BEE-KEEPING IN HOT CLIMATES. 109 



from the hives. As soon as there are enough bees in these 

 nuclei — say, for example, as soon as they contain the bees 

 hatched out of six to nine sections — we should unscrew the top 

 bars from the sections, pack these sections into full-sized 

 frames again, and transfer them, bees and all, from the nucleus 

 hives into ordinary sized hives, which we must place on the 

 stands or sites occupied by the nuclei, adding to each nucleus 

 a large frame of sealed brood from some other hive. At 

 intervals of a few days, as the brood hatches, other frames of 

 sealed brood may be added, and in this way a baby nucleus 

 may be built up into a strong stock in three weeks. 



Take a Little Brood from Each Stock in the Apiary. 



The brood may be taken from various stocks in the apiary, 

 and in such small quantities from each that no one hive is 

 appreciably weakened by the loss. 



In practice the advantage of using frames filled with 

 sections will soon become apparent where small nuclei are 

 to be formed and incubators employed in the way just ex- 

 plained. Where incubators are used they are indeed an 

 absolute necessity ; for, while it very seldom happens that 

 we can find a whole frame filled with sealed brood without 

 any unsealed brood in any part of it (which, of coiu-se, would 

 unfit it for insertion in an incubator), it is no difficult matter 

 to pick out plenty of these little 4| inch by 4^ inch sections 

 filled with nothing but sealed brood on both sides, returning 

 the other sections to the hive for a few days until the unsealed 

 larvse in them shall have been sealed over, when they also 

 may be removed to the incubator. 



Hatching Queens in Incubators. 



We can also get our queen cells built in sections if we wish 

 and remove them, when sealed, to the incubator. In this case 

 care must be taken to separate the queen cells a day or two 

 before the queens are due to hatch, placing each cell in a 

 little cage or box formed of perforated zinc or wire gauze, 

 in which there must be some unsealed honey for the young 

 queen, when hatched, to feed on. I like also, when possible, 

 to put four or five newly hatched workers in each of these 

 cages to attend to the queen when hatched ; they may be 



