234 



FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



mark their location upon emerging. Although queenless bees 

 are much better than others at staying wherever they are put, 

 there will be still fewer bees return to the old place if the 

 nucleus is fastened in twenty-four houis or longer. 



LOOKING FOR EGGS. 



Twelve or fourteen days after forming the nuclei I lool^ 

 to see if the queens ai-e laying. I might find eggs in less tiiue, 

 but not always, and at any rate not in considerable number, 



Fig. 



-Bees Playing. 



and it sa\es time on the whole not to be in too much of a hurry. 

 If no eggs are found a comb of young brood is given as an 

 encouragement to start the young queen to laying, and a day 

 or two later, if queen-eells are started on this young brood, a 

 uiature queen-cell is given. 



KEEPING BEST QUEEN IN NUCLEUS. 



Instead of having my best queen in a strong colony, as in 

 the plan just given, she is usually kept in a two-frame nucleus 

 tiiroughont the summer, tlie nucleus being strengthened into a 



