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

NOW LET US DISCUSS SOME OF THE IMPROVED METHODS OF REARING QUEENS

First the nucleus system. Any number of combs and bees taken from a full hive constitutes a nucleus colony. We will start on a three-frame nucleus with the L frame as a basis. Three such combs, say one of brood in all stages and two of honey and pollen, with all the adhering bees, are sufficient to form a good nucleus colony.

As there are but few bee-keepers who do not understand the above work, and as none are likely to begin queen-rearing unless they can handle bees to some extent, I need not go into the little details to describe how to form nucleus colonies. But we will suppose a three-frame nucleus has been formed, and the bees have been confined in the hive at least 24 hours with a supply of water, for bees that are deprived of their liberty, and are rearing brood or queens, must have plenty of water or the uncapped brood will perish. After 24 hours confinement the colony can be given its liberty and placed on a stand anywhere in the apiary somewhat remote, of course, from where they were first taken. After being queenless for this length of time, the bees will have started several queen-cells and have quieted down and only a few of the older bees will return to the parent hive.

Now, to increase the population of the nucleus and to make it thoroughly prosperous, other bees should be added each night, for three or four nights in succession, say at about sunset. This is easily and quickly done by taking a comb of bees from some strong colony and brushing or shaking them down on the ground in front of the nucleus. In doing this care must be used that the queen of the full colony is not taken.

The above was practiced by me in my early queen-rearing experience when “vamping up” nucleus colonies. I was not long in discovering that there was great advantage in adding young bees as per above. By so doing I found that with each fresh lot of bees given the nucleus there would be a new lot of queen-cells started.

In a few days the colony will be well established, and queen-rearing by a most convenient process will be going on in a very successful manner.

Unless there is plenty of natural forage in the fields, the colony must be fed continually or inferior queens will be the result. In the course of about five days all the cells will be completed, that is, capped; and from eight to twelve good queen-cells, most likely, formed.

At about the time the first young queen should appear, (say the twelfth day from the day on which the eggs were given the bees), provision must be made for preserving the cells or the young queens. Other nucleus colonies must be made up for each cell or queen, as the case may be. The cells may be transferred at once without danger of destruction from the bees, provided the bees have been queenless for twelve hours. While bees might not destroy queen-cells if given them before they miss their queen, I find that they cannot be trusted in this respect, and that it is much safer to give queen-cells to bees that have been queenless at least 24 hours. It is not necessary to cut a hole in the comb to insert a queen cell, but push your finger down between the combs at the top and place the cell in the space thus made. If more convenient to use a queen nursery when the cells are ripe, full directions for so doing may be found on another page.