back into the cell and be unable to back out again, while others will die from other causes. Sometimes, the bees will feed them through the wire cloth, but this is not to be depended upon, and the cages must be stocked with candy to insure plenty of feed within reach. Doolittle advocates smearing a drop of honey on the small end of the cell when placing it in the nursery, in order to provide the queen with her first meal as soon as she cuts the capping of the cell. Candy is also provided to furnish food in sufficient quantity during the period that she is confined in the cage. The cages must be kept warm, of course, while the cells are incubating, and for this purpose they are usually left hanging in the hive with a strong colony. However, the bees will not keep the cells in cages sufficiently warm after the weather gets cool in late fall, nor in early spring. At such times it becomes necessary to provide a nursery heated with a lamp or other artificial heat, in which the frames of nursery cages can be hung.
Some queen breeders utilize an ordinary poultry incubator for this purpose, maintaining it at the normal hive temperature.
E. B. Ault of Texas has fitted up an outdoor cellar with artificial heat for the purpose of incubating his sealed queen cells.
### Alley Nursery Cage
The Alley cage, Figure 14, is the most popular cage, although this may be because it has been so long on the market. A nursery frame is offered by supply houses which holds twenty-four of these cages. The larger hole is just the right size to take a cell built on a cell block. The block makes an effective stopper for the hole after the emergence of the young queen. Candy for provision is placed in the smaller hole.
### Rauchfuss Nursery Cage
The Rauchfuss cage has not been long in the market, but bids fair to come into general use. Figure 15 shows the cage and Figure 16 the frame to hold about three dozen of them. This cage can be used for any purpose for which a cage is needed about the apiary. The hole at one end is large enough to take a ripe cell, while the candy at the other end can be eaten away, thus releasing the queen, and making it a desirable introducing cage.
### Shipping Cages
The Benton mailing cage has come into almost universal use among queen breeders. This is used as a combined mailing and introducing cage. It has been found that a small cage is desirable for sending queens in the mail, as there is less danger of injury when thrown about in the mailsacks than in a larger cage where there is more room to be bumped about. When larger cages are used, where the queen and her escort must
Figure 14: The Alley nursery cage.
Figure 15: The Rauchfuss combined nursery and introducing cage.
travel long distances, as for export trade, a correspondingly larger number of bees are enclosed, thus saving each other from the shocks incident to travel through the mails.
**Minor Equipment,** such as cell blocks, cell protectors, etc., will be taken up in connection with the chapters relating to their use.
Figure 16: Frame for holding Rauchfuss nursery cages.
## Chapter 5 Early Methods of Queen Rearing.
Prior to the invention of the movable frame hive little progress was made in the development of beekeeping. Commercial queen rearing as now practiced has been developed within the memory of our older beekeepers. As soon as his invention of the loose frames made the control of conditions within the hive possible, Langstroth began to experiment in the hope of being able to control natural swarming, and make necessary increase at his convenience. At that time the only known method of securing additional queens, was by means of depriving a colony of the queen. The queenless colony in its anxiety to make sure of replacing the lost mother, would usually prepare a number of cells and rear several more queens than needed. The rip cells were taken from the hive before the emergence of the first queen, and given to nuclei or quenceless colonies. As compared to present wholesale methods, this plan was crude and unsatisfactory. However, a careful beekeeper could by this means make considerable increase artificially, or provide young queens to replace undesirable ones.
In the first edition of his "Hive and the Honey-Bee," Langstroth describes his method of queen rearing by means of one queen in three hives. Two hives were deprived of their queens which were used to make artificial swarms or nuclei, at intervals of a week. When the first hive had been queenless for nine days, there were several sealed queen cells, which were counted, on the tenth day these were removed for use and a laying queen was taken from a third hive, C, and given to the first hive where she was permitted to lay a few days. In the meantime the second hive had been made queenless and had built cells. When these in turn were removed the queen which had been taken from the third hive, C, and placed in the firsthive, was taken from the first hive and passed on to the second. The hive C, from which the queen had been taken, soon had cells ready to remove and she was replaced in her original home. Here she was permitted to stay for only a short time when she was started a second time around the circle. By keeping the queen in each hive for a period of a week at one time, sufficient eggs were laid to prevent the rapid depletion of the stock while providing a sufficient number of eggs and young larvae, to insure queen cells when she was again removed. By this simple plan he was able to get a large number of young queens and at the same time preserve the parent colonies. Whenever possible the queen cells were removed intact by taking out the frame on which they were formed and exchanging it for another from the colony, to which it was desired to give the cell. At times, however, he found it necessary to cut the cells from the combs, since several cells were often on the same comb.
