=REARING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS.=
So much of the bee keeper's success depends upon the strength of
his colonies, and this in turn upon the character of the queens
heading these colonies, that he needs to be well informed as to what
constitutes a really good queen and how to produce such, and, having
this knowledge, it will be profitable to be constantly on the alert to
see that all colonies are supplied with the best queens procurable.
With a queen from a poor strain of bees, or an unprolific one from a
good strain, a colony, even in a season of abundant honey secretion,
will give little or no return, while the seasons are not frequent
during which one given a fair start and having a large, prolific queen
of an active honey-producing strain can not collect a fair surplus
beyond its own needs. Admitting this, it will be plain to all that
queen bees differ proportionately in value as much as horses or cattle,
and the keeper of bees who does not know how to select and produce the
best can not be called a bee-master.
When bees swarm they generally leave a number of sealed queen cells
in the parent colony. With blacks and Italians there are usually 6 to
10; rarely more than a dozen. Carniolans generally construct about
two dozen, but under favorable conditions can be induced to build 75
to 100 good cells at a time. Fig. 62 represents a comb from a hive of
Carniolans which had built at one time 70 queen cells. Cyprians usually
make 30 or 40 queen cells, but may greatly exceed this number under the
best conditions, while Syrians nearly always exceed it, sometimes even
building as many as 200; and the writer has seen 350 cells constructed
at one time by a single colony of bees in Tunis. It might be thought
that where so many were constructed only a small proportion of them
would produce good queens. Such is not the case, however; for in
general a much larger proportion of the cells formed by these eastern
races produce well developed queens. But in all hives some queen cells
are undersized. This may be because they are located near the bottom
or sides, where space for full development is lacking, but in many
instances it arises from the fact that they are formed last, and larvæ
that are really too old to make full sized, perfect queens have to
be used. These smaller cells are usually smooth on the outside and
show thin walls. In selecting cells only the large, slightly tapering
ones, an inch or more in length and straight, should be saved. Yet
good queens may frequently be obtained from crooked cells, in case the
latter are large and extend well into the midrib of the comb.
[Illustration: Fig. 62.--Comb showing worker brood and queen cells.
(Original--from photograph.)]
When a laying queen is removed from a colony during the working season,
eggs and larvæ of all ages are left behind. As indicated in Chapter
II, any egg which has been fertilized may be made to develop into a
queen. So also larva? from such eggs may, up to the third day, be
taken to rear from without danger of producing inferior queens. Cells
in which to produce queens will be started over some of these larvæ
on the edges of the combs, or, by tearing down partitions and thus
enlarging the lower portion of the cell, a beginning is obtained for
a queen cell. Fig. 63 shows such queen cells constructed over eggs
or larvæ originally designed to produce workers. They are known as
emergency cells. The young larva is at once liberally supplied with
a secretion, which is probably a production of the glands of the
head, and which analyses have shown to be rich in nitrogen and fatty
elements, being similar to that given at first to the worker larva.
This is continued throughout the whole feeding period, while, as Dr.
Von Planta has shown, in the case of the workers and drones, after the
third day the proportion of the constituents of the larval food is so
changed that they receive much less albumen and fat and more sugar.
It is chiefly the influence of this food which causes the larva that
would have developed as a worker to become a queen. The latter has
somewhat changed instincts,, and its reproductive system is developed,
instead of abortive as in the case of the worker. The size of the cell,
and, to a less extent perhaps, its position, no doubt influence this
development, but the food seems to be the main factor, for small cells
built horizontally, if their larvæ are supplied with the food designed
for royal larvæ, will be found to contain queens, and frequently these
queens, even though small, are quite prolific, and show in all respects
the instincts of a queen.
[Illustration: Fig. 63.--Queen cells and worker brood in various
stages. (Original.)]
It is believed by most queen raisers that in order to secure the best
development of the young queens a colony should be allowed to build but
a few cells at a time. That their belief is not well founded is shown
by the facts just cited concerning the large numbers of well-developed
queen cells which produce also perfect and prolific queens. It lies
within the skill of the bee-master to establish conditions favoring
the production of food for the queen larvæ--the so called "royal
jelly"--and this having been brought about, there need be no hesitancy
in permitting the construction of hundreds of queen cells in one colony
if such numbers are needed.
It was formerly the plan, after removing the queen from a colony
in order to secure queen cells, to trim the lower edges of the
combs containing eggs or very young larvæ, or to cut out strips of
comb about an inch wide just below worker cells containing eggs or
just-hatched larvæ. This practice gave the bees space in which to
build perfect full-sized cells, but it had certain disadvantages. Good
worker combs were mutilated, often quite ruined, in order to secure
the construction of the cells and also in cutting out the latter.
Cells so formed are often in groups so close together that they can
not be separated without injury to numbers of them, necessitating, if
desirable to save all, a close watch, or at least frequent examination,
for hours or even days, since all the queens are not likely to emerge
at the same time.
To remedy this Mr. O. H. Townsend, of Michigan, devised a plan which
is described in Gleanings in Bee Culture for July, 1880 (Vol. VIII, p.
