974 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



Oct. 15 



THE LAWS BABY NUCLEI. 



How the Bees of one Colony can be Used to 



Fertilize from 100 to 200 Queens; how to 



have Queens Mated to Select Drones; a 



Valuable Article. 



BY W. H. LAWS. 



Ten years ago it was thought that there 

 was not much more to be learned about 

 modern bee-keeping; but note the rapid 

 strides in the lines of specialty, in the pro- 

 duction of honey, the management of large 

 and numerous out-apiaries, and in almost all 

 lines pertaining to our pursuit. 



By the request of the editor I come bring- 

 ing some new ideas on the wholesale mating 

 of queens, a plan that will admit of thou- 

 sands of queens being mated where only 

 hundreds could be mated by the old methods 

 now in use. By this plan I claim that any 

 one colony of bees can be used to care for, 

 and allow the fertilization, of from one to 

 two or more hundred queens. Other advan- 

 tages are: 



1. It will permit of the use of virgin queens 

 from five to seven days old, with practically 

 no loss. 



2. There is no loss from absconding. 



3. We avoid all trouble from fertile work- 

 ers. 



4. We can control the mating of our queens 

 to an almost absolute certainty. 



5. We can proceed with the production of 

 honey; and in order to raise large quantities 

 of queens we are not compelled to break up 

 into nuclei so many of our best colonies of 

 bees as is done by the methods now in use. 



For the past two seasons I have been 

 practicing with great satisfaction to myself 

 a method possessing all these advantages, 

 and I think I can tell it so plainly that any 

 bee-keeper who understands practical work 

 in the apiary can use it. In the next place, 

 we do not use any permanent nuclei, but we 

 do use a lot of little baby nucleus boxes that 

 contain a single comb of honey each. These 

 boxes, when empty, weigh only a few ounces 

 each, and the combs of honey that are 

 made to fit these httle boxes are 11 >i inches 

 long by 4J deep, and are made purposely to 

 hang crosswise in an eight-frame half-depth 

 super. 



After counting the virgins in our nursery- 

 cages we prepare an equal number of the 

 little boxes by placing a comb of honey in 

 each of them ; then we proceed to shake all 

 the bees from the combs of some queenless 

 populous colony, being sure to cause the 

 bees to fill themselves with honey, placing 

 the combs, when shaken, in an empty hive. 



and setting on the old stand to catch the re- 

 turning bees, and to care for the brood. 

 Now pick up the hive containing the bees, 

 and repair to some convenient shady spot, 

 where our boxes are waiting to receive the 

 bees. 



With a small tin cup dip from the cluster 

 a small wad about the size of an unhulled 

 walnut, which I think will not exceed about 

 200 bees; now let your assistant open and 

 hand you one of the little boxes; pour the 

 bees from the cup right into the box and on 

 to the comb of honey; close the box; snap 

 the hook ; lay aside, and proceed dipping and 

 filling until all the boxes have been filled. 



RELATIVE SIZES OF THE LAWS NUCLEUS 

 FRAME AND THE STANDARD LANGSTROTH. 



By this time the bees in the little boxes 

 have discovered that they are confined, and 

 every bee that can take on more honey has 

 filled its sac to its capacity, from the comb 

 on which it is confined, and they are now 

 buzzing and roaring, seeking if possible to 

 make an escape. It is while in this condi- 

 tion that we are ready to introduce the vir- 

 gins, for a queenless over-gorged bee, fright- 

 ened and away from her own home, is in 

 very poor condition to sting, ball, or even 

 notice a queen; but, on the other hand, judg- 

 ing from the general acceptance of these 

 virgins, I imagine that some of those heavy- 

 laden bees would begin to offer her honey at 

 once. Introduce the virgins by running 

 them in at the little ^''s-inch round entrance 

 to the little boxes; but right here is an im- 

 portant point about the introduction of those 

 virgins. Since my article on this subject in 

 the Review of last March I have received 

 dozens of letters making inquiry as to what 

 time these virgins should be given. I will 

 try to make this point plain. 



Those bees, realizing their confinement, 

 filled with honey, and their only idea that of 

 escape, all the fight is taken out of them. 

 They are roaring their song of distress ; their 

 excitement is at its highest. Right at this 

 period any sort of queen can be given, and, 

 ninety-nine times out of a hundred, she will 

 be accepted. As to the length of time that 

 should elapse after filling the boxes before 

 the queens should be given, they can be run 

 in after ten to thirty minutes of confine- 

 ment. I usually wait until all the boxes are 

 filled, even should there be two or three hun- 

 dred of them before the virgins are given; 

 but in no case wait over night, as one of my 

 men did on one occasion, and lost 71 out of 

 72 queens. 