For a number of years no better method was developed, and while numerous variations of the Langstroth plan were described in the beekeeping literature of the time, the only way known to secure additional queens was by means of making a colony queenless and trusting them to build cells in a natural manner. In an early edition of his "Manual of the Apiary," Cook recommended that the edges of the combs containing eggs or young larvae, be trimmed, or holes cut, somewhat after the manner known in later years as the Miller plan.
### Quinby's Method.
Quinby practiced rearing queens by forming small nuclei of about a part of bees and giving them small pieces of comb containing larvae not less than two, or more than three days old. A hole was cut in a brood comb sufficient to insert a piece of comb containing the larvae. This is described to be one inch deep and three inches long. No other brood was permitted in the hive. Concerning this plan he says: "I want new comb for the brood, as cells can be worked over out of that, better than from old and tough. New comb must be carefully handled. If none but old, tough comb is to be had, cut the cells down to one-fourth inch in depth. The knife must be sharp to leave it smooth and not tear it."
While practicing the method just described, he said in his book, that in many respects he preferred to rear queens in a strong colony made queenless.
### The Alley Plan
Henry Alley made a distinct advance when he developed his plan of using strips of worker comb containing eggs or just hatched larvae. Before describing his method of preparing these cells, it is best, perhaps, to outline his plan of preparing the bees to receive them so that his whole method may be clearly explained.
He recommended taking the best colony in the apiary to use as cell builders. After the queen had been found, her bees were brushed into a "swarm box," which has a wire-cloth top and bottom, to admit the air. "The bees should be kept queenless for at least ten hours in the swarming box, else the eggs given them for cell building will be destroyed. Soon after being put into it they will miss their queen and keep up an uproar until released."
The bees in the swarm box were kept in a cool room or cellar and fed a pint of syrup. In the meantime the old hive has been removed and a queen rearing hive placed on the old stand. At night the bees are returned to the new hive on the old stand and given cell building material provided as follows:
In the center of the hive containing the breeding queen an empty comb has been placed four days previously. This will now contain eggs and hatching larvae. The bees are carefully brushed off this comb and it is taken into a warm room to be cut into strips. With a thin, sharp knife, which must be kept warm to avoid bruising the comb, the comb is cut through every alternate row of cells. After the comb has been cut up into strips, these are laid flat on a table and the cells on one side of the midrib are cut down to within a quarter of an inch of the septum as shown in Fig. 17. Every alternate egg or larva is crushed by means of a match pressed gently into the shallow
cells and twirled between the thumb and finger, Fig. 18. This gives room enough for a queen cell over each remaining one, Fig. 19.
A frame containing a brood comb with about one-half cut away is used as a foundation for the prepared strip. The uncut side of the strip is dipped into
Figure 19: Queen-cells by the Alley plan. [From Productive Bekeeping.]
Figure 17: Comb cut down for cell building, by Alley.
Figure 18: Every alternate egg is crushed with a match twirled between the fingers.
pressed against the lower edge of the comb. It is necessary to use care to have this melted wax of just the right temperature so as not to destroy the eggs by overheating them, while at the same time warm enough to run readily and stick to the dry comb. The shallow cells, those which have been trimmed, open downward in the same position as a natural queen cell built under the swarming impulse.
The care of the cell building colonies, emerging queens, etc., is the same by this method as any other and will be found in detail further on. See page 63. Aside from the strips of prepared cells, no brood will be given to the queenless bees, and they will concentrate their attention on building cells, with the result that a considerable number of fine cells will be secured.
## Chapter 6 Present Day Methods.
While most queen breeders of the present day use some modification of the Doolittle cell cup method, a few still cling to the Alley plan or some modification of it. J. L. Strong, a well known queen breeder of Iowa, who has but recently retired, continued to follow the Alley plan in detail until the end of his queen breeding career. Mr. Strong was a beekeeper for half a century and engaged in commercial queen rearing for about twenty-five years. The Davis queen yards in Tennessee use a modification of this method, using drone comb instead of worker comb. This necessitates grafting, as with artificial cell cups.
