, S2 PKACTICAL BEB-KEEPING. 



supplied to them. A water tight roof is necessary, nor must arrange- 

 ments for feeding be forgotten, as small nnolei scarcely ever gather 

 food enough to maintain themselves. The nucleus hive, and indeed 

 every hive, if painted, should be of light colour, because light colours 

 radiate heat less freely than dark ones, they are therefore warmer 

 in cold weather. Nature is true to her laws in bleaching the coats 

 of the Polar bear and Arctic fox. Light colours, also, are cooler in 

 the direct rays of the sun, because they do not absorb heat. For quite 

 similar reasons every hive should be smooth on the outside, mere bee 

 comfort considered, altogether apart from the question of appearance 

 and durability. To stock the nucleus, remove the dividing frame — ^be 

 sure the queen is not upon it — and separate the parts, disturbing the 

 adherent bees as little as possible, place the halves side by side in position, 

 and cover warmly. The older bees will return to the parent stock, so 

 that a frame containing young bees should be shaken on to a board in 

 front of the nucleus* — these will make up the population, the strength of 

 which will be maintained by new bees hatching out. A queen cell may 

 now be inserted, as before described (see p. 43), taking care to keep it as 

 much between the combs as possible, and the queen utilised when she 

 becomes fertile, or she maybe kept until "proved," i.e., her qualities declared 

 by her young bees hatching. Nuclei are often used to secure the pure- 

 mating of Ligurian mothers, which can never be calculated upon if they 

 are allowed to fly at will, howsoever numerous our yellow banded' drones 

 may be, if black suitors are at all found in the locality. A great assistance 

 in this matter is to stimulate a Ligurian stock very early in the year, by 

 feeding, and even also by the addition of bees, or cards of brood, so that 

 the coveted drones may be raised in a comb of the larger cells purposely 

 placed in the centre of the brood nest, before the time that any sable 

 rascals are called into existence. The nymphs being raised immediately 

 after we think fit to remove the queen ; the course is clear, and is only 

 likely to be frustrated by weather so ohiUy that the gentlemen " to 

 pleasure born" refuse to leave the snug hive, although the queen will 

 fly again and again until her marriageable age (about three weeks) is 

 passed, when she will commence to lay a comparatively small number of 

 eggs which will produce drones only. The order may be reversed, and 

 queens raised so late in the year (latter part of September) that nor- 

 mally all drones will have been destroyed. The yellow banded ones 

 upon which we are depending being reserved by keeping their colony 

 queenless, such allowing the males to live, and even giving asylum to 

 those of other hives, but failure is not infrequent, and then the year is 

 gone, making recovery impossible. With nuclei success is all but certain 

 if we act as follows : Having chosen our drone-raising and queen-raising 



* In this way at any time tlie pot)ulatioii may be streugthened as occasion' 

 requires. 



