The method of compelling swarms to make and keep extra queens, for their apiarian, or owner

Take a drawer containing bees and brood comb, and place the same in the chamber of an empty hive; taking care to stop the entrance of the hive, and give them clean water, daily, three or four days. Then unstop the mouth of the hive, and give them liberty. The operator must observe Rule 6 in using the slides.

Remarks.

The prosperity of every colony depends entirely on the condition of the
Queen, when the season is favorable to them.

Every bee-master should understand their nature in this respect, so as to enable him to be in readiness to supply them with another Queen when they chance to become destitute.

The discovery of the fact, that bees have power to change the nature of the grub (larva) of a worker to that of a Queen, is attributed to Bonner. But neither Bonner nor the indefatigable Huber, nor any other writer, to my knowledge, has gone so far in the illustration of this discovery as to render it practicable and easy for common people to avail themselves of its benefits.

The Vermont hive is the only one, to my knowledge, in which bees can be compelled to make and keep extra Queens for the use of their owner, without extreme difficulty, as well as danger, by stings, in attempting the experiment.

The idea of raising her royal highness, and elevating and establishing her upon the throne of a colony, may, by some, be deemed altogether visionary and futile; but I will assure the reader, that it is easier done than can be described. I have both raised them, and supplied destitute swarms repeatedly.

When the drawer containing bees and brood comb is removed, the bees soon find themselves destitute of a female, and immediately set themselves to work in constructing one or more royal cells. When completed, which is commonly within forty-eight hours, they remove a grub (larva) from the worker’s cell, place the same in the new-made Queen’s cell, feed it on that kind of food which is designed only for Queens, and in from eight to sixteen days they have a perfect Queen.

As soon as the bees have safely deposited the grub in the new-made royal cell, the bees may have their liberty. Their attachment to their young brood, and their fidelity to their Queen, in any stage of its minority, is such, that they will never leave nor forsake them, and will continue all their ordinary labors, with as much regularity as if they had a perfect Queen.

In making Queens in small boxes or drawers, the owner will not be troubled by their swarming the same season they are made. There are so few bees in the drawer, they are unable to guard the nymph Queens, if there are any, from being destroyed by the oldest, or the one which escapes from her cell first.

In examining the drawer, in which I raised an extra Queen, I found not only the Queen, but two royal cells, one of which was in perfect shape; the other was mutilated, probably by the Queen which came out first. Now when there are so few bees to guard the nymphs, it would not be very difficult for the oldest Queen to gain access to the cells, and destroy all the minor Queens in the drawer.

When a drawer is removed to an empty hive, for the purpose of obtaining an extra Queen, it should be placed some distance from the apiary, the better to prevent its being robbed by other swarms. When it is some distance from other colonies, they are not so likely to learn its comparative strength. There is but little danger however, of its being robbed, until after the bees are out of danger of losing their Queen, which generally occurs in the swarming season.

The Queen is sometimes lost, in consequence of the young brood being too far advanced at the time of the departure of the old Queen with her swarm. If the grubs had advanced very near the dormant or chrysalis state, before the bees learnt their necessity for a Queen, and the old Queen neglected to leave eggs, which is sometimes the case, then it would be impossible for the bees to change their nature, and the colony would be lost, unless supplied with another.