NUCLEUS. 



3J4 



NUCLEUS. 



thut they are homeless, and then let them 

 lly, they will after a time come pretty nearly 

 back to the place from which you released 

 them; but they will soon wander away and 

 be lost, unless you give them a queen to 

 which they will come back and probably re- 

 main if she does not stray away. She, like 

 the rest, must fulfill her destiny, or disap- 

 pear; we shall, therefore, have to provide 

 her a comb wherein to hiy eggs. The bees 

 would build the comb themselves, provided 

 they were numerous and had plenty of food. 

 A dozen would never build any comb, nor 

 make any attempt to rear and liatch her 

 eggs if the comb were given them. Per- 

 haps a hundred bees put in a suitably small 

 box, with a fertile queen, might start a col- 

 ony, and this is what we call a nucleus. It 

 is the center, about which a colony of bees 

 may in time be formed. Should they de- 

 velop a full colony, the building-up would 

 be done by the queen filling her combs 

 with eggs, which, when cared for by the 

 nursing bees (see Bees), would be converted 

 into larvte, and in 21 days hatch out perfect 

 bees. These bees would then help the 

 original hundred, and the queen fill a still 

 larger area with eggs, which would hatch in 

 the same way, and so on. The difficulty 

 in the way of building up from such small 

 beginnings seems to be that the queen 

 will lay all the eggs a hundred bees can 

 care for, perhaps in an hour or two, and 

 then she has to sit or loaf around for the 

 whole 21 days, until she can have another 

 "job." Before the 21 days are up, she will 

 be very likely to get disgusted with such 

 small proceedings, and swarm out, or at 

 least induce the bees with her to do so. 

 See Absconding Savarms. If we should 

 increase the number of bees to 500 or 

 1000, w^e could get along then very much 

 better, and there would be little danger of 

 swarming out unless the hive given them 

 were too small. A very spry and ambitious 

 queen might fill all the cells the bees had 

 prepared for her, then set about filling them 

 the second time, as they sometimes do, and 

 then swarm out ; but with a quart of bees — 

 about 3200, if I have figured rightly — things 

 will generally go along pretty well. 



To have this quart of bees work to the 

 best advantage, something depends upon 

 the sort of hive they occupy. A single 

 comb, long and narrow, so as to string the 

 bees out in one thin cluster, is very bad 

 economy. Two combs would do very much 

 better, and three a great deal better still. 

 It is like scattering fli'ebrands widely apart. 



One alone will soon go out ; two placed side 

 by side will burn very well ; and three will . 

 make quite a fire. It is on this account [ 

 that we would have a nucleus of three, j 

 instead of one or two frames. Bees seem to ; 

 seek naturally a space between two combs; 

 and the queen seldom goes to the outside 

 comb of a hive unless she is obliged to for 

 want of room. 



FORMING NUCLEI FOR INCItEASE ; nOAV 

 TO DO IT. 



Dividing colonies into nuclei for the sake 

 of increasing the number ot hive tenants 

 is usually very bad practice, especially in 

 the hands of beginners. When running for 

 honey, colonies can not be much too strong. 

 Yet there are times, especially after a severe 

 winter, when many colonies have died, that 

 some form of artificial increase is desirable. 

 Here is one of several plans we have prac- 

 ticed with success. We will start with one 

 colony: 



As soon as settled warm weather comes we 

 would divide our colony into four two-frame 

 nuclei , introducing an untested Italian queen 

 to every division as formed; confine them at 

 least three days (72 hours), tacking wire 

 cloth over the entrance. At the end of this 

 time remove the wire cloth, when the bees 

 will stay contentedly without returning. If 

 honey is not coming in we would feed a little 

 every day. 



When the queen fills the frame or frames 

 with eggs, and there are bees enough to cov- 

 er, we would put in another frame on the Gid- 

 side. As the weather warms up it miglit be 

 advisable to put in still another frame, put- 

 ting this one in the center of the cluster, in 

 the mean time keeping up gentle feeding 

 daily. A very good feeder for this purpose 

 is tlie Boardman. See Feeders. This can 

 be slipped into the entrance, and by screw- 

 ing the can tightly or loosely into the cap the 

 flow of feed can be regulated for the daily 

 needs. 



Make the syrup by mixing together sugar 

 and water in equal proportions by measiu'e. 

 Stir thoroughly, and pour into feeder-cans. 



As soon as the nuclei have four or five 

 frames of sealed brood, larvae, and eggs, take 

 out one or more frames from each, and form 

 another. This i)lan can be continued till one 

 has 15 and possibly 20 little colonies ; but he 

 should stop dividing at least 60 days before 

 the setting-in of cold frosty nights. 



If one can not afford to buy queens he will 

 have to raise tliem and then tlie increase will 

 be cut down mon^ than a half, ja'obably. 



