, 1876-06-16
Raising Queens.

aniarian, described his system Of raising
oueens artifcislly as follows: first
make a box five inches wide, seven
inches long and six inches high, hold
ING three combs-more will do no harm.
These combs should contain honey to
last two or three days or more. Now
90 TO the hive from which you are
breeding, and obtain a piece of comb
nearly three inches long, and less than
half an inch wide. This should be
new, if possible. The larva should not
he less than two, nor more than three
days old, from the egg. In the center
of the middle comb cut out a space
three inches long by au inch in depth.
This piece of brood is supported by
Lodges at the ends on the upper side of
the space. Allow no more brood in the
box.
In the middle of the day when the
bees are out, take from q strong colony
that is Matching young bees, little less
than a quart of bees, and nearly all will
be young nurses. Shut them in the
box thirty-six or forty-eight hours, and
then let them out. They will make
from six to ten cells. If the brood is
lust the right age, they will be likely to
hatch in ten days, not less. At the end
Of that time look carly in the morning,
and if you can cut any Of them out
without injuring the others, do it, but
leave one. If joined 30 that you will
have to destroy part to separate them,
leave them, but examine several times
through tho day, and if any hatch, re-
move them at once; 1 have found four
hatched at one time. The cells that
have been cut out may be used to sup--
ply other nuclei, or they may -be Trans
ferred to the quoen nursery. claim
that lean raise, thus cheaply, as good
queens as can be obtained. 1 feel like
saving better than those will average
where full colony has been employed
70 raise dozen.
know that am on delicate ground
now. Some OF my best friends, who
are earnest in their wishes to advance
the science Of bee culture, will pity,
perhaps condemn me. If the reasons
that give are not sufficient to sustain
the system, let it fall; 1 want it upheld
BY merits of its own, or not at all.
How is it with natural swarms2 Ten
or fifteen cells are often made where q
swarm has issued. The first are made
under the impulse Of the swarming fe-
yer. II the swarm issues before any are
sealed over, very many will be started at
once. Some Of them, however, after
the swarm has left, receive much less
attention than the first ones did. II
want of attention makes an inferior
que, in case Of artificial rearing, can
any one say why the same causes will
not produce the same results heref We
are mot likely to ascertain for . GER
tainty, as all except two or three Of the
first are destroyed. But when we come
to initiate natural swarming, in q sense,
by removing queen from o full stock,
and claim better queens in consequence,
we can test it somewhat. We find in
the attempts to replace the mother, q
still greater diversity in time Of starting
cells. It is reported that some queens
will hatch in nine days, aome in ten,
others sixteen and eighteen, and all in
termediate. times. Those under ten
days are claimed Is deficient in devel-
opment, and short lived. never had
any nine-day queens, and cannot say.
Those that are slow to mature are quite
apt to be deficient. / do not say that
some such do not make beautiful
queens, but the average IL no better
than ten-day queens.
When first deprived Of the mother,
the bees make cells over larVa, without
seeming to care much for Q convenient
place; after the first impulse is over,
they find good place occasionally, and
commence other cells, but having .
large number already, they work as if
they cared little for these last. They
seem to nurse such for something to do,
never expecting to need them. They
may be all right except late, and just
sealed over when the first one matches.
It is hardly possible to cut out such un-
ripe cell, end get from it . good queen.
Until q queen has its shape and begins
TO get color, it is very delicate and ten
der. The cell is twice the size neces-
sary to hold it, and if it is cut of and
only turned over-sven II carefully
done-it falls from one side to the other,
and is bruised badly, making it q Grip
pie and inferior in color.-G'or. Pacific
Rural Press. ~