THE AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



277 





Explunalory The figures before tbo 



names iinUeate the number of years that (he 

 person bus kept bees. Those aeteb, show 

 the number of colonies the writer had in the 

 previous spring- and fall, or fall and spring, 

 as the time of the year may require. 



This mark © indicates that the apiarist is 

 located near the centre of the State named: 

 5 north of the centre ; 9 south ; 0+ east ; 

 ♦Owest; and this 6 northeast; ^3 northwest; 

 o» southeast ; and P southwest of the centre 

 of the State mentioned. 



ror the American Bee JoumaL 



Best Way to Make a Nucleus. 



16 — G. 31. DOOLITTLE, (-10—80). 



On page 344 of the Bee Journal 

 for 1S.S3, 1 told the readers how I had 

 tried all the then known plans of 

 making nuclei, none of which suited 

 me on account of so many of the bees 

 going back to the colony from which 

 they were taken. Where an apiarist 

 has two apiaries several miles apart, 

 bees can be brought from the apiary 

 farthest from home with which to 

 form a nucleus, so as to be a success 

 every time. But as all do not have 

 such an apiary, and there is much 

 trouble about the plan, to those who 

 do have it is quite an object to have 

 a plan by which a nucleus can he 

 formed when and where the apiarist 

 wishes. To accomplish this object, I 

 studied out the plan of caging a frame 

 of hatching brood, as given on the 

 page above referred to, and, by put- 

 ting a virgin queen two or three days 

 old, into the cage, I had a plan that 

 has worked much better than any that 

 I had previously tried. However, in 

 some cases this plan partially failed, 

 as the bees in the hive in which the 

 caged frame was placed would par- 

 tially desert one side of the cage so 

 some of the hatching brood would be- 

 come chilled, while again some would 

 worry and try to get out until at the 

 end of five days a portion of the 

 newly hatched bees would be dead 

 upon lifting the frame from the hive, 

 at the time of placing it where it was 

 to stay. 



At the same time that I was prac- 

 ticing the plan described on page 344 

 (1S.S3), I was also trying another plan 

 ■which was at first designed for the 

 safe introduction of virgin queens, to 

 do which I proceeded as follows : I 

 made a box by taking two pieces of 

 wood 6x(ixM inches, and two other 

 pieces 12xbxf4 inches, the latter being 

 nailed to the former, which made a 

 box 10}^ inches long by 6 wide by 6 

 deep, without sides. I next got two 

 pieces of wire-cloth 12 inches long by 

 6 inches wide, one of which was 

 nailed permanently to one side of the 

 box, while the other was left so it was 

 removable at any time. In the top of 

 the box was bored a large hole into 

 which a large tin funnel (such as is 

 used^ by those selling bees by the 



pound) could be inserted. Near one 

 end I bored a p^-inch hole through 

 which I could put in a virgin queen as 

 soon as the bees from a nucleus were 

 shaken through the funnel into the 

 box. The box was then placed in a 

 dark cellar until night, when it was 

 put over the combs of the nucleus 

 from wliicli the bees were shaken, 

 vifhen tlie removable side of the box 

 was taken off and the bees allowed 

 to return to their combs during the 

 night. 



In this way I thought to introduce 

 and get a virgin queen to laying in 

 two or three days after I had sold a 

 laying queen from a nucleus, which, 

 in turn, could be sold and another in- 

 troduced in like manner, thus making 

 itproHtable to rear queens at the low 

 price of SI each. But I soon found 

 that not more than one queen out of 

 three thus put into the box would be 

 accepted by the bees, while those 

 which were accepted were so slow in 

 getting fertilized (some requiring ten 

 or more days), tliat I became dis- 

 gusted and went back to the cell-plan. 



