198 EXPERIMENTAL FARMS 



5-6 EDWARD VII., A. 1906 



•:t is harder for the smaller numher of bees to keep them, wann, and when a cool night 

 comes, the bees will shrink away from the edges of the combs, and the queen cells 

 will be chilled. Hence, you must see that each nucleus has at least two or three good 

 queen cells where they will be sure to be inside of the cluster of bees in the coolest 

 nights. So you will cut away cells from the edges of the combs and from oombs that 

 have them to spare, and fasten them where required. To cut out the cells, you may 

 use a pocket knife with a very sharp, thin blade that is more than an inch long. You 

 need not cut away more than enough to get all the cell; but be very careful not to 

 cut into the cell; also not to let one of the cells fall, for while the young and tender 

 queen is in the cell, a fall may cause a defective wing or leg. 



To fasten a queen-cell where you want it, use a very slender wire nail an inch 

 rnd a half long. Push the nail through the base of the cell, but be sure it does not 

 enter the cavity of the cell. Nail the cell right over some of the brood, for it will be 

 more surely taken care of there than if separate from the brood. 



It may be noticed that the bees build queen-cells with the points hanging down- 

 ward, but it is not important that you should have them in exactly the same position. 

 A still better plan than a nail to fasten a cell, is a staple, the staple being an inch and 

 a half wide with points one inch long. Lay the cell against the comb, put the staple 

 over it so that the cell is at pne side of the staple, and then sink into the corab the 

 staple point that is farthest from the cell. Possibly you may be inclined to think that 

 because only one queen is to be reared in a nucleus, there is no need to have more than 

 one queen-cell. That would be a mistake. While most of the cells reared by a colony 

 pieparing to swarm may be of the very best that colony can rear, it is not safe to assume 

 that all are equally good. Some cells may contain poor queens, and some cells may 

 contain nothing but a dead larva. So it is wise to have a number of cells in a nucleus, 

 at least two or three. The bees will be likely to use the best. You will be able to see 

 a difference in the appearance of the cells, and while you are dividing the cells among 

 the nuclei, you may as well see that each nucleus has its fair share of the best-looking 

 cells. The best cells are generally among the largest and longest, and are deeply pitted 

 over the surface. A stubby cell that is not pitted but has a smooth surface, is not likely 

 to be good. Wlien the young queen is five to eight days old, she will fly out on her 

 wedding trip, and about three days later she will begin laying. It may be well not to 

 look for eggs till the queen is perhaps two weeks old, for at first the eggs are few, and 

 not easily found. If you do not find eggs when the queen is two weeks old, you are not 

 likely to find any later — the queen has been lost on her wedding trip or there is some 

 other trouble. It is a good plan to give a nucleus a frame of eggs or unsealed brood 

 from a choice colony when the young queen is four or five days old. If some ill has 

 befallen the queen on her wedding trip, or if she has entered the wrong hive, the bees 

 will start queen-cells from this young brood. This young brood seems also to have a 

 sort of stimulating effect on the bees, and it is believed it may hurry up the young 

 queen in her work of laying. 



CARE OF EMPTY COMBS. — REMEDY FOR BEE MOTH. 



Almost any bee-keeper will have honey-combs that are for a time unoccupied by 

 bees; even if through no other cause, colonies may have died in winter, leaving combs 

 empty or containing honey or pollen. Such combs are valuable property and will repay 

 the care required to preserve them. The three principal enemies of unoccupied combs 

 are mould, mice and moths. 



Combs kept in a damp, close cellar are likely to be affected by mould. This can- 

 not be entirely prevented where bees are wintered in the cellar ; for, even if no colonies 

 die, it may happen that some of the outer combs unoccupied by bees will be covered 

 with mould. Fortunately, the remedy is not difficult. Put a mouldy comb next the 

 brood-nest of a prosperous colony in the working season, and you will be surprised to 



