1904 



GLEANINGS IN" BEE CULTURE. 



977 



Out of 338 baby nuclei placed on the mat- 

 ing-grounds at one time the latter part of 

 June, I took 270 laying queens. Several 

 queen-breeders have written me that they 

 are testing this new method, and report 

 successfully. 



Mr. E. A. Ribble, of Roxton. Texas, writes 

 me that, with the very first effort, he put 

 out 25 baby nuclei and secured from them 

 25 laying queens. 



W. H. LAWS. 



The advantages of this new method are ap- 

 parent. Queens can be mated by the whole- 

 sale, with few bees and little breaking-up of 

 good colonies of bees; but by the old method 

 many strong colonies had to be sacrificed in 

 order to raise a few hundred queens. Now 

 we use the bees of one or two colonies to 

 mate hundreds of queens, and after their 

 use for a few days they may be returned to 

 the colony from which they were taken. 



Beeville, Tex., Aug. 6. 



[The honey-producer must not get the im- 

 pression that there is nothing of value for 

 him in this article; for, indeed, he can now, 

 apparently, fertilize his own queens at com- 

 paratively small expense and trouble, and, 

 what is more, select his best drones for the 

 purpose ; and right here Mr. Laws comes 

 pretty nearly, if he does not quite, solving a 

 big problem— one that has puzzled bee- 

 keepers for years. 



The fact that our friend has had in suc- 

 cessful use a thousand of these baby nuclei 

 is a strong argument in favor of their prac- 

 ticability. This article will bear careful 

 reading all through, as well as the follow- 

 ing. —Ed.] 



THE USE OF SMALL NUCLEI FOR MATING. 

 Brood not EssentiaL 



BY E. F. PHILLIPS, PH. D. 



That small colonies of bees, not exceeding 

 200 in number, will care for a queen during 

 her mating period is now a fact beyond dis- 

 pute. Queen-breeders have used this meth- 

 od in an experimental way for some time, 

 and generally ended by condemning the 

 method; but of late there has been a revi- 

 val of interest in this system, due mainly to 

 the eflfortsof Mr. E. L. Pratt (Swarthmore). 

 Mr. Pratt has used the small nuclei in his 

 own yard with marked success, and has ad- 

 vocated the use of the system in the face of 

 considerable opposition. Any one who says 

 that the system will not work must either 

 doubt the veracity of Mr. Pratt and others 

 who do succeed, or acknowledge that he does 

 not know enough of the habits of bees to 

 make this system a success. Now that the 

 A. I. Root Co. has been using the small nu- 

 clei, as had been reported in Gleanings; 

 and since Mr. Laws, Mr. Weber, and others 

 have been successful, it seems that the old 

 full-frame queen-mating nucleus must now 

 take a back seat. 



The use of small nuclei requires considera- 

 ble care, and, above all, no little knowledge 

 of the habits of the bee. With a larger 

 (two or three frame) nucleus any one can 

 introduce a virgin queen and have her mated 

 unless he does something so absolutely un- 

 natural that the bees die; but with smaller 

 nuclei, unless the bees are in proper condi- 

 tion the results will be poor. If this state- 

 ment be considered by any one as an argu- 

 ment in favor of larger nuclei, then it is 

 misinterpreted, for I do not care to advocate 

 crude methods in apiculture. In the care of 

 bees, every move of the bee-keeper must be 

 founded on the natural habits of the bees; 

 and unless he knows those habits well he 

 will get results only iv spite of his labors 

 and not as a result of them. In small nu- 

 clei, as nowhere else, the queen-breeder must 

 know his reasons for every move. Bees do 

 not adapt themselves to unnatural surround- 

 ings and circumstances to any great degree, 

 and therefore it is imperative that all things 

 be in accord with their instincts. Having 

 had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Pratt use 

 these small boxes for some time I venture 

 to give his methods. There is a reason back 

 of every direction, for Mr. Pratt is a most 

 careful observer, and knows his bees as few 

 men do. 



The ideal size for a mating-box, according 

 to Mr. Pratt, is one that will hold two frames 

 of a size to fit six to a standard frame, so that 

 they hang sidewise. These frames may be 

 made of section stuff, and hung to the hive- 

 cover by hooks. The style of box, etc., is a 

 matter of little import; but it is quite nec- 

 essary that the frames be in some way in- 

 terchangeable so that they may be put in 

 large colonies to be filled with honey; and 

 if of the size indicated, this may be easily 

 done. It is best not to have any projecting 



