404 



AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL, 



June 28 1900. 



the cups at 1 to 3 o'clock p.m.. and wait until the next morn- 

 ing' to remove them. 



Mr. W. S. Pender, of Australia, allows queenless bees 

 to work on one batch 2 or 3 hours, and then g-ives another, 

 and so on, but, as I know they will accept as many as two 

 batches all rig^ht. late in the evening- they and adhering- 

 bees can be given to cell-builders, and the balance set back 

 over the excluder, ready for the same operation the next 

 day, or whenever desired. 



At this date (April 4) I am unable to experiment and as- 

 certain how short a time the allowing of the cups with the 

 cell-starters will suffice, but, of course, Mr. Pender knows. 



When this stage is reacht another body should be filled 

 with combs of brood and placed over the excluder, and the 

 one just used for the cell-starters put on it when it is re- 

 turned. Then, when the top one is set off to prepare the 

 bees for accepting cups, some can be shaken from 2 or 3 

 combs of the one immediately below it, which will be suffi- 

 cient to start the excitement. 



In 10 or 12 days more, all of the bees will have emerged 

 from the top set of combs, and all the brood in the second 

 set given will have been sealed, so that the first set can be 

 disposed of, another set with brood prepared, and the second 

 set come into use in having cups accepted. At these inter- 

 vals the giving of brood and removing of combs can be kept 

 up during the season, and the bees workt as described daily, 

 or nearly so. Every time a new set is given, those pre- 

 viously given should be examined for cells, and the cells re- 

 moved. 



The brood given keeps up a strong force, altho some 

 bees are removed each day with the cups to the cell-builders. 

 When no honey is being stored the colony should be daily 

 fed a sufficient quantity of syrup to fill the combs as the 

 brood hatches out. 



The main point to keep in view is, that whether bees 

 are confined, or made broodless and queenless on their 

 stand with liberty to fly, they will accept cups in a few 

 hours after the queen and all unsealed brood are taken 

 from them. 



In preparing a hive to have cells built above an ex- 

 cluder, with a laj'ing queen below, the excluder should be 

 nailed to the top bodj', and have a bee-space between that 

 and the frames above and below. If the hive is wide 

 enough to take ten frames and a division-board, a tight- 

 fitting-board can be tackt in the center to the excluder, and 

 form two apartments, holding five combs each, thereby 

 doubling the capacity of the colony for cell-building, with- 

 out ever taxing it to feed more than the usual number at 

 any one time by giving a batch of accepted cups in the cen- 

 ter of one apartment between two combs of either sealed or 

 unsealed brood, and as soonasthej' are sealed, say five days 

 later, place another in the other. This gets it into working 

 order, and one batch can be removed and another given 

 every five days. 



Whenever cells are built by queenless bees, if nuclei 

 are to be formed, a sufficient number of combs of brood and 

 the adhering bees should be placed under them as soon as 

 they are sealed, to furnish at least one comb for each cell. 

 Just before the time of hatching the cells should have a 

 nursery slipt over them, and then the nuclei can be formed 

 and queens given as fast as they hatch ; or, say twice a 

 day, as all will not hatch at once. No doubt it is better to 

 form the nuclei late in the evening, so that the bees will be- 

 come accustomed to their changed conditions before they 

 can fly. 



Another lot of combs, bees and cells can at once be 

 placed on the same stand to catch the returning bees, and 

 workt in a like manner, to be again and again repeated if 

 necessary ; but, of course, in the latter case care should be 

 exercised in selecting all sealed and hatching brood, as the 

 combs will be used within two days for forming nuclei. 



When queenless bees are not used as cell-builders a 

 queen can be removed from a colony and other bodies piled 

 on provided in a like manner a few days before nuclei are 

 to be formed, and by allowing the queens to hatcli out in a 

 nursery hereinbefore stated, all is ready to form nuclei, 

 without having unsealed brood in the combs to starve as is 

 often the case when drawn from normal colonies; besides, 

 bees thus treated will remain in the nuclei better than those 

 taken from a colony with a queen, even if cells be given, in- 

 stead of queens. 



