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## method of starting cells

In starting cells it is desirable that the bar be placed at a level of about 8 inches from the top of the frames when standard-sized frames are used, since this puts the cells in the middle of the brood chamber where the heat is most uniform. This can be done by the method illustrated in figures 1 and 2. After cells are once started they may be kept at almost any level of the hive so long as they are fed and kept warm; and as many as three bars may be fastened in one frame where there are plenty of bees to cover all of them. It is possible to put three such frames of started cells in one story of a colony, but at least one frame of comb should be between each two cell frames, so that there may not be too large an opening in the hive. In this way a strong colony will readily complete and care for more than a hundred cells.

## difference in faces

Here, again, racial characteristics play a large part. Italians do not as readily accept and complete large numbers of queen cells as do either Cyprians or Carniolans. In yards in which Italian queens are reared, it may therefore be desirable to keep colonies of Cyprians or Carniolans. It need scarcely be said that in such cases drone traps should be used. No fear need be entertained by the queen breeder that races producing large numbers of queens necessarily produce poor ones. Anyone familiar with the prolificeness of the queens of these races could not hold such an idea. There is no evidence that under these circumstances the larvae are less well fed; indeed in such colonies, as in those with fewer queens to care for, the larvae always leave some royal jelly in the cells when they enter the pupal stage, during which, of course, no food is eaten.

## swarm box

Since the greatest difficulty with this part of queen rearing is in getting the cells started, it is fortunate that we have a method by which the matter may be made more certain. It is desirable to get bees into the condition in which they will start large numbers of cells; this can be done by the use of what is known as the "swarm box." We know that when bees are in too crumped quarters they acquire the swarming impulse, and that under this influence they begin to rear queens; hence if we confine bees in a hive or box the same condition is brought about, but ir a much shorter time. Whether the condition under confinement is the same as the swarming impulse, we do not know definitely; but, what is more to the purpose, we do know that they accept large numbers of queen cells.

## 5 Descentres of box

A style of swarm box which has proven very satisfactory in the Department apiary is made large enough to hold five frames of standard Langstroth size (see figs. 6 and 7).

The bottom is covered with wire cloth, and small wooden strips, nailed on each end, raise the bottom from the table or floor on which the box restsand thus allow abundant ventilation. The top of the box is removable, and has cut in it two slots, into which are fitted two cell bars. Holes are bored in the latter to accommodate 16 flanged wooden cell bases. These slots, which run almost the entire length of the box, are so placed that if a frame of comb be put on each side of the box and another exactly in the middle, the slots are directly above the intervening spaces. This then places the cell cups directly over the two spaces left in the box.

In practice, this box is placed on the ground in front of any hive from which a considerable number of bees can be taken. The two side frames are placed in the box, and bees from about six frames of the hive are shaken into it, the middle frame is inserted, and the box is closed. The slots should contain the cell bars and the wooden cells, which are, however, still empty. The frames used in the swarm box must contain honey, pollen, and water, but no brood, and the operator must be absolutely sure that the queen of the colony from which the bees are drawn is not in the swarm box.

To allow easy manipulation, the lid of the box should be nailed down or otherwise secured and the box removed to a cellar or other cool place for about six hours. It has been found even better to use only one frame, properly provisioned, in place of three, placing it in the middle of the box; but for

Figure 6: swarm box, showing position of frames and inner side of lid, with wooden cells in place, ready for bees (original).

the beginner the use of three frames is recommended. When only one is used more bees should be shaken into the box.

At the end of about six hours the wooden cell bases are removed one at a time, using an extra base as a plug to prevent the escape of any of the bees, and into each base is placed a little royal jelly and a very young larva from the colony of the breeding queen. It is not absolutely necessary to use royal jelly at this time, for if enough of the larval food be transferred from the worker cell with the larva to keep it moist for a short time, the confined bees will secrete royal jelly so rapidly that the larvae will neither dry up nor stave. However, in every-day manipulation it may be better to use a very little royal jelly, and the small amount of extra time required for this is, in the hands of most manipulators, generally repaid by the fact that more cells are accepted. The cell bases now containing larvae having all been replaced, the swarm box is covered with a quite to keep the cells warm and is put away until the next morning, at which time the box

Figure 7: Swarm box from below, with top of lid. A blank bar is in place in one slot, as used when only sixteen cells are to be started (original).

is opened, the bees shaken out in front of their old hive, and the cells on bars hung in any colony which will complete cells. By this method a much larger proportion of cells will be accepted, and the time required is very small. A schedule, which is in use in the Department apiary during the queen-rearing season, for the use of the swarm box, may not be out of place here to illustrate the small amount of time required for this manipulation, and to be used as a working plan;

9 a. m. Shake bees into swarm box. (About 5 minutes,)

3 p. m. Inert royal jelly and transfer larvae to cell cups. (About 10-15 minutes.)

