THE A3IERICAN APICULTURIST. 



ni 



HOW TO FORM NUCLEI. 



By Henry Alley. 



Most beekeepers wish to rear a 

 few queens and must have for such a 

 purpose a few nucleus colonies. 



The following plan for forming 

 them is an easy and simple one. The 

 nucleus hives should be constructed 

 of light material and about one-third 

 the width of the large hive, and the 

 covers should be cleated to prevent 

 splitting and warping. If the hives 

 are painted they will last many years. 



The nucleus colonies should con- 

 sist of three combs and two quarts of 

 bees. When ready to form them, 

 place in one of the hives two combs 

 containing honey and, in the centre, 

 one containing brood, after which 

 add the bees. Perhaps the better 

 way would be to remove from a full 

 colony a comb containing brood, 

 together with the adhering bees, be- 

 ing careful of course not to take the 

 queen with them. In such case there 

 will be a sufficient number of bees 

 on the comb to care for the brood ; 

 if not, a few more may be brushed 

 from another comb into the hive. 



After the combs and bees have 

 been placed in the hive, confine the 

 latter to the hives for thirty-six hours 

 and release them early on the morning 

 of the third day. 



Do not remove the screen (with 

 which they have been confined) from 

 the entrance except just before dark 

 or early in the morning ; as, if released 

 in the middle of the day, the bees 

 would rush out and many would not 

 return. 



After having been confined in the 

 hive for thirty-six hours, the bees will 



have constructed several queen cells 

 and when released will return to the 

 new location. 



A matured queen cell may be 

 given them at this time ; or, when 

 they have been queenless seventy- 

 two hours, a virgin queen can be in- 

 troduced safely. 



Before releasing the bees the nu- 

 clei should be placed some distance 

 from the stands from which the bees 

 were taken. While the bees are con- 

 fined in the hives they should be 

 supplied with water. For such pur- 

 pose I find the cone feeder very 

 useful. 



If the reader has studied the arti- 

 cle in the May number in reference 

 to the drone trap he is prepared to 

 have his queens purely mated with 

 any particular strain of drones in the 

 apiary. 



Wenliam, Mass. 



A GUIDE TO THE BEST 

 METHODS OF BEE- 

 KEEPING. 



By J. L. Christ. 



R. F. Holterman, Translator. 

 (Contiuued from p. 90, Vol. III.) 



PERTAINING TO THE FINEST AND 

 BEST COLONIES. 



It is a principle in beekeeping if 

 one desires to derive a benefit from 

 his bees, to see that one keeps very 

 populous colonies. The mere num- 

 ber of colonies has nothing to do 

 with amount of value ; but their 

 strength, the number of inhabitants 

 in a hive, is the measure of its worth. 