After getting the bees in shape to be ready for forming 

 nuclei, they should be fed all the syrup they will take every 

 evening, until the divisions are made, except during a flow, 

 cr After ascertaining how to have virgins or cells ac- 

 cepted, that is, to bring about the conditions necessary un- 

 der varying circumstances, it is not only a waste of time. 



but often proves to be a loss to open a nucleus from the 

 time a virgin is two days old until the time for her to be 

 laying. Virgins are hard to find, and the bees often act as 

 tho thej' were queenless while the virgin queens may be 

 present ; and, worst of all, often kill them if no honey is 

 being stored, if disturbed. 



If virgins are given and not accepted they can often be 

 found near the entrance next morning. A stroll in the 

 evening among those containing queens of mating age will 

 often save time, as there will be considerable distress mani- 

 fested where a queen has taken her wedding-tour and failed 

 to return, which is sometimes kept up until the nest morn- 

 ing-, but usually by that time all is quiet. Such cases should 

 be noted, and cells or queens given the next day. 



The tin divisions in the nursery are I'^xj's inches, 

 are slightly let into saw-kerfs at the bottom, and are % of 

 an inch apart, thus forming apartments about 1,'2 inches 

 deep and ?s square. The pegs have holes in them for hold- 

 ing the candy, and should be dipt in melted wax before be- 

 ing used. If one has them, cartridge-shells can be used 

 instead. 



To remove the queens one should be provided with a 

 number of cages, made by rolling up small pieces of wire- 

 cloth into tubes three or four inches long, with one end 

 prest together or closed, while corks or bits of comb make 

 nice stoppers for the other. If the queens are too young to 

 fly, a number of pegs can be withdrawn all along, and the 

 queens allowed to crawl into the cages as they come out, 

 without ever allowing two to clinch, as it almost invariably 

 means death to one. When this is being done the nursery 

 should be lying on its side, and the queens can be dis- 

 tributed by simply allowing them to crawl from the cages 

 down between the combs, or in at the entrance, and give a 

 puff or two of smoke behind them. 



If they are to be kept in a nursery very long for any 

 purpose, they should be transferred to one minus cells, as 

 the space is small, and they are liable to get wedged up be- 

 tween the nursery and cells, and perish in attempting to 

 find a way of escape. 



In removing those old enough to fly, only one peg 

 should be removed at a time, and the cage should be placed 

 right over the hole. The operation can be hastened by in- 

 verting the nursery. 



In slipping the nursery over the cells (which is held in 

 place by drawing the wire loops alreadj- on the bars over 

 the ends), the tin will cut its way unless an unusual amount 

 of wax has been used in joining them together, as is some- 

 times the case when the bees are anxious to build comb ; 

 and when that is the case they should be separated with a 

 hot, thin knife. 



If the cells instead of queens are to be given to nuclei, 

 the nearer the time of hatching the better, and, as they sel- 

 dom hatch on the orthodox tenth day, if larva? of the best 

 age are used, it is quite a convenience to attach the nursery 

 and feel easy until they do begin to hatch. 



If the division be made when the bees are flying freely 

 all can be shaken from the comb or combs of unsealed 

 brood, and the returning bees will be sufficient to protect it 

 at once. 



As soon as virgin queens reach the combs they begin a 

 search for honey, and bees seldom attack a queen while in 

 the act of securing nourishment. No attempt should be 

 made to introduce a virgin bj' simply releasing her in the 

 hive after she has become very active, whether it be those 

 held in the cells by the bees, as in cases of second swarms, 

 or that have been in a nursery, unless it be to the bees sur- 

 rounding them. 



During a honey-flow the feeble, downy-looking misses 

 can be given the same day the laying queen is removed, 

 with a considerable degree of safety. I have thought that 

 it is safer to give them at once, than any time afterwards, 

 before the bees fully realize and reconcile themselves to 

 their queenless condition. If given to colonies with feeble, 

 old queens they will often be accepted and commence lay- 

 ing with the old queen in the hive, as is the case with super- 

 sedures. 



When I have a surplus I often release them in colonies 

 having old queens, and allow the bees to take their choice 

 between the old and the young. 



Virgins at the age of two or three days or older can be 

 shipt from the nursery, if escorts from the same hive be 

 used. 



Another consideration in the use of so simple and con- 

 venient a nursery, is the saving of time with nuclei. A vir- 

 gin can be given as soon or sooner than a cell, regardless of 

 the conditions, and the time between the giving and hatch- 

 ing of the cells- is saved; besides, fine looking cells often 



