20 



PREPARATION FOR MAKING NUCLEI. 



Nuclei are used to increase the number of colonies, or for 

 ■developing queens which are afterwards introduced into otner 

 colonies after they have mated with the drones. Nuclei can Be 

 made of any number of frames. There are one, two, three, and 

 even five framed nuclei. Strong three framed nuclei are 

 generally used for developing queens. When a nucleus is to be 

 started the apiarist selects full frames of well capped brood 

 which is about ready to hatch. The reason for using brood 

 of this kind is, that if the old bees should return to their fovmer 

 hive there would soon be young bees to take their place. The 

 frames with the adhering bees are put into a hive or box. The 

 entrance is closed and they are taken to their new stand. It is a 

 good practice to keep the bees shut up for a day or two so that 

 they will become accustomed to their new home. A small 

 board or a branch with a few leaves on it should be placed 

 in front of the entrance to hinder the bees as they rush 

 out of the hive. Upon meeting these obstacles they will stop 

 and note their surrounding so that they will be able to locate 

 their new hive when they return from gathering honey. If 

 nothing has been placed before the entrance of the hive to attract 

 their attention the bees will rush out and fly to the fields and 

 return to their old stand, thus weakening the nucleus. 



Queen cells from other colonies may be introduced by methods 

 described previously, or queens may be given to nuclei as before 

 stated. As soon as the bees come forth from the brood and the 

 nucleus is strong it may be given frames for the bees to work 

 upon from time to time. The nucleus will finally become a strong 

 colony. If one wishes to build up the nucleus quickly, full sheets 

 of. foundation may be given, thus saving the bees a great deal of 

 time. If at any time, a nucleus is made with one or two frames 

 of brood and the bees are few in number, full frames of capped 

 brood, from which young bees are coming forth, may be given, 

 thus building up the strength of the nucleus in a very short time. If 

 the apiarist wishes to use the nuclei only for the jraising of queens, 

 they may be divided at any time and returned to strong colonies. 

 When a nucleus is divided and returned to strong colonies, it is a 

 good practice to smoke the bees in the nucleus and also those in 

 the colony in which it is to be inserted. This is done so that the 

 bees from the nucleus will not be destroyed by the colonies in 

 which they are placed. Smoke takes aw:ay the odor of the bees. 



UNITING. 



The uniting of colonies or nuclei has to be resorted to some- 

 times. Colonies may lose their queen when no queen cells 

 are ready to give to them, or, a colony may be too weak to raise a 

 queen, or, if it has been without a queen for some time it very 

 likely would not accept a new queen if supplied with one. Under 

 these conditions, it is often best to unite a queenless colony or 

 nucleus with one which has a good queen. A queenless colony 



