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 ApiaryAlley, Henry
Science
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
Alley, Henry
Bee culture; Bees
My plan is to let colonies, whether full stocks or nucleus, remain
queenless three days, or not far from 72 hours. Then just before dark
the queens are given the bees by this process: I generally have from 25
to 50 virgin queens to introduce at one time. The cages are placed in a
convenient box having a handle. Then as many plantain leaves as there
are queens to introduce are pulled and put in the box ready for use.
These leaves are for closing the entrance to each hive in which queens
are to be placed. Armed with the pipe before mentioned, all is in
readiness for introducing the queens. The feeder used at the top of the
hive is removed, a good dose of smoke is blown in among the bees and
combs. The feeder replaced until the stopper in the cage is removed, and
then the queen by a quick motion is thrown out and into the feeder hole.
Then the feeder is again quickly put in position, and no further
attention is given the bees.
I have introduced successfully as many as fifty virgin queens in thirty
minutes.
The art of introducing unfertile queens requires more experience to be
successful than it does to introduce fertile queens. In fact, one must
be very apt, possess a good deal of tact, and I can almost say, must be
very scientific. However, most any bee-keeper can learn how to perform
such work successfully. One may read how others do these things, but
practical knowledge, in order to know all the little details of such
intricate and delicate work as introducing queens can only be had by
long practice and experience. Just how much tobacco smoke to give the
bees when introducing a queen is a point that requires more or less
practice and good judgment.
I never have been so unfortunate as to give bees too much smoke at such
times. Am not certain that bees can be killed by tobacco smoke if they
can get fresh air soon after smoking them. The effect of the smoke soon
passes off and the bees resume a normal condition.
Bear in mind that unless the work of introducing queens by using tobacco
is done very late in the day, or on some cool day when bees cannot fly
very much, your apiary will be ruined, as robbing may be induced.
Tobacco smoke puts the bees in such a condition they cannot defend their
stores from robber bees, and once robbing is commenced among the small
nuclei it is almost impossible to stop it. Should such a thing happen it
would be necessary to remove the entire nuclei to a distant location.
INTRODUCING FERTILE QUEENS
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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