BEE-spoke-data/bees-v0 huggingface dataset:
For making the artificial cells there is needed a "dipping-stick," which is a round stick, 5-16 of an inch in diameter, with a peculiar taper at one end. The tapering part should be about 5-16 of an inch long, reduced rapidly for the first!8 of an inch, and then gradually reduced to the end. It should slip into a worker cell!8 of an inch before filling the mouth of the cell. These dipping sticks can be made with a lathe, from any kind of hard wood, Heart-cedar is best, as the water is slow to penetrate it, consequently, there is a little swelling. To dip the cells, bees-wax must be kept just above the melting point by placing the dish containing it over a lighted lamp. Keep a little water in the dish, as this will be a guide to the temperature. No bubbling should be allowed. The stick, after being thoroughly soaked in water, is dipped rather less than % inch deep into the wax; four dips usually completing the cell and attaching it to the wooden bar upon which it is to be supported while in the hive. Dip three times, then loosen up the cup on the stick, then dip again, and immediately press the base of the cell upon the stick at the point where it is desired to have the cell remain. The cooling of the wax attaches the cell to the stick. If the stick or slat to which the cells are to be attached is soaked in melted wax until the frying or bubbling ceases, before attempting to attach the cells, they will adhere much better. If the quecens are to be allowed to hatch while the cells are still attached to the stick, they being protected by some sort of a nursery, then there must be some kind of notches, or marks, on the stick to guide the operator in getting the cells attached at exactly the right places. An excellent method of managing this part of the business is to have a whole "battery" of dipping sticks thrust through holes bored at regular intervals in a wooden bar, when the whole row of cells can be dipped at only one operation. Five of these "batteries" can be kept in operation at one time; by the time the last one has been dipped, the first one has cooled sufficiently to be dipped again. After the fourth dip, while the wax is still hot and soft, the bases of the cells are pressed down upon the stick. As soon as the wax has cooled enough so that the cells will stick to the wooden slat, the slat is lowered into the wax until the wax covers it from end
that portion shut off from the queen will proceed to construct cells and rear queens. The only objection to placing the cell-cups there when first supplied with larvae is that the bees might be too slow in accepting these cells and feeding the larvae, and the result would be inferior queens. After the work is once started by queenless bees, as just explained, then these other bees will at once carry on and complete the work. After the just-started cells have been removed from the hive of queenless bees and gives to another colony, the hive of queenless bees may be set back upon the colony from which it was taken, the queen excluder left between it and the lower story, when it will be ready for starting a new batch of cells by simply setting it upon a new stand several hours before the prepared cups are given to it. In ten or twelve days all of the brood will have hatched in this set of combs, and another set must be started in time to be ready to take its place.
As the time approaches for the hatching of the queens, the cells must be removed from the bees, or protected in some manner, otherwise, the first queen that batches will, with the assistance of the bees, tear down the other cells and destroy their occupants. Years ago, many queen breeders used what was culled a lamp-nursery, that is, a hive, or box, with double walls of tin, the space between the walls being filled with water which was kept between 90 and 100 degrees by means of a lamp. The use of this device has been abandoned for the simpler and more reliable plan of leaving the cells with the bees, but protecting each cell by means of some mechanical device.
**Mr. Arthur Stanley of Dixon, Illinois, attaches the cell-cups to the round, card-board gun-wads, one cup to each wad, then attaches the wads to a stick in something the same way as Mr. Pridgen attaches his cups to a stick, then, when the cells are nearly ready to hatch, he detaches the wads from the stick, and puts each cell into a small cylinder made of queen excluding metal. These filled cylinders are placed in rows, between two sticks (slipped in through holes made in the upper slat) and left in charge of the bees. The bees have access at all times to the cells, and to the queens when they hatch, but the size of the latter prevents their passing out through the openings.**
**Mr. Pridgen makes a nursery by taking a piece of board 58 of an inch thick, two inches wide, and as long as a top-bar of a brood frame, cutting out a long notch, from one edge, a little more than an inch in depth, and nearly the whole length of the board, tacking wire cloth on each side, and dividing off the space between the wire cloth by means of tin divisions. These tin divisions are \(\%\) of
## Appendix A Advanced Bee Culture
an inch in width, a little more than an inch in height, and are let down slightly into saw kerfs cut in the upper surface of the wood. The divisions are kept in place by little points of tin that project from their upper corners through the meshes of the wire cloth and are then bent over or clasped against the wire cloth. Below each little cage thus formed is bored a small hole, through the wood, and in the hole is placed a plug having an opening hollowed out in its upper end and filled with soft candy. As the cells are all built exactly 58 of an inch apart, in a straight row, attached to a stick, it will be readily seen how easy it is to lower all of these at once into the nursery, each cell occupying a cage \({}^{58}\) of an inch square and a little more than an inch in depth. As the queens will all hatch within a few hours of one another, the cells can be left in the nursery until the queens have all hatched, or, even longer, if necessary. To remove a queen, pull out the plug below her cage, when she will crawl out and may be caught and put into a cage, or where ever desired.