322). It consists in cutting combs whose cells contain eggs or freshly
hatched larvæ into narrow strips and pinning or sticking these on
the sides of brood combs in such a manner that the cells containing
the eggs or larvæ from which queens are desired shall open downward.
Mr. Townsend removed the larvæ from some of the cells, believing
that he secured better developed queens by limiting the number, and
also because he could then cut them out more easily for insertion in
separate hives. In the succeeding number of Gleanings (August, 1880),
Mr. J. M. Brooks, of Indiana, illustrated a plan for securing even
greater regularity. This consists in shaving off the cells on one side
down nearly to the midrib of each strip of worker comb containing the
eggs or larvæ selected to rear queens from, and then sticking these
strips on the undersides of horizontal bars nailed in ordinary comb
frames. Mr. Henry Alley, in his work on queen rearing, published in
1883, recommends sticking the prepared strips, shallow cells downward,
on the lower edges of combs which have been trimmed so as to round
downward. This leaves plenty of space for the full development of queen
cells, the eggs or larvæ in alternate cells having been removed as in
the plans previously mentioned. All conditions being favorable, many
cells conveniently located are thus secured, and if the exact age of
the eggs or just-hatched larvæ has been noted the time the young queens
will emerge may be known beforehand, so that preparation can be made
for them. Nuclei--small clusters of bees containing a quart to two
quarts--are to be placed in separate hives and given combs, emerging
brood, and a supply of food, and to each of these a mature cell is to
be given. The nuclei thus prepared may be confined to their hives with
wire cloth and placed in a cellar for two or three days, and when set
out, just at dusk (p. 117), the bees will adhere to their new location.
Full colonies, whose queens it is desired to replace, may also be made
queenless about two or three days beforehand, and when mature the cells
inserted one each in these. In cutting out the cell a small piece of
comb, triangular shaped, 1½ to 2 inches long and about 1½ inches broad
at the top, is to be left attached to it whenever practicable, since
it will then be easy to insert it in one of the combs of the queenless
colony or nucleus, by cutting out a corresponding triangular piece.
Fig. 54 shows a queen cell inserted in a brood comb. It is safest not
to cut the cells out until they are within twenty-four to forty-eight
hours of their full maturity. In case a nucleus or colony has not been
queenless long enough to make it ready to accept a queen cell, the
latter may be placed in a cell protector made of wire cloth or of a
spiral coil of wire and then inserted between the central combs of the
hive. The lower end only of the protector is open, so that the upper
portion of the cell--the part easily bitten open by the workers--is
wholly covered.
Queen nurseries on the general plan devised many years ago by Dr.
Jewell Davis, of Illinois, are used to hold surplus maturing cells and
the young queens, after emerging, for which colonies or nuclei are not
ready at once. These nurseries consist of compartments about 1½ inches
square, made of wood and wire cloth, and so arranged that they may be
suspended in the center of a colony of bees, a frame being filled with
them for this purpose. Each compartment contains a bit of soft candy to
sustain the life of the queen in case the bees fail to feed her. Spiral
coils of wire somewhat longer than those used as queen-cell protectors
have been arranged with a metal cup for food, so that, in principle,
they are the same as the compartments of the Davis queen nurseries and
are used for the same purpose.
The young queens will usually mate when from five to seven days old,
flying from the hive for this purpose. If any undesirable drones are
in the apiary they may be restrained from flying by means of excluder
zinc over the hive entrances, permitting only workers to pass in and
out. In a day or two after mating the queen generally commences to
deposit eggs, and is then ready for use in the apiary or to be sent
away as an "untested queen." To enable her to rank as a "tested queen"
it will be necessary to keep her three weeks or a little longer in
order to see her worker progeny and ascertain by their markings that
the queen has mated with a drone of her own race. As both tested and
untested queens are usually raised from the same mothers--the best in
the given apiary--either may be obtained for honey production; but for
use as breeders only tested queens which have been approved in every
way should be purchased, unless, indeed, the purchaser prefers to buy
several untested queens, which can usually be obtained for the price
of one approved and selected breeder, and do his own testing, trusting
that among them one or more may prove valuable as a breeding queen.
"Warranted queens" are untested queens sent out with a guaranty that
they have mated purely. If few or no drones of another race are in the
vicinity of a breeder, he is tolerably safe in doing this. The proper
plan is for the breeder to keep a record of the brood of all such
queens and replace such as show that they have mismated.
Exact records of the ages of all queens should be kept, and notes on
the qualities of their progeny are desirable, while in some instances
particulars as to pedigrees are valuable.
[Illustration: Fig. 64.--The Benton cage for transporting a queen and
attendants by mail. (Original.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 65.--Caging a queen for mailing. (Original--from
photograph.)]
MAILING QUEENS.