9 a. m. (next day). Shake out bees and place cells in colony to be completed. (About 5 minutes.)

While the construction of a special box and this manipulation may seem like an undue amount of labor, the schedule shows that such is not the case. In actual use in the apiary of the Department of Agriculture, it has been found not only to save time, but to be more satisfactory in every other way, particularly in the larger number and more uniform feeding of the cells accepted.

The swarm box has been criticised in various quarters as being opposed to the natural habits of the bees, and it is supposed that this is a valid reason for condemning it. It is a popular fallacy among some bee keepers that there must be absolutely no departure from the natural instinets of the bees, and a new or strange idea is frequently condemned on these false grounds. The same men will use movable frame hives and queen mailing cages, and will remove honey from the hives either by extracting or in the far more unnatural section. We must, as pointed out previously,a know the habits of the bees; but equally important in practical work is a knowledge of the amount of flexibility in the instinct. In fact, modern apiculture has come to be a study of the modification of conditions under which bees can thrive to bring about the best results for the bee keeper.

## 1.4. Alley system of cell starting

There is another method of starting queen cells which gives very good results. Mr. Henry Alley recommends that a strip of comb, with young larvae from the breeding queen, be cut wide enough for one row of complete cells to remain intact. The outer portions of the cells on one side are cut away and every second larva is killed or removed. This strip is then fastened to the bottom of a comb with the open ends pointing downward, and the whole put in any colony used for cell building. The queen cells are built very regularly and a large proportion are accepted. In the apiary of the Bureau it has been found easier to use partly drawn out foundation in which are young larvae, as shown in figure 8, thus avoiding the cutting away of the ends of cells. This method is very simple, since it does away with the necessity for transferring, and gives good results; but the cells must be cut apart to be put in nurseries, and in this manipulation they lack the firmness of cells with wooden bases. It has also been recommended that drone comb be used in the same way, and that a larva be transferred into every other cell. This plan, however, does not possess the one really good feature of the Alley method, and has therefore nothing to commend it.

## The use of "cocoons."

Another plan, used by several queen breeders, is that of transferring the larva in the "cocoon" to an artificial cell cup. The comb is cut down until quite thin (about three-sixteenths inch), and then bent back and forth until the lining of larval skins and the excreta, generally called the "cocoon" by beekepers, is loosened. This is transferred by forceps, or on the end of a rounded stick with a depression in the end. This plan does not require the use of royal jelly; but it takes considerable practice to make the transfer successfully and seems to be no better than the method of transferring larvae alone.

## COMPLETING QUEEN CELLS

## Inventators.

The carrying up of queen cells to the time when the adult virgin queen emerges is much easier than the starting of the cells. Cells once started may be hung in a queenless colony without any covering or protection, and it is an easy matter to have a large number cared for. In the practical work of the Department quiary it is customary

for the prospective queen breeder to study the problem. The ideal nursery cage must at the same time be an introducing cage; so that from the time when the queen cell is put in until the queen is transferred to another hive to be mated, no attention is necessary except to uncover the candy plug to allow the workers to cut the queen out. The Stanley cage, consisting of a cylinder of perforated zinc, will do very well, provided it is modified so that it can be used as an introducing cage, but it is awkward and not easily handled in a hive. The long West cell detector is also good, except that it is not so convenient for introducing and does not fit into any bar, but must be stuck on a comb.

