BEES AND BEE CULTURE. 1155 



put in the nucleus. One or two of the frames put into the nu- 

 cleus should contain brood in all stages, as this keeps the bees 

 at work, and so more contented. It is somewhat better to form 

 the nucleus twenty-four hours before we insert the queen cell, 

 otherwise the bees may cut it down and destroy it. Care is also 

 required that too many bees do not leave the nucleus and go 

 back to the old hive from which they were taken. To avoid 

 this we may close the entrance to the nucleus for the first day, 

 care being taken that the bees do not get too little air or too 

 much heat. In sixteen days the queen will hatch out, in three 

 more she will fly forth to mate, and in three more will com- 

 mence to lay, when our nucleus is changed into a miniature 

 colony of bees. 



Some of our best queen breeders use a lamp nursery, and 

 so rear their queens after the cells are capped by artificial 

 heat; but these will certainly not be desired by the beginner. 



CLIPPING THE QUEEN'S WING. This process does no injury to 

 the queen, and as it prevents her ever taking flight, it makes 

 hiving swarms more easily accomplished, and often prevents 

 swarms leaving that would otherwise go forth to parts unknown. 

 I would never think of keeping bees without having the queen's 

 wings clipped. This act should be done while her majesty is 

 yet in the nucleus, as then there are so few bees that the queen 

 is easily and quickly found. To do this pick the queen up by 

 the wings with the right hand, then set her feet on the left 

 hand, and set the left thumb on her feet so as to hold her ; then 

 quickly grasp some small scissors with the right hand and clip 

 off one of the front wings. We should be very careful not to 

 clip the queen till we see that she has commenced laying ; that 

 we may be sure that she has met the drone ; else we pre- 

 clude mating, which must take place on the wing, and so our 

 queen will always be barren or a drone layer, and worthless. 



FERTILE WORKERS. Every nucleus should be given eggs 

 every four or five days, else they may become, if kept for some 

 time queenless, the abode of fertile workers which, as we have 

 seen, only lay drone eggs, and so are worse than useless. If 

 any nucleus or colony is found possessed of these pests it should 