### 6 The Davis Method of Using Drone Comb.
At the Davis yards in Tennessee, a modification of the Alley plan is used. Instead of cutting down worker comb in which eggs have already been laid as in the Alley plan, they cut down fresh drone comb wherever available. This necessitates grafting of larvae the same as in the cell cup method later to be described. Strips of new drone comb are cut down, as already described, and fastened to wood supports. Royal jelly is taken from queen cells the same as in the cell cup method, and a small quantity placed in each drone cell which it is desired to use. Worker larvae from the hive occupied by the breeding queen are then carefully lifted from their cells by means of a toothpick or grafting tool, and placed in these prepared cells. Every third or fourth drone cell can be used in this manner. These cells are given to strong colonies to be built, the same as by the Alley plan or cell cup plan.
Mr. J. M. Davis has tried about all the systems so far given to the public during the nearly fifty years that he has been engaged in queen breeding. After giving the Doolittle cell cup method an extended trial, he abandoned it in favor of the plan above described. By this plan, it is possible to get large batches of fine cells, although it becomes necessary to have combs drawn above excluders and without foundation, in order to get a sufficient supply of drone comb for the thousands of cells which are built in a yard, doing an exten
Figure 21: Cutting away cells built on drone comb.
Figure 20: A batch of finished cells grafted with drone comb at the Davis apiaries.
sive business. Figure 20 shows one batch of 37 finished cells by this method. Cells built by this plan are not as convenient to remove and place in nursery cages or mating nuclei as those having the wood base. These must be cut apart as in Figure 21. This also necessitates some special means of carrying them about to avoid injury to the tender occupants. For this purpose a block with 24 holes bored in it is used at the Davis apiaries. As the cells are cut from the frame they are placed in the block, in the natural position. The block is easily carried from hive to hive while placing the ripe cells. Figure 22. The cell block enables the queen breeder to carry a batch of cells right side up without danger of injury.
### Natural Built Cells by the Miller Plan.
What has, of late, been known as the Miller method of rearing queens, was probably not entirely original with him, but has been used in more or less the same form for many years. However, Dr. C. C. Miller has given the method new prominence, and brought it forcibly to public attention. In offering it, he did not even claim to be putting forth anything entirely new, but presented it as a very satisfactory method
Figure 22: The cell block enables the queen breeder to carry a batch of cells right side up without danger of injury.
for the honey producer to provide himself with a limited number of queens with little trouble. The plan was so simple that it made an instant appeal, and has been widely published and generally used under the name of the Miller Plan. The author probably can present the matter in no other way so well as to copy Doctor Miller's original article concerning it from the American Bee Journal, August, 1912:
Yet it is not necessary to use artificial cells. The plan I use for rearing queens for myself requires nothing of the kind. And it gives as good queens as can be reared. I do not say that it is the best plan for those who rear queens on a large scale to sell. But for the honey producer who wishes to rear his own queens I have no hesitation in recommending it. I have reared hundreds of queens by what are considered the latest and most approved plans for queen breeders; and so think that I am competent to judge, and I feel sure that this simple plan is the best for me as a honey producer. I will give it as briefly as possible.
Into an empty brood frame, at a distance of two or three inches from each end, fasten a starter of foundation about two inches wide at the top, and coming down to a point within an inch or two of the bottom bar. Put it in the hive containing your best queen. To avoid having it filled with drone-comb, take out of the hive, either for a few days or permanently, all but two frames of brood, and put your empty frame between these two. In a week or so you will find this frame half filled with beautiful virgin comb, such as bees delight to use for queen-cells. It will contain young brood with an outer margin of eggs. Trim away with a sharp knife all the outer margin of comb which contains eggs, except, perhaps, a very few eggs next to the youngest brood. This you will see is very simple. Any beekeeper can do it the first time trying, and it is all that is necessary to take the place of preparing artificial cells.
Now put this "queen cell stuff," if I may thus call the prepared frame, into the middle of a very strong colony from which the queen has been removed. The bees will do the rest, and you will have as good cells as you can possibly have with any kind of artificial cells. You may think that the bees will start "wild cells" on their own comb. They won't; at least they never do to amount to anything, and, of course, you needn't use those. The soft, new comb with abundant room at the edge, for cells, is so much more to their taste that it has a practical monopoly of all cells started. In about ten days the sealed cells are ready to be cut out and used wherever desired.
This plan is especially useful to the novice or to the beekeeper wishing for but a few queens at one time. It is simple, easy and never failing under any normal conditions.
Our illustration, Figure 23, shows this method with four strips of foundation used to start, instead of two as Doctor Miller suggests in his article.
