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GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



May 15 



ter than talk. It is sunshine, professor — 

 chunks of it all through my system. 



This portion of Central California is receiv- 

 ing a thorough drenching to-day, Apr. 29, the 

 first rain of any account for nearly three 

 months. It will help out the newly sown al- 

 falfa and many honey-producing plants. 



MAKING NUCI^EI. 



" Mr. Doolittle ! I wish to try my hand at 

 rearing some queens this season, and I came 

 over to see if you would tell me something 

 about how I can make nuclei for this pur- 

 pose." 



" Very well. Do you understand how to 

 secure good queen cells? " 



" Yes, fairly well." 



" And about a queen-nursery to hatch them 

 in?" 



"Yes. I understand this part much better 

 than how to get the nuclei to keep tbem after- 

 ward. Last season I tried to make nuclei, and 

 made very nearly a failure of it on account of 

 the bees going back home." 



"Well, bees taken from a colony having a 

 laying queen are quite likely to go back to 

 their old home unless some precaution is used. 

 But if you will make a colony queenless, wait- 

 ing till they have queen-cells sealed, you will 

 have better success in regard to the bees stay- 

 ing." 



" I had not thought of that. How do you 

 manage when you work that way ? " 



" Six to eight days after removing the queen 

 I go to the colony and remove all the queen- 

 cells but those which look the largest and 

 best, and see that there are queen cells on five 

 frames, if the colony is a large one and in a 

 ten-frame hive." 



" But suppose that the queen-cells are all on 

 one or two combF — what then ? " 



" Then I cut out a queen-cell from the comb 

 having more than one cell upon it, cutting out 

 a piece of comb with it about an inch in di- 

 ameter, so as to be sure not to injure the cell. 

 Then I cut out a piece of comb from another 

 frame of the same size as that having the cell 

 on it, when the ' cell-comb ' is slipped into 

 the comb or frame where I wish it. In short, 

 I graft a cell into each comb where I wish 

 them." 



"But suppose the queenless colony is one 

 you do not care to raise queens from — what 

 then ? " 



"This is more apt to be the case than other- 

 wise, and for this reason I start queen-cells 

 from brood from which I desire to raise queens 

 a day or two before I take the queen away 

 from the colony I desire to break up into nu- 

 clei. Then at the proper time I destroy all 

 queen-cells which the bees in the queenless 

 colony tave built, and put one, which has 



been reared from the brood I desire, into each 

 of five frames, when the colony is left for 24 

 hours to become accustomed to the new state 

 of affairs." 



' ' What then do you do ? " 



" During the next day I place four hives, 

 fitted up with a division-board, etc., ready for 

 the nuclei, and place them where I wish the 

 nuclei to remain during the season ; and just 

 at night, allowing me only time to complete 

 the work before it gets too dark to see to 

 work, I take two frames from the queenless 

 hive, bees and all, one of which is to have one 

 of the queen-cells on it, and set two in each of 

 the four hives, thus making five nuclei out of 

 the queenless colony. The one left on the old 

 stand should have a division -board adjusted 

 to its two combs the same as the others." 



" Why do you wait till so near night? Is 

 that necessary ? " 



" Because,' if done in the middle of the day 

 the bees are more likely to go back. The 

 change causes them to go to looking over 

 their new quarters ; and if it is midday they 

 will often run out of the hive and take wing, 

 only to return to their old home. But in the 

 night they will not take wing, and by morn- 

 ing they become accustomed to their new sur- 

 roundings, in a new hive having only two 

 combs, and thus when they go out they are 

 apt to mark their new location and stay by 

 their young queen which will have emerged 

 from its cell by this time, if you have timed 

 the matter right." 



" Do you think this the best and easiest way 

 of making nuclei ? " 



"No. I like the nucleus-box plan better." 



" What is that ? I want the best." 



"The box is made as follows : Get out two 

 pieces, G inches long by G wide by % thick ; 

 also two pieces 12 long by 6 wide by >( thick. 

 The latter are nailed to the former so as to 

 make a box 10)^X6, inside measure, without 

 sides. For sides I use two pieces of wire cloth, 

 cut 12 inches long by 6)4 wide. One of them 

 is nailed permanently to the box, while the 

 other is left so as to be easily removable by 

 nailing the wire cloth to a little frame like a 

 slate-frame, which frame is lightly tacked to 

 the box. In the top of the box is bored a 

 large hole into which a funnel is to be insett- 

 ed. This funnel is to be large enough to al- 

 low of one of your brood-frames to be shaken 

 inside of it, and the hole in the small end 

 should be 3 inches across, so that the bees will 

 readily pass down through it and not clog. 

 The hole in the box should have something to 

 close it, like a large button or tin slide." 



" How is such a thing as that used in form- 

 ing nuclei? " 



"Having funnel and box ready, go to any 

 hive that can spare from a pint to a quart of 

 bees, according to the size of the nucleus de- 

 sired ; take out a frame or frames having bees 

 on the combs (be sure you do not get the 

 queen ) , and place it on the outside of the hive, 

 or in a comb-carrier. Give the frame several 

 sharp knocks with the thumb nail or a little 

 stick, to cause the bees to fill themselves with 

 honey, and, when so filled, shake as many 

 down through the funnel into the box as youi 