It may also be added that any cell protector is worse than useless where artificial cells are used. Where the old method of cutting natural cells from colonies and transferring these cells to queenless colonies is practiced, a cell protector is desirable and almost necessary, since the workers in repairing the cut edges of comb often gnaw entirely into the cell and kill the queen. The author has never known this to happen on artificial cells. The Titoff e

The Swarthmore nursery, shown in figures 10, 11, and 12, is excellent also, but it is unfortunate that when this form is used the queens must be removed to introducing cages. This nursery is more valuable when used for keeping queens on hand for some time after mating. Queens can be removed from the mating colonies and stored in them for several weeks even, without any harm; and the mating colony can be used several times in that period for mating other queens. The size of this nursery is very convenient, and \(+8\) queens may be kept in a frame, as shown in figure 12. In the illustration these queens were actually Caucasian virgins, and the nursery had been used for emerging queens. This is not the most convenient nursery for virgin queens, and the author understands that the originator, Mr. E. L. Pratt, does not so use it.

A nursery, then, should be so constructed that the queen will be separated from the workers by wire cloth; should be of such a form that any style of artificial queen cell may be placed in it; should contain a place for candy as food for the young queen; and should above all be useful as an introducing cage. The use of a special introducing cage of any type is not generally recommended. Even in introducing queens received by mail the shipping cage is as good as any "improved" introducing cage and saves time.

## Introducing queen cells

But it may be asked, " Why not introduce queen cells directly to the colony where the queen is to stay until mated?" This method is all right where time is no object; but the queens might just as well be kept in a nursery until three to five days old, and thus they need not be in the mating colony more than four or five days. If a queen cell be placed in a mating colony it means that for a day or two before the queen emerges, and for at least five days before she mutes, the colony is unproductive; and commercial queen breeders can not afford such a loss. Such a method of introduction is easier, it is true, but certainly is not economical. In introducing from a nursery it sometimes happens that queens are killed, but even this loss is not great enough to justify the method of introducing cells, especially since queens from cells are sometimes rejected also.

The practice of putting a little honey on the tip of the queen cell when in a nursery, so that the emerging queen may have something to eat while gnawing her way out is not necessary, and has, when practiced, sometimes led to the death of the queen by suffocation.

## 7 Mating Queens.

The best method of muting queens has perhaps been more discussed by bee keepers than any other phase of queen rearing, the bone of contention being the size of the colony which shall be used in mating.

Some bee keepers insist that queens should be mated only in full colonies, while others go to the opposite extreme and claim that only a handful of bees are necessary to cure for a queen during this period of her life.

## 8 Comparison of different sizes of boxes.

A comparison of the cost of the two methods will help to solve the difficulty, for bee keeping is a business proposition, and bee keepers desire the most return for the least expenditure of either time or money. Mating in a colony means that that colony is without any new brood for about a week; and since during the summer season the life of the average worker is about six weeks, the loss resulting is about equal to one-sixth the cost of the colony used. This is to some extent made up by the increased activity in brood rearing after such a period of rest; but at any rate a colony can make no increase in size when queens are being muted, and there is almost always a loss. From this standpoint, then, the smaller the colony, the cheaper this part of the rearing will be; and if this were the only point to be considered there could be but one answer to the question.

The time spent in manipulation is an important item, especially where large numbers of queens are to be reared. It is more difficult to introduce a queen into a large colony than into a small one, and this is a factor to be considered, since the chances for occasional losses of queens which may result in considerable loss of time are much reduced by the use of small colonies. In looking over mating colonies to see whether the queen is laying, there is everything to be said in favor of the small colony or "nucleus." There is less comb area to be covered, and, if any eggs are present, it is easy to see them at a glance; but the chief gain is in the time spent in finding the queen to remove her from the colony. To go over 8 or 10 or even 3 or 4 full frames requires ten times as much time as to open up a small nucleus and pick off the queen almost at the first glance. This much is in favor of small colonies, certainly.

There are, on the other hand, certain disadvantages in the use of very small nuclei in the hands of the inexperienced. Queens can be mated from small boxes with a comb aren not greater than that of a 1-pound section of honey, and with a mere handful of bees; but experienced bee keepers have failed to make these work successfully, merely through ignorance of the special manipulation necessary for the smaller colonies. The complaint is also sometimes made that these nuclei are robled out because the small number of bees will not defend the hive against invaders and that the colony will " swarm out" or leave the box because it is too small. It is also claimed that the nucleus will not be a success unless there is unsealed brood in the comb to hold the bees. All of these general statements are too broad, for such colonies are not more easily robled than large ones, do not swarm out if properly made, and brood is unnecessary under some circumstances. However, there is a foundation for these complaints, every one of which comes from experienced men.

