Now it may be that one queen will not supply all the eggs needed, or that it is desired to rear more than one strain of queens. When this is so, more breeding queens may be used, and they may be kept in small hives. I have found that one good queen will supply enough eggs for 1500 young queens in one season.
Figure 1
HOW TO START THE QUEEN-BREEDER COLONY
I will now describe the hive, fig. [1], for keeping the breeding queen in, and give the dimensions of all the parts so that any one can make the entire thing. Sides of hive, 6 in. high × 7¾ in. long × ½ in. thick; ends, 6 × 6 in., ⅞ in. thick. Make rabbit for frames to rest on ½ × ½ in. in the 6 × 6 × ⅞ in. thick pieces. As the top bar of frame is but ¼ in. thick, there will be a bee-space of ¼ in. between the cover of the hive and the top of the frame, and plenty of room under the frames for the bees to cluster and be kept out of the way while the combs are being handled. The bottom of the hive is 9 × 8¾ in. × ⅞ in. thick and is nailed firmly to the bottom of the box. The top, or cover, is the same as the bottom only there are two 1 × ⅞ in. thick clamps nailed on to prevent the board from warping. Use ⅞ in. boards for the entire hive, excepting the sides, as these hives must necessarily be out in all sorts of weather, and rest upon the ground.
It will be found that the width of the hive allows for more room than a regular bee-space for four frames, but this is quite an advantage when handling the frames, as just a bee-space does not allow sufficient room for easy handling the combs; and if they go in closely the queen and many of the bees may be crushed when the frames are removed.
The dimensions of the frames are as follows: Top bar 6½ × ⅞ × ¼ in.; bottom bar 5½ × ⅞ × ¼ in.; end pieces 5½ × ⅞ × ¼ in. The top and bottom bars are nailed to the end pieces. A block is used to form them on when nailed, so that when the frames are put up they are all alike.
To stock this hive with bees, brood, stores and queen, remove from a full colony one comb containing brood in all stages of maturity with the queen and adhering bees. Place the hive on the grass, or a cloth, and brush the bees from the comb directly in front of it. They will at once run in, or, at any rate, stay about the hive until the combs are transferred to the small frames. To cut the combs in the small frames, lay the full comb on a clean board, place one of the little frames over it, and with a sharp knife cut the brood into the frame. If nicely done no strings or sticks will be needed to keep the brood in the frame. One of the combs should contain honey, pollen, etc.
The bees will soon repair the damage done the combs and brood, and, in the course of 24 hours, this colony will be in condition for the business of producing eggs for queen-rearing.
If any clean and nearly new pieces of comb about the size of the nucleus frame are at hand use them for the breeding-queen to deposit eggs in. Never place the empty comb at the side of the hive. The queen will utilize it at once if placed near the centre of the brood-nest.