. Bees and how to keep Bees. 50 REARING QUEENS Too little attention has been paid in Canada to queen rearing. A large apiary kept for honey production possesses all the best conditions for the suc- cessful rearing of queens and frequently also for obtaining a high percentage of matings with drones of selected parentage for the improvement of stock. Space forbids giving more than an outline of the process. Beginners may save queen-cells from their best colonies that swarm, break- ing up the colony into several little colonies or nuclei shortly before the young queens are due to hatch, ea
. Bees and how to keep Bees. 50 REARING QUEENS Too little attention has been paid in Canada to queen rearing. A large apiary kept for honey production possesses all the best conditions for the suc- cessful rearing of queens and frequently also for obtaining a high percentage of matings with drones of selected parentage for the improvement of stock. Space forbids giving more than an outline of the process. Beginners may save queen-cells from their best colonies that swarm, break- ing up the colony into several little colonies or nuclei shortly before the young queens are due to hatch, each nucleus consisting of two combs containing brood with adhering bees, honey and a queen-cell. Spare queen-cells may be given to other nuclei specially formed to receive them. However, it is better to rear queens from the best colonies that do not swarm. For those who do not want a large number of queens, the following is an excellent method. First select the colony from which it is desirable to rear new queens, and into the centre of the brood nest place a new comb or. Fig. 45.—'Carrier of queen-cells. a frame fitted with a full sheet of foundation. Examine this comb each day, and as soon as a sufficient number of eggs, say from 2 to 3 hundred, are found in it, prepare another colony, preferably one that is preparing to swarm, or is superseding its queen, by removing from it the queen and all open brood. About one hour later remove the comb containing the eggs from the first colony and place it in the centre of the colony from which the queen and open brood have been removed. Twelve days later ripe queen cells will be found on this comb, these can now be removed and distributed to mating boxes or colonies that are to be requeened. Where many queens are required the grafting method is recommended. This is done by transferring with the turned-up point of a sharpened quill or special grafting tools about twenty young worker larvae of the desired parentage into artificial (or n
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookpublisherottawadepartmento, booksubjectbees