The entrance to a nucleus of the smallest size should be very small, so that one bee can protect the hive from several robbers. If, by any chance, a small colony without brood becomes queenless, it will almost invariably swarm out, and to this must be attributed most of the cases so reported. Unsealed brood undoubtedly helps to hold the bees in the colony, and certainly should be used in most cases. After the first laying queen is removed from a nucleus, this brood will be present; and from that time on there is no difficulty. To prevent the bees from swarming out with the first queen, brood may be given to them. If, however, the bees are confined in the colony for some time (to which there is no valid objection), they will rarely swarm out, even without brood, and to remove them to an out yard lessens this difficulty still further.

Nuclei with not more than a few dozen bees will mate a queen, and this has been done, and is being done repeatedly. There is objection, however, to the use of the smallest nuclei in the hands of the inexperienced, for they will die out unless watched, and often require restocking. In a large queen-rearing yurd, this frequently amounts to considerable labor, and to avoid that feature a somewhat larger nucleus is desirable. Bee keepers are not always adepts at handling small nuclei, and in actual practice a colony should be in such condition that it can be handled quickly, safely, and sometimes even rather roughly.

A size of nucleus which has proven to save both time and labor in the apiary of the Department of Agriculture is one having a comb area somewhat less than one standard Langstroth frame. The hive bodies were originally made large enough to hold five frames, as shown in figure 16: but, in practice, three or even two are used, and the extra room is an advantage in moving the frames quickly.

The construction of the frames is shown better in the illustration than could be done by a written description. Any frame used in a nucleus should be so nude that it can be used as part of a standard-sized frame, or so that a number of them fit into an empty frame: for otherwise it is difficult to get them filled with honey and brood before making up the nuclei. The frames of this particular nucleus box are one-third standard size, and two full ones and one only partly built out have given most satisfactory results. If the bees are ready to build, some place should be left for new comb; otherwise they will build small combs to the cover. A feeder is attached either to the back of the hive body, or in front over the entrance, and these can be filled very rapidly when feeding is necessary. A colony of this size requires much less attention in this regard than the smaller size, and is correspondingly better.

Figure 16: Benton mating boxes, showing method of combining frames to make a standard sized frame, and positions of feelers (original).

Figure 17: Benton mailing cages, showing construction. The larger size is for shipment to distant countries. The smaller cage may be used for shipments to Europe (original).

The comb area is small enough in this hive for the queen to be very quickly found, and, unless too many bees are put in, this part of the manipulation is very simple. The original cost of the hive is considerably more than that of the smallest sized nuclei, but the body is much more durable, and the cost as compared with that of the full-sized hive, which some breeders use, is small. This mating box was designed by Mr. Frank Benton, of the Bureau of Entomology. It is not intended that the inference shall be made that this nucleus box is the best in use. It is described merely as a guide to queen rearers, and any other style of box which combines the good features of this one will do equally well.

No one can deny that queens may be mated in hives smaller than a full colony, but a question sometimes arises as to whether the queens are as vigorous and prolific after being muted from small boxes. To this, it may be answered that the successful mating of a queen depends on the drones which fly in the air; and this is in no way influenced by the size of the hive. It takes very few workers to feed a queen--witness the mailing boxes--and this is the only function of the accompanying bees. If then a queen is herself strong and vigorous, and meets an equally vigorous drone, she will be successfully mated, will be just as prolific, and will lay just as long, when kept in a small colony to mate as in a full-sized one. From a practical standpoint it may be answered that queens muted in small nuclei when put to the test have actually proven as good as those mated under other circumstances. This is after all the true test to be used.

## phenomena in mating

In from five to ten days after the emerging of the young queen from the queen cell, she leaves the colony for her mating flight. The first flights of a queen from the hive are very short, and, like young workers, she flies in circles near the entrance, as if fixing the location. Several such flights may be taken before she really takes a long one. Finally, however, she leaves the entrance and flies in ever-increasing circles upward, and, if there are drones in the apiury or near by, she is usually mated. The height to which she flies and the distance from the hive at which she meets the drone depend entirely on circumstances; it may be near at hand or even a couple of miles away. This is a matter very difficult of observation, naturally, but the mating has often been observed by chance. It is a very simple matter to see the first circles of the virgin on leaving the hive entrance, and if drones are plentiful it is not hard to see that many of them start after her. Anyone can verify so much; the rest depends on chance observations.

