FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 'IM 



compart inents; and at that time, not having had much experi- 

 ence, I made each compartment 2% inches wide. Years after- 

 ward I made another nucleus hive; and, smiling at my former 

 ignorance and congratulating myself upon the superior knowl- 

 edge I had gained with the passing years, I made the compart- 

 ments more nearly in accord with the usual space occupied by 

 each frame in a hive, making each compartment — I'm not sure 

 whether it was 1% or 1%. At any rate, the bees swarmed out 

 of these limited quarters to such an extent that I could not use 

 them, whereas they had not swarmed out of the 2Yi. oompai-t- 

 ments; neither ha\'e they swai-mod cut of these later ones. 

 Having so much room in these central compartments, the bees 

 sometimes build pieces of comb on the sides which I must clean 

 away, but that is better than to have them swarm out. 



CONTENTS OF NUCLEUS HIVES. 



A nucleus hive is tenanted by a two-frame nucleus on each 

 side and a one-frame nucleus in the middle. Care is taken to 

 choose one of the best frames of brood for the middle nucleus, 

 and perhaps a few extra bees are baished in. A third comb 

 may be put in each of the side compartments, or a dummy, the 

 same as the dummies used in the regular hives. 



MAKING THE BEES STAY. 



When populated, the entrances of the nuclei are plugged up 

 with green lea\'es. These are generally taken away twenty-four 

 hours later, after the hives are pounded to stir up the bees, but 

 if they are neglected the leaves will dry and shrink so the bees 

 can make their ^\ay out. It is better to form nuclei with queen- 

 less bees, for they are not so much inclined" as others to go back 

 to their old place. 



BABY NUCLEI. 



There has been much interest in the matter of having 

 queens fertilized in small nuclei containing only 200 bees or so. 

 About the year 1863 I had seen miniature nuclei in the ai)iaiies 

 of Adam Grimm, but tliey had not so few bees as the so-called 

 baby nuclei of to-day. Of course, I had a number of queens 

 fertilized in baby nuclei, but I did not go to the trouble of hav- 



