332 A Modern Bee-Farm 
No Waste of Queens. 
As shown above, there is more certainty of the free and 
active queens becoming mated; but it is equally certain 
that queens some days confined are not so readily accepted 
by nuclei. 
Where one has a number of nuclei queenless in advance 
of his supply of queens, and these have been at least three 
days without, there is always a greater possibility of success 
in the introduction of virgin queens, or ripe queen cells, 
with the other favorable points added. 
Rule for Acceptance of Virgin Queens. 
The older the virgin to be inserted the longer must the 
nucleus have been queenless, if the queen is to be gladly 
accepted. Thus where queen cells are capped almost any 
queen will be welcomed. Bees recently made queenless, or 
where they yet retain an aged queen, will accept a virgin 
not long hatched, where an older one would be destroyed. . 
If not protected, or if slightly damaged, a queen cell will 
be torn down where the bees have not been over three days 
queenless. Nevertheless an undisturbed queen cell may 
be given with its own comb and adhering bees in safety the 
same time that a fertile queen may be removed. 
Simmins’ Method of Nucleus Swarming.* 
It will have been noticed that for supplying all hives 
with young queens yearly, and to compensate for the non- 
increase of stocks, one colony in ten is to be devoted to 
increase by nuclei. In this case, the tenth hives are to be 
stimulated for brood rearing until the end of June, when there 
should be at least three chambers nearly full of brood in all 
stages. However, to be within limit, we will say 20 combs 
of brood and a number of stored and partly-stored combs. 
* Simmins’ Non-Swarming System, Feb., 1886. 
