. The American bee keeper. Bee culture; Honey. PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W. T FALCONER MANFG CO VOL. I. SEPTEMBER, 1891 NO. 9. How can we Elevate the Standard of our Bees? BY E. L. PRATT. Almost every bee-keeper knows there are always one or two colonies in his yard which lead all the others in many ways. Eor instance: here is a stock that has stood the test for two years. They winter well, build up early and are ready for the boxes by the opening of the white clover every time, and when the boxes are put in they are not slow about occu- pying them. They work early and late and generally fill f
. The American bee keeper. Bee culture; Honey. PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY THE W. T FALCONER MANFG CO VOL. I. SEPTEMBER, 1891 NO. 9. How can we Elevate the Standard of our Bees? BY E. L. PRATT. Almost every bee-keeper knows there are always one or two colonies in his yard which lead all the others in many ways. Eor instance: here is a stock that has stood the test for two years. They winter well, build up early and are ready for the boxes by the opening of the white clover every time, and when the boxes are put in they are not slow about occu- pying them. They work early and late and generally fill from two to three cases from clover and bass wood. Nearly all the good traits of our bees are transmitted through the drone. Therefore no drone should be allowed to rly excepting those from such a col- ony as the one above described. In the spring (or the fall previous) select the colonies that have given the best results and supply them with a good number of drone cells near the en- trance of the brood chamber, so as to have drones on the fly as early as pos- sible. If there are more than two col- onies giving good results supply them also with drone comb on the outside of the brood nest for a batch of good drones later on in the season. It is well to remove all cells of the drone size from the other colonies as far as possible, so as to avoid the production of worthless drones. As soon as swarm- ing commences adjust drone traps to all hives excepting those selected for drone rearing. The zinc used in these traps should have perforations of a size to allow young queens to pass through but hold hack all the inferior drones. Allow the swarming colonies to construct their own cells in the ordinary way, and when the young queens fly out to mate there will be no other drones in the air excepting those selected, and a decided cross with a select stock is the result. This is one point gained, and after following up the practice a few seasons a very marked improvement in the capabiliti
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectbeeculture, bookyear1
