QUEEN-BEE REARING.

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume XXX, Issue 5, 20 May 1925, Page 314

QUEEN-BEE REARING.

NEW MATING-BOX TESTED AT RUAKURA.

A. B. TRYTHALL,

Apiarist, Ruakura Farm of Instruction

The question of the most suitable mating-box has proved a prolific field for experiment ever since queen-rearing became a prominent part of . apiary-work. The gist of the matter is to mate queens successfully with the least amount of attention and the minimum of worker bees. During a lengthy experience in beekeeping I may claim to have tried practically every kind of mating-box that other beekeepers have advocated, and before describing my latest experiment it will be advisable to review some of the more prominent appliances that have been used previously. ' The first and probably still the most commonly used form of matingbox is the ordinary three, four, or five Langstroth frame nucleus hive ; and for practical particularly in the case of those beekeepers who only need to rear queens for their own requirements—this is still one of the best and safest boxes to use for the purpose. These nuclei, however, require a great many bees for stocking, and as queens can be mated in much smaller nuclei containing far fewer bees it is only natural that the breeders of large numbers of queens should have been constantly experimenting to discover how small a box, with how few bees, can be used to do the same work easily and well. Over twenty years ago an American beekeeper named Pratt, who wrote for the bee journals and issued a series of pamphlets on queenrearing under the nom de plume of “ Swarthmore," used matingboxes of very small dimensions. These boxes contained two frames little larger than I lb. section frames, and were stocked with a queencell and a breakfast-cupful of bees only. Many beekeepers, including myself, tried these so-called “baby nuclei,” but with only partial success, the fault being that in many instances the bees swarmed out with the young queen when she took her mating flight —and never returned. The A.I. Root Company (U.S.A.), recognizing that “Swarthmore” had gone to too great an extreme, designed what is known as the “ Root Twin Baby Nuclei," which consists of a box q| in. by 81 in. by 6 j in. deep, inside measurement. This is divided in the centre by a fixed partition, forming two compartments with separate entrances at each end. The frames have sliding tin ends to rest on the rabbets of the hive. The sliding ends when pushed back enable three of these frames fitted into a Langstroth frame, so that the combs could be worked out and brooded in an ordinary hive. When brooded and stocked with honey two of the small frames are placed in each compartment of the twin baby nuclei, together with a queen-cell and about a pint of bees. I have used these twin baby nuclei quite successfully at Ruakura, and they are still used in America by many queen-rearers, but for several reasons have not been so successful as was expected. Among

■other disadvantages are the following : (i) They are too small to winter as separate units, and therefore require to be restocked every season; (2) owing to the small capacity of the frames, constant supervision is necessary to prevent starvation on the one hand, or undue -glutting of the frames on the other ; (3) unless stocked at an out-yard and released in the home yard (or vice versa) there is the risk of too many bees deserting; (4) the trouble entailed in making the small frames and getting them worked out in Langstroth frames and afterwards transferred to the baby nuclei. THE NEW MATING-BOX. i During the last two seasons I have been experimenting with a nucleus hive made out of benzine- or kerosene-case ends, and of dimensions to take ten frames the size of a Langstroth frame cut in half horizontally. These hives have provision for four entrances, one on each side and end, and are capable of being divided into any number of compartments, up to four, by slipping in movable division-boards made of three-ply wood flanged with strips of rubber tubing to provide a tight .fitting cushion. The floor-board is movable, but fastened in position when necessary with four wire pins. Entrance shutters are provided to close any compartments not in separate use. Details of Construction. Details of the construction of this hive are as follows :— Floor-board: This is 19 j in by nfin., and composed of two benzine-case ends cut to size and nailed on 1 in. bearers all round. The scraps cut off provide more than enough to form short legs, which are nailed to the under-side. ' On top of the floor-board, 1 in. from each end, are nailed pieces of wood 1 in. square and the width of the hive. In the centre of each of these is cut a small hiveentrance. , I Body-box: Sides — one complete benzine-case end each, with frame rabbet -/g- in. deep by | in. cut out. Ends—one case end each, reduced to iif in. When nailing together let the ends lap the sides, instead of letting the sides lap the ends. In the ends cut entrances corresponding to those in the floor-board. At each side bore auger holes 9 in. from end of-box (outside measure), such holes being placed diagonally (not opposite) to each other. The box should fit comfortably between the pieces on each r end of . the. floor-board. Bore four gimlet-holes through these end pieces and the hive ends, and insert fence-wire pins to hold the box and floor-board firmly together. The division-boards of the box are made of three-ply wood, 9| in. wide by 9jin. deep. Along the bottom and projecting |in. from the wood is a strip of motor-car inner-tube rubber ro| in. long, and similar pieces 9|im long project in the same way down each side. These are tacked firmly to the three-ply with strips of thin wood. A similar strip runs along the top edge, with ends projecting to fit the rabbets of the hive. The gist of the whole arrangement is to keep the bees not only from passing the division-boards but to prevent any communication between the compartments, and yet for the divisionboards to be easily removable and not subject to propolization.

