WOEKING TO INCREASE 69 



the supers tiered up, the brood-nest containing the cells 

 surmounting the whole. Eeplace the cover and leave 

 until the cells are almost ready to hatch. (See "Queen 

 Rearing," page 109). If using eight-frame hives, there 

 should he about seven frames in the super with 7 or 8 

 nice ripe queen-cells. 



When larger increase is desired, start seven new 

 colonies with these frames of brood. There will be 

 required the requisite new hives or nuclei boxes (See 

 Fig. 55), and have two "fat" combs of honey and pollen 

 in each, spaced wide enough apart to receive — later on — 

 the brood comb with its ripe queen-cell. Place these 

 prepared hives or nuclei on the stands it is intended they 

 should occupy, close the entrance with wire gauze so that 

 no bees can escape and have the lid handy at the side. 



Towards evening get the smoker and one of the brood- 

 frames with queen-cell and adhering bees, and place it 

 in hive or nucleus, close the lid securely and leave strictly 

 alone for 2 or 3 days, at the expiration of which the 

 entrance may be opened at nightfall. The queen will 

 have hatched during the interval and there is nothing 

 like a newly hatched queen to make bees stay in a new 

 position. This plan requires fairly warm weather to 

 make it entirely successful. 



If only half the increase is desired use two frames of 

 brood in each new colony or nucleus. Sometimes it 

 becomes necessary to double the number of hives in a 

 yard, and when this happens, all that is required is to 

 lift off the treated brood-nest of seven combs, removing 

 all queen-cells except one or two large ripe ones, and 

 place it on a bottom board on a fresh site. If this 

 is attended to during the heavy flight of the day 

 very few bees will return to the old stand, because 

 they are nearly all young bees who have never fixed 

 the location. As an extra precaution stuff up the 

 entrance tightly with grass to confine the bees for 

 a day or so. The plan of increase mapped out above will 

 work very well when the weather is warm and bright, 

 with honey and pollen in abundance. 