In one of these experiments I 

 took the bees from a full colony to 

 see if I could succeed better, but they 

 killed the virgin queen almost as 

 soon as I put her into the cage. Just 

 then I was called away, so I hastily 

 placed them in the cellar and left 

 them. When I returned towards 

 night, I thought I would see it I 

 could form a nucleus of them, by 

 placing a frame of brood and one of 

 honey in an empty hive and turning 

 them upon it. Accordingly I rigged 

 the hive as above. Before I had all 

 completed it vv'as nearly dark, so I 

 felt sure that I could succeed, as no 

 bees could get back home until morn- 

 ing. Before sunrise the next morn- 

 ing, I saw that these bees had not 

 clustered on the brood at all, but had 

 crawled all over the hive, many of 

 them being outside from which place 

 they were flying for home. Upon 

 going to the hive from which they 

 came, imagine my surprise to find 

 that they were being treated as 

 strangers, some even being killed, so 

 that not one was allowed to enter the 

 hive. Suffice it to say that all were 

 lost and killed, but from it I learned 

 one thing, which is, that bees con- 

 fined in a small space with a different 

 queen from their mother, whether 

 dead or alive, would be disinherited 

 if kept in such a space for eight or 

 more hours. 



Soon after this I had a queen sent 

 me very unexpectedly, and as I did 

 not value her very highly, I thought 

 to form a nucleus with her, and re- 

 solved to try the caging of bees with 

 her. After getting the bees into the 

 cage. I feared to let her in with them, 

 so I waited a couple of hours, at 

 which time I found the bees in great 

 agitation from knowing that they had 

 no queen with tliem. I now let the 

 queen run in through the small hole, 

 when a more happy lot of bees was 

 never seen. These bees were found 

 compactly clustered in the top of the 

 box the next morning, when they 

 were hived on two frames of brood 

 and soon built up into a colony. From 

 all of the above I learned the follow- 



ing, which I believe to be the best 

 known plan of forming nuclei : 



Procure a box and funnel, as de- 

 scribed above, and go to any hive that 

 can spare from it, from a tea-cupful 

 to a quart of bees, according to the 

 size of the nucleus desired ; 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. Give the frame several 

 sharp knocks with a little stick, to 

 cause the bees to fill themselves with 

 honey, and when so filled shake as 

 many bees down through the funnel 

 into the box, as you wish in your 

 nucleus. Take out the funnel and 

 close the hole, when you will put the 

 frame from which you shook the bees, 

 back into the hive and close it. Now 

 take the box of bees to the cellar, or a 

 darkened, cool room, and leave them 

 two or more hours, when you will 

 give them (a laying queen) any poor 

 queen ' you care little for, or a good 

 one if you choose. 



To put the queen in, put ihe box 

 down suddenly, so that all the bees 

 will fall to the bottom, when the 

 queen is allowed to run in through 

 the small hole. 1 generally form the 

 nucleus about 1 p. m., and let the 

 queen in at 3 p. m. Early the next 

 morning, take a frame having a very 

 little brood in it, and one with honey, 

 and place in a hive where you wish 

 the nucleus to stay, using a division- 

 board to contract the size of the hive. 

 Now, hive the little colony from the 

 box the same as you would any 

 swarm, and they will go to work im- 

 mediately. In two or tliree days 

 form another nucleus in the same 

 way, and when you are ready for the 

 queen, go to this last made nucleus 

 and get this same queen to use for the 

 next, which is to be made from the 

 bees in the box. and in this way keep 

 on forming nuclei as long as you wish 

 them. In this wav I made 3 queens 

 form 00 nuclei last"season. After the 

 queen is taken away from the first 

 forme'd nucleus, to form the second, 

 the nucleus is to be treated the same 

 as any queenless nucleus is treated, 

 and when virgin queens are intro- 

 duced there need not elapse more 

 than a week before the nucleus will 

 have a young laying queen. 



There are three reasons for using a 

 laying queen in forming the nucleus ; 

 the first of which is that the bees will 

 always accept her and behave just as 

 you wish them to ; second, this queen 

 will furnish all the eggs that the 

 nucleus can care for during her short 

 stay, so they are well supplied with 

 young brood at the outset; and third, 

 a laying queen can be taken from the 

 nucleus sooner by the above plan, as 

 where a virgin queen is used to form 

 the nucleus', such queen is exceedingly 

 slow about becoming fertilized. In 

 conclusion I will sav that I know the 

 plan will work if followed as I have 

 given directions, for I used it all last 

 season and during the latter part of 

 1883. 



Borodino,© N. Y. 



fW~ The spring meeting of the Cortland 

 Union Bee-Keepers" Associatii^n will be held 

 in Cortland, N. Y., on May 12. ISSo. 



• W. H. Be.ich, Sec. 