The clock-faces on each compartment of hive are devised to indicate .condition of nuclei when last examined, and thus largely save note-taking. The meanings attached to each hour (which are memorized) are as follows : (i) Empty ; (2) query ; (3) queen-cell required ; (4) queen-cell given : (5) cell refused by bees own cell built; (6) cell hatched ; (7) young queen seen, but not yet laying ; (8) no queen — workers present ; (9) queen laying'—untested ; (10) mismated queen ; (11) tested queen. ; (12). more bees or stores required. The minute hand pointing to any one of first thirty minutes indicates respective day of month when last examination made ; pointing to any one of second thirty minutes it indicates necessity of examining hive again at that future date.; Hands are readjusted at completion of each examination as required. • [Photos by H. Drake.

Roof : This is made with f- in. .' square bearers all round, giving inside. measurements, of in. ..by n j in. Cover with, double thickness benzine-case side timber, and over all cover with benzine-tin. sheet cut as shown in Fig. i. Flatten out the tin, and .'solder small V-shaped pieces into the breaks on each side. Give i| in. lap to the tin all round. The double thickness of roof-timber gives weight and stability, with less liability to being blown off, and also more protection against summer heat and winter cold. Instead of hand-holes for lifting, a flange of j in. square wood is run right round the outside of the hivebody i in. below the top. The roof-sides rest on this flange, which also tends to further prevent the roof from being blown off if the hive is exposed to strong.winds. • . The hive. should be put together with all case-marks turned to the inside. Paint all over with three coats, giving the tin part of the roof a coat of red-lead paint inside before nailing on so as to prevent it rusting from the inside. The final product is a neat, durable, compact hive which will last for years. 1 ■ - ’ Stocking and, Management. « To stock the mating-box take from some other hive or hives five Langstroth frames containing brood and stores, and with a fine saw cut them in two exactly in the centre. Then nail on to each , half another end bar on . which has been previously nailed a projecting end to rest on the rabbet on the hive-side. . Place the ten half-size frames in the. hive, and cover with quilt and roof. Pull, out the wire pins, lift the body off its floor - board, and place it crossways over the excluder on a strong colony of bees, covering the vacant . space with a board 16. in. by 8 in. The young nurse-bees from the strong hive will immediately take charge of the brood, and the nucleus hive can .be moved back on to its own floor-board the next day, and be placed on a new stand. The young bees, never having flown, will remain where they are put. The. hive is now ready to receive one, two, three, or four queencells according to requirements. . If more than one queen-cell is given, divide the hive accordingly by slipping in one or more of the three-ply rubber-cushioned dividing-boards, and open the required number of entrances. These division-boards take up very little space, and even if one compartment is reduced to two frames only in size it has still much'more capacity than one of the Root .baby nuclei. If any compartment becomes weaker in bees than another, turn the hive round,. bringing the entrance to the weakest portion opposite the strongest flow of field-bees. But care • should be taken to do this, when no young queens are due to fly, or matters will be complicated for them. As the close of the season approaches and surplus queens are being used up for requeening other hives or for sale purposes,. it is the simplest matter to remove a queen from one of these compartments and the following day to take out a partition, thus uniting its bees and brood with the next. This in turn is treated likewise, until one queen only is left in possession of the entire hive, in which she should be able to winter easily and come out strong in spring. Then the partitions and queen-cells are put in again with the minimum amount of trouble, nuclei being all ready at the start without having to. restock them every spring.

Advantages summarized.

The points in favour of this mating-box are many, and may be summarized as follows : (i.) It is made almost entirely of waste material —-benzine-case timber and container-tin. (2.) Well made and painted, it is a good-looking hive, and very substantial, durable, weatherproof, and warm. (3.) It is ideal for wintering. (4.) It is convenient to hive small or medium-sized swarms in. (5.) Its elasticity of method ; if the beekeeper has surplus queen-cells he can use them by placing division-boards in the box ; as queens are used the division-boards are taken out and the compartments united. Another easy way to provide nuclei is to fill the half-size frames with foundation, and after filling the hive with them to place a swarm in possession. Later on, when the swarm has built out and brooded the frames, partitions can be inserted and queen-cells given.