Queens are now transported nearly always by mail, and sent to all parts
of the United States, and even to distant foreign countries, the cage
used almost exclusively being the one shown in fig. 64 or some slightly
modified form of the same. No attempt was ever made to patent this
cage, and as the construction is obvious from the figure given here,
anyone who desires can make and use it. The food usually employed in
these cages by queen breeders is a soft candy recommended many years
ago as bee food by the Rev. Mr. Scholz, of Germany. The Scholz candy
is made by kneading fine sugar and honey together until a stiff dough
has been formed. Some think it an improvement to heat the honey before
adding the sugar. The Viallon shipping candy consists of four parts
of brown sugar and twelve of white sugar, with two tablespoonfuls of
honey and one of flour to each pound of the mixed sugars; these, with a
little water added, form a batter, which is boiled until it commences
to thicken, when it is poured into the food compartment of the mailing
cage. Mr. I. R. Good recommended for use in queen cages a mixture
of granulated sugar and extracted honey; hence this candy has since
been known as the Good candy. The bees fed on it leave loose granules
of sugar in the cage, and these becoming moist often daub the whole
interior in such a way as to cause the death of queen and workers. It
is therefore not adapted to long journeys.
The food for the journey having been placed in the end opposite that
containing the ventilating holes, a bit of comb foundation is pressed
down over it to assist in retaining the moisture, the food compartment
having also previously been coated with wax for the same purpose. The
cover, with perhaps a bit of wire cloth between it and the bees to
give greater security, together with the address and a 1-cent stamp,
completes the arrangement for a queen and eight to twelve attendant
workers to take a journey of 3,000 miles. A special postal regulation
admits them to the mails at merchandise rates (I cent per ounce). For
transportation to distant countries of the Pacific a larger cage and
more care are necessary to success. A recent estimate by one of the
apiarian journals places the number of queens sold and thus transported
in the United States annually at 20,000.
INTRODUCING QUEENS.
Most of the mailing cages are arranged so that when received the
removal of the wooden lid and also of a small cork at one end will
permit the bees to eat their way out when assisted by those of the hive
to which the queen is to be given. The cage is laid, with the wire
cloth down, on the frames of a colony that has previously been made
queenless. In twenty-four to forty-eight hours the queen will usually
have been liberated, but it is safer not to disturb the combs for four
or five days lest the bees, on the watch for intruders when their combs
are exposed, regard the new queen as such, and, crowding about her in a
dense ball, sting her instantly or smother her.
Colonies having only young bees accept queens readily, so that when a
swarm has issued and the parent stock has been removed to a new stand
the time for queen introduction is propitious. During a great honey
flow queens are accepted without much question, if any at all. They may
at such times nearly always be safely run in just at dark by lifting
one corner of the cover or quilt of a queenless hive and driving the
bees back with smoke. The new queen, having been kept without food and
away from all other bees for a half hour previously, is then slipped
in and the hive left undisturbed for several days. This and similar
methods of direct introduction without cages, having been developed and
advocated by Mr. Samuel Simmins, of England, are known as the Simmins
methods of direct introduction of queens.
In the fall and at all times when honey is not coming in freely, caging
the queen for a few hours or days is desirable. A cage which permits
the queen to remain directly on the comb itself is infinitely superior
to any other. Fig. 66 shows a pipe-cover cage as made by the author,
the size of which may be greater if circumstances require--that is,
when it seems advisable, with a queen of great value, to include under
the cage a number of cells containing emerging brood. Ordinarily the
size here shown will suffice. The queen is caged before a closed window
on a comb of honey with five or six recently emerged bees taken from
the hive to which she is to be introduced. The comb holding the caged
queen is to be placed in the center of the queenless colony, where the
bees will cluster on it, yet with the end of the cage pressed firmly
against the adjoining comb, so that the cage will remain in place even
though a heavy cluster should gather on it. On the following day, just
before dark, the queen should be released, provided that upon opening
the hive the workers are not packed densely about the cage trying to
sting her through it. In the latter case she should be left twenty-four
or even forty-eight hours longer, and in the autumn it is generally
advisable to keep her caged several days or even a whole week. If left
longer than one day all queen cells should be hunted out and destroyed
a few hours before releasing the queen. Feeding while the queen is
caged is a good plan if gathering is not going on briskly. Upon freeing
the queen, diluted honey drizzled down between the combs will serve to
put the bees in a good humor for the reception of the new mother bee.
The entrance of the hive should be contracted for a short time so that
but a few bees can pass in or out at a time.
[Illustration: Fig. 66.--Benton queen-introducing cage. (Original.)]
The conditions necessary to success in introducing queens are complied
with by the above plan, namely: The bees are queenless long enough
to have become fully aware of the fact, yet usually not long enough
to have started queen cells; the strange queen is caged a sufficient
length of time to acquire the peculiar odor of the hive to which she
is to be given; the bees are all at home when the queen is released,
and thus all become thoroughly gorged with food and are well disposed
toward the new queen. No robber-bees come about, and by morning all is
in order.
As queens mate only once (p. 19), and workers and drones live but a few
weeks or at most a few months (p. 20), if an Italian, a Carniolan, or
other choice queen mated to a drone of her own race, be introduced to a
given colony the bees of this colony will soon be replaced by others of
the same race as the queen introduced. All of the colonies of an apiary
may thus be changed; or, from a single breeding queen the apiary may be
supplied with young queens pure in blood, and, since these (even though
mated to drones of another race) will produce drones of their own blood
the apiary will soon be stocked with males of the desired race.