**Nothwithstanding the great improvements made in securing the building of queen cells, and in caring for virgin queens, they are no more wonderful than the late methods of securing the fertilization of queens--the most expensive part of commercial queen rearing. Once it was necessary to have at least two, full-sized combs and a quart or two of bees for each nucleus; now the fertilization of a queen is secured by the use of not more than 200 bees; one colony furnishing sufficient bees to secure the fertilization of 200 or 300 queens. This plan allows the introduction of queens from five to seven days old, and does away with all trouble from laying workers.**
**It is a little difficult to say to whom belongs the credit for this new method of caring for queens while being mated. Mr. C. B. Bankston, of Texas, published the first description that I remember having seen; but he had, at this time, a partner, a Mr. John W. Pharr, who says he helped in the development of the idea. Mr. W. H. Laws, of the same State, also helped in perfecting the plan and in bringing it to public notice. Mr. E. L. Pratt, of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, has also done his share in making a success of mating queens from small nuclei. Like many other inventions, it seems to have been the work of several men. Mr. W. H. Laws published a description of the plan, in the Bee-Keepers' Review, and it is mostly from that article that the following is taken.**
**The nucleus boxes or hives play an important part in this system of mating queens, yet they are very simple in construction. Imagine two little trays, 34 of an inch in depth, 114 inches long, and 44 inches wide, hinged at the bottom with leather strips, and made
## Appendix A
**so as to clamp a frame of honey (of the same dimensions between them so tightly that it can not move. The outside surface of the frame becomes a part of the box, and all is held fast by a spring hook and staple at the top. An entrance for the bees is made in the end-bar of the frame by boring a hole with a 5-16 bit. A little button of sheet-zinc is fastened near the entrance. One end of the button is solid, closing the entrance, while the other end has a single, queen-excluding slot. When the button is turned crosswise, the entrance is left wide open.**
**To get these little combs of honey for the baby nuclei, frames are made to fit crosswise in an s-frame, half-depth super, and old combs are transferred into them and given to ordinary colonies during a honey flow. Of course, sheets of foundation may be used, but old combs, well-attached, are preferable.**
**Equipped with as many of these boxes, already prepared, as we have virgin queens in our nurseries, we proceed to shake all of the bees from the combs of a populous,** _quenceless_ **colony (after first making the bees fill themselves with honey), putting the bees' combs into an empty hive, and setting it upon the old stand, to which enough bees will return to care for the brood. The old hive, containing the honey-laden, queenless bees, is now moved to some shady, convenient spot, where, with a small tin cup, we dip from the cluster a small wad of bees, say about the size of an unhulled walnut, containing about 100 to 150 bees, never more than 200, open one of the little boxes, and pour the bees right into the box, upon the comb of honey, close the box, snap the hook, and lay it aside. We keep on dipping and filling until all of the boxes are filled. The bees being loaded with honey, dip nicely; and, not being able to climb the smooth, inside of the cup, they handle about like so many beans.**
**Soon the bees in the boxes are all buzzing and roaring, and thus lamenting their queenlessness and confinement, when we are ready to introduce the virgin queens, which is done by running them into the 5-16 inch, round entrances to the boxes. When the virgins are all run in, and the entrances closed, the boxes may lie in the shade until the evening of the next day, or even 48 hours, and no harm will result. The bees, being queenless and confined, always accept the virgin queen, regardless of her age, or from whence she has come.**
**Within 24 hours, the bees in each baby nucleus have concluded that escape is impossible, and, resolving that "what can't be cured must be endured," they accept the situation, together with the queen, and quiet down. Later the nuclei may be carried out 300 or 400 yards, and the entrances opened as the nuclei are scattered under the brush, lodged in the forks of trees, or pitched into the
as another batch of virgin queens is ready, these little boxes, when emptied of bees, are ready to be re-filled and used as before.
Another advantage of this method is the ease with which queens may be mated to select drones. It is the transportability of the nuclei that allows this. A man can carry from 15 to 25 on his arm, like a load of store wood; or hundreds of them may be piled into a spring wagon, together with a colony of choice drones, and carried out three or four miles from any other bees. Possibly the next day every queen will mate, and that to the very drones of our choice, when all may be brought in, and, if so desired, queens and drones of _another race_ may then be mated upon the same ground. Another thing, when the baby nuclei are carried away from all other bees, tothe "mating grounds," no robbing occurs, even though there be a dearth of honey. Open air feeding could also be employed to advantage in such a location.