## Big Batches of Natural Cells by the Hopkins or Case Method.
Many extensive honey producers who desire to make short work of requesting an entire apiary, and who do not care to bother with mating boxes or other extra paraphernalia, make use of the Case method, which has been somewhat modified from its original form. This method is advocated by such well known beekeepers as Oscar Dines of New York and Henry Brenner of Texas. The plan was first used in Europe.
To begin with, a strong colony is made queenless to serve as a cell building colony. Then a frame of brood is removed from the center of the brood nest of the colony containing the breeding queen from whose progeny it is desired to rear the queens. In its place is given a tender new comb not previously used for brood rearing. At the end of four days this should be well filled with eggs and just hatching larvae. If the queen does not make use of this new comb at once, it should not be
Figure 23: Queen-cells built naturally by the Miller plan.
removed until four days from the time when she begins to lay in its cells. At that time nearly all the cells should be filled with eggs and some newly hatched larvae.
This new comb freshly filled is ideal for cell building purposes. The best side of the comb is used for the queen cells and is prepared by destroying two rows of worker cells and leaving one, beginnning at the top of the frame. This is continued clear across the comb. We will now have rows of cells running lengthwise of the comb, but if used without further preparation the queen cells will be built in bunches, that it will be impossible to separate without injury to many of them. Accordingly we begin at one end, and destroy two cells and leave one in each row, cutting them down to the midrib but being careful not to cut through and spoil the opposite side. Some practice destroying three or four rows of cells, and leaving one to give more room between the finished queen cells.
We now have a series of individual worker cells over the entire surface of the comb, with a half inch or more of space between them. The practice varies somewhat with different beekeepers beyond this point. However, this prepared surface is laid flatwise with cells facing down, over the brood nest of the queenless colony, first taking care to make sure that any queen cells they may have started are destroyed. In general, it is recommended that the colony be queenless about seven days before giving this comb. By this time there will be no larvae left in the hive young enough for rearing queens, and the bees will be very anxious to restore normal conditions. Some beekeepers simply take away all unsealed brood, rather than leave the bees queenless so long.
As generally used, this method requires a special box or frame to hold the prepared comb. This is closed on one side to prevent the escape of heat upward and to hold the comb securely in place. Figure 24. Some kind of support is necessary to hold the comb far enough above the frames to leave plenty of room for drawing large queen cells. It is also advisable to cover the comb with a cloth which can be tucked snugly
**The Doolittle Cell Cup Method.**
Nine queen breeders in every ten, it is safe to say, use the Doolittle cell cups. While it is possible to rear queens on a commercial scale by other methods, few queen breeders care to do so. One can control conditions so nicely by the use of artificial wax cups and can determine so nearly how many cells will be finished at a given time, that this method is in all but universal use in commercial queen breeding amakes it very easy to attach them to frame supports on which they are inserted into the hives. Figure 25 shows a frame of newly prepared cells ready for the hive. It will be seen that a strip of foundation is used above the wood supporting the cell cups. This will soon be drawn by the bees and filled with honey. More often the beekeeper cuts away part of a comb already drawn for use in this way.
Mr. Doolittle used a wood rake tooth as a form on which to mold the cells. Lacking this, a round stick about the size of a lead pencil, but with carefully rounded end, may be used. Bees-wax is melted in a small dish over a lamp or on a stove of moderate heat. It must not be kept too hot, otherwise it does not cool rapidly enough. A mark should be made on the stick nine-sixteenths of an inch from the end, and the stick dipped into water to prevent the wax from sticking. After giving it a quick jerk to throw off the water it is then dipped into the melted wax up to the mark. The dipping is done quickly, twirling the stick around as it is lifted out to distribute the wax evenly. As soon as the wax is sufficiently hardened, it is dipped again, this time not quite so deep. The form is thus
Figure 25: Frame of prepared cups by the Doolittle method.
dipped again and again, each time lacking about a thirty-second of an inch of going as deep as before, until the base of the cell is sufficiently thick to make a good cell.
These artificial cells answer the purpose as well as those built by the bees, and if other conditions are normal the bees accept them readily. If wood blocks are used they are now ready to be attached to the blocks, or if not, direct to the wood strips. Figure 25.
For use, it becomes necessary to supply each cell cup with a small amount of royal jelly, and then with a toothpick or grafting tool carefully lift larva, not to exceed thirty-six hours old, from a worker cell and place it on the jelly in the prepared artificial cell.
## Chapter 71 Preparation for Cells.