MAY 1. 1915 



itself. Tlie ''stock" chambers are filled 

 with bees either by running in a natural or 

 forced swarm, or else a chamber is set over 

 or under a full colony until, the foundation 

 in the little frames is drawn out and filled 

 with brood and stores. Then they are 

 placed on a stand of their own and given a 

 queen. A light-colored queen of quiet ways 

 is to be desii-ed. as it greatly lessens the 

 chance of taking the queen when making up 

 iniclei. Ami when tlie system is thoroughly 

 established it will be found worth while to 

 keep these stock hives headed by queens 

 whose offspring are quiet, good ))rotectors 

 of home, and given to minding their own 

 business. 



Two stock chambers will hold a strong 

 colony. In the spring additional eharnbers 

 are added, and the colony allowed to occupy 

 all the room it will. Bees winter as well in 

 these liives as they do in standard hives. As 

 the chambers are of regulation size, they 

 will take regular lioney-boards, etc., so that 

 colonies in them, if not needed for nuclei, 

 can be supered and manipulated the same 

 as any colony. 



When a nucleus is wanted, a "stock" 

 hive is opened, two of the little combs of 

 brood, stores, and bees are taken and put 

 into a nucleus hive, together with a sugar- 

 feeder, the covers put on, entrance plugged 

 with a leaf, and the hive set where it is to 

 stay. A cell or a virgin queen is given 

 later. The vacancy left in the stock hive is 

 filled with frames of comb or foundation. 

 Nearly a whole stock colony may be used 

 thus, leaving only two combs of Isrood and 

 bees with the queen. In such a case, the 

 stock hive is reduced to one chamber, and 

 the entrance contracted. The field bees 

 which return will give it a good start in 

 rebuilding. 



If a nucleus gets a little weak, one of its 

 combs is exchanged for one of brood and 

 bees from the stock hive; or if, perchance, 

 one gets too populous, a comb with adher- 

 ing bees is taken from it and exchanged for 

 a comb of stores from the stock hive or for 

 a dry comb. In this shifting of combs, it 

 is only necessary to have a care what is 

 used, and, when a virgin is in the nucleus, 

 to observe the necessary precautions, wheth- 

 er standard frame or baby nuclei are used. 

 In making any nuclei some pains must be 

 used to get a fair balance of brood and bees, 

 and this is easier with a lot of small combs 

 to select from than with a few large ones. 



Two cftmbs of brood and bees are all that 

 are used in a nucleus, although occasionally 

 a third comb may be put in, but not often, 

 and never more than that. The little hives 

 will hold five frames; but two or three and 



the feeder are the limit of what are u.sed. 

 The occupied combs are next to the en- 

 trance, the feeder behind them and the 

 vacant space behind that. Thus arranged, 

 the little colonies will take care of them- 

 selves for one to two weeks at a time and 

 not offer to swarm out. Fill the hive full of 

 combs, even if one or more of them are 

 empty, and swarming out may become a 

 nuisance. I do not know why. Recently a 

 man in Texas confirmed this. 



It will be noticed that the brood is ]-»laced 

 next to the entrance, and the vacant space 

 is at the back. This is the opposite of the 

 principle for prevention of sw.arming as 

 laid down by Langstroth, and later empha- 

 sized by Simmins, that the vacant space 

 should be between the brood and the en- 

 trance. But with these nuclei we are not 

 dealing with a normal swarming impulse, 

 but with something having to do with the 

 bees' ability to protect their entrance, and 

 at the same time have freedom from any 

 sense of crowding. Be the " reasons " or 

 causes what they may, thus arranged they 

 " stay put," while dilferently they may not. 



So long as these little colonies have room 

 and food, they work on as normally and 

 seemingly as cheerfully as a full-sized colo- 

 ny, even to the extent of raising a good 

 queen now and then — not that they are 

 ordinarily permitted to do such a thing, 

 but once in a while one is overlooked after 

 being dequeened, and then they raise a 

 queen. 1 have seen as fine a queen raised 

 by a couple of Imndred bees in one of these 

 little nuclei as was ever raised by a full 

 colony. Of course, the conditions as to 

 nurses, food supply, temperature, etc., were 

 all just right. The temperature in hives 

 made as described is easily controlled by a 

 very small number of bees; they readily 

 protect the half-inch entrance, and the 

 sugar stores attract no robbers, except the 

 ants. And ants, by the way. are sometimes 

 a nuisance when sugar or candy food is 

 used ; but setting the nucleus on a piece of 

 tarred paper a little larger than the hive 

 usually prevents their attack. If once start- 

 ed they may continue despite the applica- 

 tion of the paper, and then T have found 

 it necessary to lift the combs and bees into 

 a fresh hive, giving a fresh feeder; and 

 with a brush and any of the creosote com- 

 pounds, draw a line on the paper around 

 the hive. That gets rid of the ants in the 

 hive, and those outside seldom set up a new 

 line of march across the creosoted strip. 

 Where hives are on stands, treating the 

 legs with the creosote compound will usu- 

 ally suffice, provided the ants are gotten out 

 of the hives first. 



