154 -^ Modern Bee-Farm 



■within limit, we will say twenty combs of brood and a number 

 of stored and partly-stored combs. 



The whole tier should now be shifted to a new location, 

 one storey at a time, and then give the swarm (made as before) 

 the eggs for queen raising ; this time an upper storey of combs 

 or foundation is to be added, besides filling up below, as the 

 much larger number of bees will probably store heavily. The 

 moved stock will still have sufificent bees to care for the brood, 

 the extent of which will now be immensely increased, as there 

 are not enough gatherers left to crowd the queen out, though 

 before shifting the hive the apiarist should have been able to 

 give the queen plenty of room by alternating brood combs 

 with foundation as the upper storeys were added, and ex- 

 tracting if necessary. 



On the ninth day after setting the eggs, make up a nucleus 

 with the queen (of the moved lot), this time standing the same 

 by the hive, -to be returned after forming the nuclei in a 

 manner similar to that before mentioned, standing a nucleus 

 by each of the full hives working for honey, to be united to 

 them in the autumn. 



By waiting till the date named more than sufficient nuclei 

 can be made up, while the original queen will have a full hive 

 of bees to build up with again, and thus provide against loss, 

 and have combs of eggs to spare for the nuclei. 



The Young Queens 



may be mated from after their seventh day until they are as 

 much as four weeks old. In fair weather, the rule is for them 

 to be laying in ten or eleven days from hatching ; but through 

 unfavorable weather, I have had a number of queens under 

 the closest observation failing to mate until the twenty-eighth 

 day, and then successfully, having seen them come in with the 

 drone attachment and in due course produce properly capped 

 brood. I have had many mated at twenty-one to twenty-five 

 days. 



