FORMING NUCLEI 



109 



three days. The entrances should be opened at night after the 

 bees have stopped flying, to prevent a large part of the bees from 

 returning to the old stand. If the bees first get out late in the 

 evening, they will begin to carry out dead bees, and attend to 

 other housekeeping duties, and by morning will have become 

 accustomed to the new conditions, so that not nearly so many 

 will return to the old stand as will be the case if they are released 

 from confinement in the middle of the day. In this way four 

 colonies should be secured from the one. 



Fia. 55. — Nuclei in queen-rearing apiary 



It IS seldom profitable to attempt such divisions of small or 

 weak colonies, even in warm weather, as the amount of increase 

 secured is too small to be profitable. Rather should the colony 

 be left until it becomes strong before breaking it up. Rapid in- 

 crease can be made from populous colonies during a honey flow 

 but when no honey is being stored it is difficult to get the nuclei 

 to build up quickly, even though they be fed. One should always 

 expect several weeks of some kind of honey flow after making 

 mcrease. 



In case of sudden check in nectar secretion for any reason, 