From dissections of virgins and fertile queens, it has been found that, in mating, the spermattheen or seminal receptacle is filled with spermatozoa or male sex cells. The spermattheen is a very minute sac opening into the evident down which the eggs must pass in going from the ovaries to the outside of the body. As each egg is laid, if it is to be fertilized, it receives one spermatozoon from this spermatheca, and the male cell is received into the egg and unites with it. More than one spermatozoon may adhere to the outside of the egg, but no normal egg will admit more than one through the mieropyle or opening in the end of the egg covering.

In mating, the queen receives an enormous number of these spermatozoa, the number having been estimated at from two to twenty million. Since mating usually occurs but once, it is evident that these spermatozon must be capable of independent existence for five years or more, for they are not capable of dividing or increasing in number in any way, and the queen is of course unable to produce new ones. Frequent cases have been reported of queens which have muted more than once, and this probably accounts for irregularity in the markings of the offspring of some queens. It is claimed by some that obviously the first mating must have been unsuccessful, but there seems to be no ground for that view, and there is no reason to believe that both matings were not complete. There is no reason whatever, so far as is known, why a queen can not receive a supply of spermatozoa from two drones, and some of the arguments to the contrary, with no basis of observation or knowledge of the anatomy, are not worthy of consideration. Cases have even been reported in which queens which have actually begun to lay have gone out for a second mating; but the evidence is as yet neager, and it will be well to wait for further observation before considering such a possibility. Usually, however, a queen takes but one muting flight, and thereafter never again leaves the hive except with a swarm. The ovaries develop to such an extent that flight is impossible, without a previous stoppage in egg laying.

## Testing Queens.

If the honey producer is rearing queens for his own use, they may be introduced into full colonies as soon as they begin to lay. A fair idea of the value of the queen may be formed from the number and regularity of the eggs laid in the nucleus box, and if later she is found to be misnated, or not up to the standard in egg laying in a full colony, she should be discarded. A queen may be tested as to the purity of mating by allowing her brood to emerge in a small nucleus, but no estimate can be made in this way concerning her prolitieness. In testing for pure mating, however, the entrance should be covered with perforated zinc to prevent the colony from swarming out. If a queen is to be sold as "untested," she may be shipped as soon as she begins to lay after mating. Tested queens are those which have been kept until their progeny show the markings of pure mating.

Tested queens which have been kept in full colonies to observe purity of mating, and which after one season show that they possess ability to produce strong colonies, are sold as "select tested." However, it is to be feared that some queen breeders are not careful enough about this test and that queens are often sold under this guaranty which are simply tested queens one year old, which simply means that their life of usefulness is thereby shorter by one year. For breeding, nothing but the very best of "select tested" queens should be used. Great care should be exercised in choosing such queens by watching purity of mating, prolifeness, honey production of workers, disposition of bees, tendency to keep a very large colony of bees at all seasons; and especially, care should be taken that brood reuring does not cease as soon as the honey flow slackens in undisummer. Some bees, otherwise good, will stop brood rearing with the first sign of a decrease in honey, with the result that the colony enters the full flow with old bees, and that scarcely anything but old bees are in the colony at the beginning of winter. This is probably the essential cause of the excessive death of bees in early spring, known as "'spring dwindling."

## Necessity of pure stock.

The necessity of purely-mated queens for breeding can not be too emphatically urged. The so-called "- hybrids," or mismated queens, produce young queens of so much variability in every character that it is very unwise to use them. There is one phase of queen breeding which would doubtless prove useful, but which has not yet been tried to any extent. The first crosses of various races have proven very useful; as, for example, the cross between Cypians and Carniolans, but no breeder to the writer's knowledge has ever undertaken to fix the type. That this could be done seems very probable, reasoning from what we know of crosses in other animals, and by careful selection of prolific queens whose workers showed all the characteristics of the first cross, these crosses would doubtless prove valuable as breeders. Under no other circumstances, however, should mismated queens be used.

## Selection of drones.

The selection of drones is one of the things in which the vast majority of bee keepers are notoriously careless. Queen breeders will select a breeding queen with great care and allow her progeny to mate with drones from any hive in the apiary, and just as long as this is done there can be no advance in the types. Drones should not be allowed to fly except from colonies where the queens are prolific and the bees good workers, and just as much care should be exercised in the choice of colonies for the production of drones as for breeding