MillerThousand AnswersBeekeepingQuestions.pdf - BioBees

THOUSAND ANSWERS 11Bees are no good without pasturage, and pasturage is no goodwithout bees. You can't very well get along without a hive. Butif you insist that I must pick out some one thing to which thebeekeeper must give the greatest attention, I think I would saythe queen. For whatever the queen is, that decides what thebees are. By breeding for the best all the time, a man is morelikely to get ahead than by giving his attention to something else,such as hives or pasturage.Bees, Cross.—Q. I have a colony of bees that is very cross, andone that is very tame. How could I introduce a queen from thetame colony to the cross one so as to make them all tame? Andat what time ought I do it?A. Rear a queen from the better stock, kill the objectionablequeen, and introduce the new queen in an introducing cage. Oryou may do the other way. Take two or three frames of broodfrom the good colony, put them in an empty hive, fill out withempty combs or frames filled with foundation, and set this on thestand of the bad colony, moving the bad colony to a new placeclose by. Now lift out two or three frames from the bad colony(be sure you don't get the queen), and shake the bees from theseframes into your new hive, returning to the bad colony its twoframes of brood. In two or three weeks there ought to bea queen laying in your new hive. You can strengthen it by addingbrood and bees from the bad hive, or you can unite with itall of the bees and brood, killing the bad queen two or three daysbefore uniting. Pehaps you would like to have two colonies insteadof one. In that case kill the bad queen a week after thefirst move, and two or three days later exchange one of the twoframes in your new hive for one of the frames in the bad hive,making sure there is a queen-cell on the frame, and also on theframe you leave.When you have on more than one super howBee-Escapes.—Q.would you put a bee-escape under? Would you lift the supersone at a time and put them on a bench, and then, after the escapeis on, put them back?A. If there are two or more supers on the hive you are notlikely to want to take all off at a time unless at the close of theseason. So lift off supers until all are off that are ready to take,setting them on end on the ground, leaning against their hive,perhaps setting them on top of an adjoining hive. Then returnany that are not ready yet, put on the escape, and then the superor supers that are ready to take.or