Produced by Richard Tonsing and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) [Illustration: _Yours truly Henry Alley_] 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 Apiarist ILLUSTRATED PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY CHAS. A. KING, BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS COPYRIGHT BY THE AUTHOR 1903 [Illustration: Improved Bay State closed-end frame Bee-Hive. Used by thousands of Bee-Keepers many years with great success. Construction of brood-frames same as the Dawzeubaker. Frames are reversible and held in position by side boards and two iron rods.] PREFACE This little book is written and designed to instruct those engaged in bee-keeping in the art of rearing queen bees. The long experience of the author in this particular branch of apiculture, as herein detailed, may prove not only instructive but interesting. That the work may meet the approbation of its readers is the wish of THE AUTHOR [Illustration: Illustration of the original Bay State Bee-Hive. Invented and used by Henry Alley, more than twenty years ago. This hive was specially devised for wintering bees successfully on summer stands and for the production of the largest amount of honey.] CONTENTS Page Breeding queen, where to keep 16 Cell building, how to prepare a colony for 18 Cell building, method number one 19 Cell building, method number two 26 Cell building, method number three 29 Cell building, feeding while going on 29 Cell building, how to prepare eggs for 21 Cell building, destroying eggs 22 Cell building, theory of using young bees 24 Cell building, how to rear the best 27 Drones, objectionable 37 Drones, how to catch and destroy 37 Drones, how to obtain and preserve 44 Drone-trap, utility of 46 Honey, how to prevent candying 54 Nuclei, how to form 31 Nuclei, how to feed 44