Better Queens by Jay Smith.pdf

Better Queens by Jay Smith
killed them by pinching them between my thumb and finger. I had wiped my
thumb and finger on my trouser leg. A virgin queen circled me a few times
probably to adjust her bomb sights then mad a pin-point landing on the spot
where I had wiped my thumb and finger, and planted her sting in my leg. Yes,
she thought I was a queen. While greatly appreciating the compliment, I
would much prefer she would show her appreciation in a less militant
manner.
Now as the queen and worker larva receive the same kind of food for the first
two days, the reasoning has been that if larvae two days old are placed in
artificial queen cells, perfect queens can be reared. As the attorney would say,
"Your honor, I object." "While the larvae may be fed the same kind of food
for the first two days they have not been fed the amount of food they would
have been fed had they been reared in their own cells direct from the egg."
"Objection sustained."
For Best Results Follow Nature
We should not that when bees are preparing to swarm or supersede their
queen they fairly flood the young larvae just as soon as the eggs hatch and
sometimes they put bee milk into the queen cells before the eggs hatch. This
they do in such a lavish manner that after the bee has emerged there remains
from a quarter to half an inch of dried milk. (I suppose we now should say
"dehydrated milk.") This is the way Nature rears her queens and don't say
Nature makes a mistake by putting in too much food. If this overabundance
of milk were not necessary it would not be put there.
Therefore, if one does not have his cells built so there is a great abundance of
dried milk left in the cells after the virgins have emerged, he is not rearing the best
of queens.
Shortcomings of the Grafting Method
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