It will be seen that by this system there are never any permanent nuclei. A tiny cluster of bees is used to secure the mating of one queen, then the bees are shaken out (in front of the hive from which they were taken if the operator cares to take the trouble), and the boxes filled with a fresh lot of bees.
With all of the advantages of the "baby nucleus" system, there is one serious drawback, and that is of the nuclei being robbed at a time when no honey is coming in. During a honey flow, or if the nuclei are in an isolated location, this system is well-nigh perfection, but, under other conditions, the old-style, well-stocked nuclei have their advantages. It might also be added that while the old-style nuclei require more bees, they can also be managed with less labor after they are once established. I certainly consider the old system of sufficient importance to describe it.
In the first place, let me say that nothing is gained with any system by beginning queen rearing too early in the season. Wait until the weather is warm and settled and the colonies populous. In this latitude, May 10th is, as a rule, early enough to start queen cells. The first nuclei that are formed should be more populous than they may be used later in the season. Three combs are none too many to use at first; later these nuclei may be divided. About three or four days before the first batch of queens are to hatch, enough colonies should be made quenceless to furnish bees for the nuclei, as quenclass bees adhere much better to a new location. Many of the old bees will return, but, as most of the brood is sealed, enough bees (if they are quenches) will remain. When making up the nuclei, if the bees have been quenches, I would give each nucleus a cell nearly ready to hatch, or else a young queen, at the time of making the nuclei, as it seems to be something of an inducement for them to remain in the new location. As many bees return to the old stand, I leave some brood and honey in the hive, also put in some empty combs, and give the bees a laying queen. This colony soon builds up and prospers.
When a queen begins laying, she is allowed to fill the combs with eggs before shipment, then if a young queen is introduced soon after her removal, the nucleus receives another "sitting"of eggs in ten days more. By this management all nuclei are kept well supplied with brood.
When honey is coming in freely I have lost few queens by allowing them to run into the nuclei at the same time that the laying queens are removed. After a queen is two days old it is rather difficult to introduce her to these populous, well-established nuclei. Mr. Alley makes a success of it by smoking the bees with tobacco until they begin to show signs of stupefacation. The nucleus then has its entrance closed with a plantain leaf, as the bees are in no condition to defend their home. By the time the leaf wilts and releases the bees they are again able to defend themselves.
As a rule, a queen begins laying when ten days old, but hot weather and a good honey flow often shorten this period. I have frequently had them laying in eight days, and, in a very few instances, in only seven days. During a drouth, when no honey was gathered, I have known queens to be three weeks old before beginning to lay. At such times it certainly pays the queen breeder to feed the nuclei in which there are queens old enough to lay. When engaged in queen rearing I had some shallow boxes, each of which was just large enough to cover the top of the nucleus. These boxes were filled half full of candy, and when a nucleus was found during a dearth of honey, containing a queen old enough to lay, but _not_laying, one of these boxes of candy was inverted over the nucleus. Two days later, the queen would invariably be found laying.
With a large number of nuclei, it is impossible to remember the condition in which each was left at the last visit. A record of some kind must be kept, and I know of nothing better than the "Queen Registering Cards," sold by the A. I. Root Co., Medina, Ohio. They are made of weather-proof paper, and one is tacked upon the side of each nucleus. Upon each card are three dials. One contains the months; one the days of the month; and one the following words: "Eggs," "Brood," "Cell," "Hatched," "Laying," "Missing," Common pins are used as pointers. About \({}^{88}\) of an inch of the point is bent at right angles, and then driven into the center of the dial. When a cell is given, one pointer is turned to the month; another to the day of the month; and the third to the word "Cell." If the queen is found hatched at the next examination, the date is changed, and the pin turned to "Hatched." When found laying, and again when taken out and shipped, the pointers are turned accordingly. A glance at the register always shows the condition of the nucleus at the last examination. The turning of these pins takes only a moment, and is away ahead of using a pencil.
In the shipping of queens, success turns largely upon the food that is used. I have used no food superior to that obtained by mixing honey with pulverized sugar until it is of the consistency of a stiff dough. The novice is likely to make it too thin. It is well-nigh impossible to mix in too much sugar. The maker may think it quite hard and dry, but he will be surprised next day to find it quite soft and pliable. If too soft it will dauh the bees and ooze out of the cage.
