BREEDING OF THE QUEEN.
For that purpose choose the largest hive, for it is an old saying, that "a large cow will produce a large calf."—From so fine a hive you certainly have fine young ones.
As it is known that out of every working-bee-egg the bees can breed a queen, and that they often prepare as many as from six to thirty at the same time, advantage must be taken of that fact.
But do not begin with the breeding of queens until the bees are sufficiently strong, and have commenced the breeding of drones. This must be particularly attended to if you want to breed afterwards pure Italians, for to insure their mating only with Italian drones they must first exist, and that in strong numbers.
§7.
HOW TO BREED ITALIAN QUEENS WHEN IN POSSESSION OF ONE OR TWO WHOLE ITALIAN HIVES.
When you have one or two Italian hives, you must endeavor to put them into hives with moveable parts, if they are not already in one. Then care must be taken, that by continual feeding with good honey, and filling up of the hive with sufficient combs, they increase their strength and prepare a good many drones. The trouble is much less if the Italian bees are on a stand by themselves, about 500 or 1000 yards from the others, the farther the better.
It will be well to be cautious, to leave one hive undivided and untouched that they continue to breed many drones, for the divided hive will not produce any more drones in the same year, therefore one hive must be kept strong and untouched, so that you do not run short in drone-breeding.
When there are sufficient drones or drone-brood on hand, take from a hive the Italian queen with the third part of her people and building, and fill up the missing two-thirds with empty and full combs. This queen is now taken to a distant stand where the common or black bee is kept, and placed in the stead of a populous hive during the absence of the most part of the bees. The black bees will at first be surprised and refuse to enter, as these two species hate each other. Should they entirely refuse to enter, then remove during the flight, the whole of the black hives standing on the same front; the returning bees will then be frightened, and not knowing where to go to, will, in the end, willingly, and without disturbance, enter to the Italian mother, who by those means will soon get strong again; and in about five or seven days, will have laid sufficient eggs to part them again; and so you can continue as long as you wish to Italianise. In that manner, if the queen is forthwith strengthened by German bees, no disturbance takes place in the breeding of drones, you have only to put in a few drone-cells. But that the Italian mother does not receive black drones as well, place before the fly-hole a drone-stopper to keep those customers out.
Let us now return to the Italian stand, where we have taken the mother from with a third of the people.