DIVISIONS WITHOUT QUEENS 107 



sible in the operation, and the hive only opened to find and 

 remove the queen and to take out the frame of brood that is 

 exchanged for an empty comb, many of the bees will remain in 

 the hive and there will be little if any loss of brood. The brood 

 combs should be pushed together and the empty one placed at the 

 outside of the hive, rather than to divide the brood nest. A 

 queen should be provided for the new colony as soon as possible. 



Divisions without Queens. — It is far more profitable to pro- 

 vide each new division with a queen, or at least a ripe queen cell 

 as soon as possible. However, it often happens that some in- 

 crease is desired when no queens or cells are available. If the 

 bee-keeper will plan ahead, cells may easily be raised by the 

 Miller method as described on page 122. 



If one wishes to make a division without providing a queen, 

 it may be done as follows : From your best colony take a frame 

 of brood, being sure that eggs and newy hatched larvse are pres- 

 ent. Add empty combs or frames of foundation as in the other 

 cases described, to fill up the space in a new hive. In the middle 

 of the day, when bees are flying freely, remove your strongest 

 colony without opening the hive or disturbing them more than 

 is necessary some distance away, and place the new hive with a 

 frame of brood, but no queen, where the strong colony stood. 

 The field force from the latter colony returning to their old loca- 

 tion will make the best of the situation, and proceed to rear a 

 queen from the young larvae, and by fall there will be a strong 

 colony if conditions are favorable. The old colony which has 

 been removed will lose their field force, and consequently will 

 require some time to build up to normal condition again. 



Another plan is to divide the brood from a strong colony into 

 two parts, placing half of the frames in the old hive and the 

 rest in a new hive. Both hives are filled up with empty combs or 

 frames of foundation. No attention is paid to the queen, but 

 care is used that eggs and very young larvte are present in both 

 hives. The two hives are then set closely together, side by side 

 on the old stand, each occupying about half of the original space. 