As a shipping cage I think the Benton stands at the head. It has three compartments all in a row and connected by openings. In one of the end compartments is placed the food; the other two are occupied by the bees, but the one next to the food is not ventilated, while the one in the end opposite to the food is freely required, this cage has been called the "climatic cage," as to accommodate changes of temper- ature. If it is cool, they occupy the central apartment; if warm, they can remain in the ventilated part of the cage.
As to the number of bees to send in the cage with the queen, that depends upon the time of the year. In the spring and fall, more are needed; but I doubt if more than 30 bees are ever needed; in warm weather, one-third that number is sufficient.
The honey producer who wishes to rear a few queens for his own use will not find it worth while to follow many plans that are profitable in the hands of the professional queen breeder; he can divide up one or more colonies into nuclei, and supply them with cells taken from colonies that have swarmed, or he can remove a queen from a colony, and, when its brood has all been sealed, cut out the queen cells that have been started (as some of them may result in inferior queens), and give the bees a comb of eggs and just hatched larvae from some choice queen. The number of cells started will be increased if small holes are cut through the comb at that point where eggs are just hatching into larvae. When the cells are nearly ready to hatch they can be cut out, and one given to each nucleus.
Queen rearing does not call for any great outlay of physical strength, but consists rather of constant attention to a thousand and one little details.
## 1. Introduction
The _Simmins_ method of introducing queens is an illustration of how great a part is played by the _attitude_ of the queen towards the workers. He removes the reigning queen a few hours previous to liberating the new queen, and then, just at dusk, so late that the bees are through flying, and too late for the queen to take wing, the queen is released at the top of the hive and allowed to run down among the combs. And here comes in the important point: For half an hour before the queen is released, she is kept away from thebees and away from food, hence, when she comes in contact with the bees she is hungry and at once asks for food, instead of racing about the combs. The bees begin to feed and caress her, and all goes well. I believe Mr. Simmins claims that this method is almost infallible; and I remember that I once introduced ten queens by this plan without the loss of a queen. It was during a honey flow, however, and many plans that prove successful at such a time, may miscarry at times when no honey is coming in. The moral is to feed when trying to introduce queens during a dearth of honey.
To introduce a queen from one colony to another in the same apiury does not call for the skill needed when the queen has been absent several days from a colony, and is jaded by a long journey. I have frequently taken a queen from a colony, caged and sent it away, and then immediately taken a laying queen from a nucleus and placed her upon the spot upon the comb from whence I had taken the other queen, and had the satisfaction of seeing her immediately surrounded by a circle of admiring retainers. I believe there are times, particularly when honey is coming in freely, when a colony with a laying queen would accept _another_ fresh laying queen, simply by having her placed upon the combs; and all would go well until the queens came in contact. Then there would be a conflict in which the chances of the new-comer would be equally as good as those of the old queen.
So far as the queen is concerned, it is important that she be brought before the bees in a natural manner; in such a place and in such a way as they would expect to meet her. When clipping queens, I have often replaced one in the hive by dropping her upon the tops of the frames, when the bees would immediately bounce upon her as an intruder. A puff of smoke would cause the bees to "let up," when the queen would walk majestically down between the combs, and there she was not molested, because there was where the bees expected to find a queen. When I wish to introduce a queen by allowing her to run in at the entrance, I first shake off the bees, from two combs, in front of the hive, and, as they are running into the hive, I allow the queen to run in with them. At such times there are no guards at the entrance, the bees that are crawling in will not attack the queen, and by the time the colony has recovered its tranquility, the queen is quietly parading the combs.
When a colony has been queenless long enough to build a batch of queen cells, I usually introduce a queen by simply taking a comb, with the adhering bees and queen, from a nucleus, and hanging it in the queenless colony. By means of smoke, or a feather, I drive all of the bees from one of the inside walls of the hive, and against this side of the hive I turn the side of the comb upon which is the queen. Then she is not immediately brought in contact with the excited, strange bees; but the bees intermingle, and, almost unconsciously, the whole colony accepts the queen. If any of the queenless bees stray near the queen, they find her surrounded by a cortege of her own bees. She is also attending to her duties, and is almost certain not to be molested.
When queens come from a distance, they are more difficult to introduce. They have not layed any eggs in several days, and are in a jaded condition. It would often be a saving in queens if such queens were first introduced to nuclei, and then, after they were nicely laying, introduce them to full colonies by uniting the nuclei with the full colonies, in the manner just described. It is much easier to introduce a queen to a nucleus than to a full colony. Take a frame of bees, brood and honey from a colony, place it in a hive with an empty comb by the side of the comb of bees, and set all on a new stand, when, in 24 hours, all of the old bees, the ones that always make trouble with anew queen, have returned to the old stand, and the young bees that are left are almost certain to accept a queen.