The independent-reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1909-1955, 1923-11-22
Relation OF Queen to Honey Production
(Allen Latham)


AS the queen is the mother of the
other bees in the colony, and as the
honey crop depends upon. those other
bees 1t follows that there is an i'm
portant relationship between the
queen which heads a colony of bees
and the honey crop which that colony
stores.
A queen may influence the product
iveness of a colony in several ways.
She may impart longevity to her work
offspring, hence long field-life; she
may be very prolific, hence numerous
working force; she may be very virile
and active, hence an energetic colony;
In age she may be such as to cut
down the tendency to swarm. "
Again the productiveness of a colony
is greatly Influenced by the time OF
year she became the established head
of the colony. Briefly she should be
established not less than five weeks
prior to the opening Of the honey flow
nor as rule longer than nine or ten
months. In other words she should
be there long enough to insure a big
working force, but hot SO long as to
become tagged, IL we are to look for
the best results.
OF prime Importance Is 1t that we
secure good stock, for there is as much
difference in bees as in poultry or in
dairy stock. Pure breeding and Sc
lective breeding pay we'll in. beekeep-
ing, and a beekeeper should lose no
time in getting his colonies headed
with fine queens of the best stock OBJ
tainable. Tolerating inferior queens
must be classed with keeping d four
quart COW. ts..
After the beekeeper has headed his
colonies with good stock 1t becomes
a matter of management upon his
part IL he is to make that good stock
pay. Even the best stock will not
pay with poor management. A dairy
man might buy stock from the best
strain of fat-producers in the country
but il he fed that stock upon meadow
hay alone where would he then be?
The beekeeper must use his brain.
He must read the best books he can
get, must subscribe to the bee papers,
and he must keep one lap ahead OF
his bees all the year.
Queens do not last indefinitely, but
must be renewed. This means the
purchase of young, INFESTED queens
or the rearing of ones own queens.
Whatever the method used the bee
keeper must have young queens of the
best stock at the right time. In my
opinion there is no better time than
late August 6r early September for
the renewal of queens.
This raises the old question Of wheT
Their 1t is better to requiem every year
or every two years. II your judy
ment is good, so that you are able
to tell by the looks of a queen that
she will be profitable for one season
more, let her go. Few of us have
that power, hence in the long run 1t
pays better to requiem every year.
Experience is teaching us more and
more the value of late summer re-
queening. for queen established In
late summer puts the colony into fine
shape FOR winter, but without materi-
tally exhausting her powers; hence
she will hustle the colony along the
next spring and come into the honey
flow with such lasting qualities that
she Is quite likely to forestall swarm
ing. Whatever the cause or causes
of swarming, experience tells US that
June queens almost invariably go out
with swarms the next year, whereas
late summer queens help tremendous
ly to cut down the swarming.