Improved Queen-Rearing; or, How to Rear Large, Prolific, Long-Lived Queen Bees / The Result of Nearly Half a Century's Experience in Rearing Queen Bees, Giving the Practical, Every-day Work of the Queen-Rearing Apiary

by Henry Alley

NECESSITY OF QUEENLESS BEES

Right here will be found the necessity of queenless bees in the apiary. Such colonies must care for the completed queen-cells when removed from the colony that built them until such a time as the cells can be transferred to nuclei or the nursery.

One doing a large queen-rearing business will need several queenless colonies at all times. Not only must queenless bees be used in caring for queen-cells, but for queens confined in the queen nursery.

When the bees are removed from a hive for the purpose of starting more cell-cups, the bees that have just completed a batch of cells may be put on the combs and a queen given them at once, and in a short time, say two weeks, such a colony will be in as good condition as any in the yard.

This thing can go all through the queen-rearing season. Only a few colonies need be made queenless in the beginning, and then no colony will of necessity need be queenless.

I would not advise using one colony for cell-building but once in four weeks. It requires a lot of colonies to rear queens in the above way, but the results are so satisfactory it will be found much the cheapest in the end.

Good queens is the main point in queen-rearing. Never mind about the cost. If the right methods are used in rearing queens, good queens will cost no more than poor ones.

Bee-keepers the world over are interested in the subject of better queens. We all know that queens to supply the demand must be reared by what is called artificial methods. The best methods must be put in practice if the bee-keeping public is to be satisfied. Cheap and inferior queens have had their day, and those who rear the best will get the business and they should have it, too.