MATING QUEENS OVER COLONIES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3399, 7 May 1919, Page 7

MATING QUEENS OVER COLONIES.

Mr Frank C. Pellett: Dear Sir, —In the American Bee Journal, 1917,. page 344, we were favoured with an article from you on "Increase With Little Cost. This method appealing to me, I tried it out in one of my outyards the past season, with no success. Recently, on reviewing Gleanings for 1914, I find, on page 285, that Dr Miller had tried to raise some queens over a colony with a laying queen, but failed. Editor Root's comment on Dr Miller's "straw" stated that Mr Doolittle had met with some success in getting queens mated in an upper story of a queen-'right colony, but usually it proved a failure. On page 796, Gleanings, 1914, Mr Chadwick gave the result of his attempt at this stunt which was almost a complete failure on 75 colonies.

Just recently I received a copy of your " Practical Queen Rearing," and I find the identical plan which you proposed in the American Bee Journal in 1917. In my own yard I tried it with about 50 colonies. Each colony had from one to three extracting supers on, and the brood was put above the supers with a wood-zino excluder between the supers and the hivebody below containing the old queen. In some cases cells were started in the original . brood-chamber before putting above. In other cases there were no cells when making the change, but in almost every instance cells were started and completed above. But here is where the "rub" comes —not a single queen got to laying above. The entrance to the brood-chamber above was made in a half-inch rim between it and the immediate super below. No doubt this method is a success with you, and I should feel much - pleased if you could show me why I. as well as these other gentlemen, have met with such dismal failure^.—lndiana.. Answer: As nearly as I can guess, the reason for failure in all cases reported to me is either having the upper entrance too near the one below, or the lack of a ripe queen cell. If a newly-formed cell is given all the brood will emerge from the upper brood-nest before the young queen is ready to lay. I make a practice of starting a batch of cells in advance of the time when the brood is to be raised above the excluder. A ripe cell is always given the day following the raising of the brood, and the young queen should emergo the second day after. If weather conditions are favourable the young queen should be mated and ready to lay before the brood has all emerged. With sealed brood the young queen does not hesitate to begin layih"- in a normal manner. If no brood is present she is likely to make an effort to reach the brood-nest of the old_ queen below the excluder and be lost in the attempt. , The entrance to the upper brood-nest should be on the opposite side of the hive from the one in the lower body; other-, wise the voung queen is likely to enter the lower story with the old queen on her return from her mating flight.—F. O. ±\ in American Bee Journal.