304 



GLEANINGS IN i3EE CULTURE. 



May 



tations soon vanished. Further observations con- 

 vinced uie that uiy northern laurels had degene- 

 rated into weeping-willows. When the outgoing 

 drones opened the doors, the returning ones walked 

 in, although tlie doors were so sujall as to but little 

 more than aduiit the largest-sized drones one at a 

 time. Hees, like some little bojs, soon learn tricks, 

 and a good many bad ones too; they are as quick to 

 learn tricks as any of our domestic animals. Well, 

 I will tell you how they worked their cards in this 

 case; thej' were verj' accommodating to each other; 

 the outgoing ones turned to the right or left, as the 

 law directs, generally to the right. The incoming 

 ones meet them, thus keeping the doors open. 

 Well, they have some kind of a law, like when two 

 railroad trains meet on the same track; the one 

 having right of way pushes the other back, and 

 some one keeps his head in the door, thus keeping 

 it open. Sometimes the bees open the doors, and 

 drones pass in by them. So I never applied for a 

 patent. Such has been my experience, and such 

 would, I think, be friend XobleV. 



.John \V. Nimax. 

 Spring Mill, J Hichland Co., Ohio. 



Friend N..you are very kind, and I am 

 sure I tliank you; but it seems to me you 

 are a little bit rough on neiohbor Noble. 

 Although I confess that I read liis article all 

 tlirough. eager to hear him s;iy he had tested 

 it on his bee-hives, and that it worked beati- 

 tifully, I rather expected something like 

 what you have mentioned. But, did not 

 your liive have an unusual plenty of drones 

 in it V It seeius to me there must"have been, 

 or those little doors would not have been 

 kept open for all outsiders to get in. If 

 there are only drones enough so that each 

 one would go"(uit by himself, and come back 

 by himself, it seems to me the doors must 

 work. The outsiders will, of course, stand 

 around waiting, and i)robably one going out 

 would open a door for half a dozen to get in. 

 IJut toward the close of the day. didn't tlie 

 machine fence out at least a part of them ? 

 I think may be the metal doors would be 

 less liable to the difficulty you mention, than 

 pai)er ones. 



A NEW PLAN OF TOEMING NUCLEI, 



GETTING BEES TO STAY, AND GIVING THE.M COMBS 

 FILLED WITH EGGS. 



the time of year has arrived when most of 

 the beekeepers are thinking about prepar- 

 ing to furnish for themselves e.\tra queens, 

 to use in cases which occur In all well-regu- 

 lated apiaries, where a spare queen is of 

 great value through the loss of the old queen, or to 

 supi)ly a queen to the queenless half of a division 

 in the swarming season, I will give the readers of 

 (Jleanings a new i)lan of forming nuclei, which I 

 have used successfully for the past two years. On 

 page 8;j.T of Gi-EANiNGs for 188t, I gave you a plan of 

 Avintering luiclei, in which I s))oke of a bo.v for 

 shaking the bees into when wintering. 'J'he bo.v for 

 forming nuclei need not be so large as those spoken 

 of there. Those I use arc made by getting out two 

 pieces, 6 inches long by fl inches wide by U thick. 

 Also two pieces, 13 inches long by 6 wide, 2 by ^l 

 thick. The latter are nailed to the former, so as to 

 formabo.x- lO'.iXO, inside measure, without sides. 

 For sides I use two pieces of wire cloth, cut 13 



Inches long by 6 wide. One of them is nailed per- 

 manently to the box, while the other is left so it is 

 easily removable. In the top of the bo.\ are bored 

 two holes— a large one for the funnel (such as is used 

 in putting up bees by the pound), and a small one 

 through which the queen is to be put when she is 

 given to the bees. Having the box and funnel pre- 

 pared, I proceed to a colony that can spare some 

 bees, and take out a frame well covered with bees 

 (being careful not to get the queen), and set it down 

 by the side of the hive, giving it a little jar, suffi- 

 cient to cause the bees to fill themselves with honey, 

 but not enough to dislodge any from the comb. I f 

 I wish a very large nucleus I take several frames, 

 but one frame well covered with bees makes a good 

 nucleus. As soon as the bees are filled with honey 

 they are shaken down through the funnel into the 

 box, when the funnel is removed and the hole 

 closed. The frame is also placed back in the hive, 

 when the box is to be carried to the cellar, or a 

 dai-k cool room, where it is to be left for two or 



j three hours. At this time, go to the colony from 



i which you can best spare a queen, and take her In a 



i cage to where your bees are in the box, when you 

 will find them all in commotion, owing to their 

 queenless condition. Let the box down suddenly, 

 so as to jar all the bees to the bottom, when you 

 will let the queen run in through the small hole 

 with the bees. Now put the bees back, and leave 

 over night (I generally cage the bees about 1 p. m.), 



I when in the morning you will find them clustered 

 and quiet, like a swarm. I now get two combs, one 

 with honey and one having a very little brood in it, 

 placing them in a hive, the size of which is contract- 

 ed to suit by means of a divisiou-board. This hive is 

 placed where I wish the nucleus to stay; when I get 

 the box of bees, remove the movable wire cloth, 



I and shake them down at the entrance, into which 

 they will go, fanning their wings just like a natural 

 swarm. In two or three days more I pi-oceed to 



j form another nucleus in the same waj-, but this 

 time I use the same queen I did to form the first, 



i taking her out of the nucleus when I wish to give 

 her to the bees. Thus I keep on using the same 

 queen till I am through wanting nuclei. 



j Last season I made 30 with one queen. As soon 

 as the queen is taken away, the nucleus is used the 

 same as any queenless nucleus is. By this plan 1 

 can form a nucleus at any time I desire, and alwajs 

 have every bee stay whei*e put; for after being 

 with a strange queen over night, the bees, if any 

 attempt to return, are treated at their former home 

 as strangers. The nucleus is also ready to go to 

 work at once, bringing in pollen and honey, accord- 

 ing to its strength, the same as does a natural 

 swarm. Again, by giving a laying queen, she lays 

 all the eggs the nucleus can care for in the two or 

 three days she stays, while sb.e is kept laying ail 

 the while. I have tried using virgin queens instead 

 of those laying, but some of them the bees will kill, 

 while those which are not killed are a long time 

 getting fertilized. Swarms can be made this way, 

 and queens successfully introduced; but the chief 

 value of the thing is in enabling one to form a good 

 nucleus just when and where he pleases. I have 

 been four years in iierfecting it, and after testing it 

 all of last season, and the latter part of 188,3, I now 

 present it as the best plan extant for forming 

 nuclei in time so all can use it for the season of 188.5. 

 16-G. M. DoOLiTTi.K, 40-80, 

 Borodino, N. V. 



