160 



THE PEACTIOL BEE OUtDE. 



hives, sufficient to meet the needs of the apiary, should be 

 prepared. Hives which are not required for other purjioses, 

 can be temporarily transformed into nucleus hives, so that they 

 may be turned to use again for swarms and stocks at a 

 moment's notice. Divide the hive into three parts, by inserting' 

 two close-fitting dummies (93). Make an opening, f" deep 

 (371), in the back, and another midway in one side, level with 

 the floor board, to form two additional entrances. Part of a 

 broken section, tacked to a piece of inch wood nailed or screwed 

 below the augur hole, will serve as an alighting board ; and 

 a porch, or rain shoot, may be similarly constructed. When 

 the hive is required again for a stock or swarm, all that will 

 be necessary will be to remove one or both dummies, and to 

 stop the augur holes with corks. Nucleus hives may be inex- 

 pensively made ui3 from grocers boxes (Fig, 95), provided that 



the timber be sweet and 

 clean. They should be 

 made to take three, four, 

 or five frames, and should 

 measure internally 145" 

 long X g" deep. If the 

 sides be made 17" long, 

 and if the end pieces be 

 8|" deep and be nailed 14I" 

 apart, two pieces can be 

 fastened to enclose the 

 frame shoulders, and the 

 bottom board can be also 

 17" long, to provide an 

 alighting place for the 

 bees. The sides may be 

 made of 11" timber, wdiich 

 will leave a space of 2" 

 above the frames for quilts, 

 etc. ; but a shallow riser (87), which would admit of the use of 

 a feeder, would be preferable. A piece of board, two or three 

 inches longer, and wider than the hive, may be set on for a 

 roof, and if a brick or a heavy stone be laid on top, it will keep 

 all secure. Legs may bo added, or the hive mav be set upon a 

 couple of bricks, with a tilt to the front, or back, to throw off 



Fig-. 93. 

 MAKESHIFT NUCLEUS HIVE. 



286. Queen Rearing.—Early in the spring, the scene of 

 operations will be transferred to the stocks which are to be 

 used. It should be borne in mind that, to secure the best 

 results, the young queens should be reared when the stocks 

 are strong, when nectar is coming in rapidly, when drones 

 are on the wmg, and when the condition of the stocks is such 



