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This is the last section of the Queen Rearing chapter. The first part is similar to the Chapter from his 1886 edition.
This is the Hopkins method in his own words.
If anyone knows where I can find an explantion of the "Case Method", preferably in Case's own words, I would love to see it.
I will try to get the pictures as I get time.
If you find any typographical errors or you wish to make comments please send them to:
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Another Method of Raising Cells.
The method I am about to describe was, I believe, first tried and described by an Austrian Bee-keeper, but so far as I am aware, I was the first to give it a trial in this part of the world. At the Government Apiary, and with excellent results as Fig. 66 indicates.
A new bright (wired) comb of the previous season's construction was put into the hive of one of our breeding queens; when fairly full of eggs and newly hatched larvae it was removed and laid flat on a bench. A thin-bladed knife was run along each side of every fourth row of cells, cutting down to the mid-rib only. The three intermediate rows of cells were scooped out with the blade of a broad bradawl, as shown in fig 65, an easy matter, leaving every fourth row intact. Two out of every three eggs or larvae in the standing rows, were killed, as in the Alley plan, and also all eggs and larvae between the rows. This is important. The cells on the opposite side of the comb were not touched.
A strong two-story colony was in the meantime prepared for cell building in the manner already described, an empty half-story was placed immediately over the brood chamber, an empty frame being laid flat on the brood frames and the prepared comb (prepared side downwards) laid flat on the empty frame. The latter was covered with a light mat, and the upper story replaced.
In due course we obtained sixty good cells in our first experiment, and over eighty as shown in fig. 66 in our second trial. The above illustrations were made from photos taken by myself, the cells being fore-shortened in the view look smaller than they really were. As soon as the cells are well started a queen excluder may be put on and the queen returned in the manner previously described.
Caution.
The comb lying flat over the brood chamber is subject to considerable heat, and we found in one case part of the comb had sagged down owing to the softening of the comb, and weight of the bees. We then would wire around the frames between the standing rows of cells, which checked the sagging. Either wire or thin splints of wood will do. We obtained some very fine queens by this method, and as a wholesale way of raising cells, I consider it immensely superior to raising them on the swarm box plan with a small force of bees from artificial cell cups and transferred larvae. Plenty of ventilation should be provided when raising queen cells in this manner.
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