35 
1t securely round the edges as before, but making in it a small 
exit by which drones may escape to the roof, which should be 
lifted now and then to permit them to escape; then hive the 
driven bees with the queen at the entrance (76). On no account 
must the queen be confined to the combs in the bar-frames, unless 
eggs have been laid in those combs ;_ otherwise queens will pro- 
bably be hatched in the upper or fixed-comb hive. In from seven 
to fourteen days after confining the queen to the bar-frames, if 
the conditions have been favourable for breeding, weather fine, 
and honey coming in, it will be advisable to add a frame of 
foundation, see “‘ brood spreading ’’ (90). On the twenty- 
second day after placing on the excluder, all worker brood will 
be hatched out in the skep, which may then be removed; the 
bees should be driven from it and hived in the bar-frame hive, 
after which treat the stock in the ordinary way; or the skep 
may be left in position, in order that the bees may fill the empty 
combs with honey ; the excluder zinc being of course left on. 
X. BROOD-SPREADING. 
Brood-spreading signifies artificially assisting the expansion of the 
area occupied by the brood nest, by placing 
88. Reasons for a frame of foundation or empty comb in 
Brood-spreading. the centre of the brood chamber for the 
queen to lay in, or by transferring to the 
same place a frame carrying little brood. By providing empty 
cells in the centre of the brood chamber, the queen is induced 
to lay more rapidly than she otherwise would; it also lessens 
the tendency to swarm, by providing space for the queen to lay 
in when there are few vacant cells available for that purpose. 
In the early spring, the brood nest in a bar-frame hive occupies 
a somewhat circular space about the centre of the middle 
frames in the body-box ; the area thus occupied is gradually 
extended as the season advances, provided that the conditions 
for breeding are favourable. The area of comb occupied by 
brood in each frame diminishes the further the frame is from the 
centre of the brood nest; in a strong, well-managed hive, 
brood would in early summer occupy part of the eight or nine 
central frames, whereas a weak stock might have brood in only 
three or four frames, because the queen will limit the number 
of eggs laid in accordance with the capacity of the stock to pro- 
vide nurses. At times every frame in a strong stock may be 
more or less occupied by brood. —— . 
- i ould not be practised unless there is a 
Ercoas Deane ee sufficient supply of food, nor in chilly, 
inclement weather. If necessary, artifi- 
cial feeding (103) should be resorted to, 
otherwise piped sprees re more 
ic most important tha e stocks should be 
harm than good. Teismest Pon eeding (106) and brood 
eae rene the honey flow commences locally ; in such 
89. Time for Brood- 
spreading. 
