QUEEN-REARING. 



354 



QUEEN-RKAHING. 



ments on either side will take two frames of 

 such size that three of them will just fit the 

 inside of a regular Lan^stroth frame, the 

 division being made on vertical lines. The 

 l)aby hive itself is on the same general prin- 

 cii)le as a full-sized one, having rabbets at 

 the ends to support the frame itrojections. 

 A division-board through tlie center length- 

 wise, i inch thick, divides the liive off into 

 tw^o bee-tight compartments. Tacked to 

 this board is a square of enamel cloth wiiicli, 



F 

 PHojccT/o/y j'^ ||G I 



0/Y TOP-BArr 



Fig. 1. 



when folded, covers both sides. In order 

 that the little frames may hang in the rab- 

 bets and yet at the same time be fitted in- 

 side the full-sized Langstroth frame, projec- 

 tions or supi)orts are made of metal, and so 

 constructed that they can slide forw^ard to 

 form a projection, or be shoved back out of 

 the way. 



Early in the season these little fnimes are 

 filled with full sheets of foundation; or, bet- 

 ter, from a lot of old defective combs can be 

 cut the good portions aud fitted in these 

 i-sized nucleus-frames. When filled with 

 comb or foundation three of them are in- 

 serted in a common Langstroth frame, which 

 may be init down in the center of a good col- 

 ony. Where preferred a colony m;iy be sup- 

 plied exclusively with these three-in-one 

 frames. When filled they can be given bees 

 and all to the baby hives l)y being taken out 

 of the large frame, and the metal projections 



shoved forward or outward, as shown at F 

 and A. They are now leady to hang in the 

 nucleus-box; but before this is done each di- 

 vision of the twin box should be supplied 

 with about lialf a pint of bees. While the 

 bees may be taken from the same yard in 

 wiiicli the mating-boxes are to be stationed, 

 it is strongly advised to procure them from 

 an outy;ird; or, if one does not have one, to 

 piuvhase three or four colonies of black or 

 hybrid bees from some farmer. 



FORMING BABY NUCLEI. 



We take a regular eight-frame hive-body 

 that has a w ire-cloth screen bottom and a re- 

 movable wire-cloth screen top. We then go 

 to some one of the other yards and shake 

 into this box some ten or twelve jjounds of 

 bees. These may come from four or five 

 colonies, but generally from a dozen or more 

 hives, so that we do not pull too heavily 

 upon a few. This box of bees is then taken 

 to the queen-rearing yard, where the nuclei 

 are to be formed. Four of the twin baby 

 hives are first placed upon a little light stand, 

 each filled with empty rombs ready to re- 

 ceive the bees, entrances closed, and venti- 

 lators open. The hive-body contiiining the 

 shaken bees is then placed conveniently 

 near. They are wet down by a spray, then 

 given a jar so as to get the bees down in a 

 mass in the bottom. With a little tin dipper 

 we scoop up approximately four ounces of 

 bees, making anywhere from a thousand to 

 twelve hundred individuals. As the bees 

 have been previously wet down they can not 

 fly very readily, and can thei efore be scooped 

 up a la Pratt and dumped in one of the com- 

 partments as shown in Fig. 2. An attendant 

 stands ready with anumber of virgin queens. 

 He removes one of the frames of one com- 

 partment, and, while the apiarist is scoop- 

 ing up a dipperful or two of bees and dump- 

 ing them in the space made vacant by the 

 removal of the frame, he drops in a virgin 

 queen that had previously been dipped in 

 honey or syrup. He now puts in the re- 

 moved frame iind folds back the enamel 

 cloth. The operation is repeated in the other 

 compartment of the box, and so on the pro- 

 ct ss is continued until all of the twin mating- 

 boxes are filled with bees and virgin queens. 

 The baby hives are then set to one side for 

 about 48 hours, when they are placed o)i 

 their I'.ermanent stands for the summer. 

 Their entrances aie opened at niglit. The 

 next morning, as the bees come out they will 

 mark their lo -aMon and begin housekeeping 

 with their baby queen. 



