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<strong>Better</strong> <strong>Queens</strong> <strong>by</strong> <strong>Jay</strong> <strong>Smith</strong><br />
amply paid for all the effort and expense I have been to in preparing this<br />
volume. With the passing of the years there may be minor changes in our<br />
system of rearing queens direct from the egg but the main feature will always<br />
remain if quality of queens is desired. With our present system all cells are as<br />
large and as well supplied with bee milk as are the cells produced <strong>by</strong> the bees<br />
during swarming or supersedure in nature, and let no one tell you he can beat<br />
nature in rearing queens. All we claim is that we can equal nature and that is<br />
enough.<br />
Shall the Beekeeper Rear His Own <strong>Queens</strong>?<br />
My answer to that is emphatically yes, providing he can rear the best of queens.<br />
Maybe some member of the family, a boy or girl or yes, maybe Mother, may<br />
rear the queens and find it not only the most profitable work about the<br />
beeyard but they will get a world of pleasure in doing it. Many will make a<br />
larger profit from half the number of colonies if they rear their own queens.<br />
Therefore, instead of being more work to rear their own queens it really<br />
would be less work for the time saved in caring for double the number of<br />
colonies not to mention the larger amount of money invested. Let me give<br />
just one instance. In California I had the privilege of observing the systems of<br />
two beekeepers who worked in opposite lines. One had two thousand<br />
colonies. When a colony died from becoming queenless the beekeeper<br />
divided another colony. In one division was the queen. In the other, the bees<br />
were expected to rear a queen. Sometimes they did, but having only old<br />
combs the resultant queens were not the best. He had to hire a large crew of<br />
men to take care of all these colonies to see that they did not die out. In<br />
addition, the interest on the money invested in that large equipment was<br />
considerable and if you consider the depreciation, that was an additional<br />
expense.<br />
In contrast to this I met a man in Ventura County who had but 250 colonies.<br />
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesbetterqueenswpics.htm (19 of 119)20-12-2006 21:42:54
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