FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 243 



of having hives specially built for them. I merely used an 

 8-frame dovetailed hire, putting in it sometimes a 1-pound sec- 

 tion nearly filled with honey, and sometimes two such sections 

 side by side. A frame of brood with its adhering bees was 

 taken from some colony, the bees shaken or brushed into the 

 nucleus hive quickly, a virgin not more than a day or two old 

 dropped into the hive among the bees, and all hastily closed, 

 the entrance having been closed in advance. Of course, the 

 frame of beeless brood was returned to its old place. Three 

 days later the" entrance was opened, and in due time the queen 

 was laying. 



However it may be for the commercial queen-rearer, for 

 the honey-producer there seems no great advancage in baby 

 nuclei. He generally needs to make some increase, and it is 

 more convenient for him to use 2 or 3 frame nuclei for queen- 

 rearing, and then build them up into full colonies. 



REGULAR HIVES FOR NUCLEI. 



One year I tried reaiing queens on a commercial scale, 

 producing them for Editor G. W. York, of the American Bee 

 Journal. I may say, parenthetically, that one season was 

 enough to convince me it was best to stick to honey-productionj 

 rearing queens only for my own use. But I had 50 three- 

 compartment hives left on hand; and in spite of that, truth 

 compels me to say that latterly they generally lie idle, and I 

 use a full hive for each nucleus, merely putting 3 or 4 frames 

 in one side of the hive, with a dummy beside theia. To be sure, 

 it takes more bees than to have three nuclei in one hive, but it 

 is a good bit more convenient to build up into a full colony a 

 nucleus that has the whole hive to itself. 



QLl-EN-OAGE. 



When we go to give queen-cells to the nuclei, we are pro- 

 vided with introducing queen-cages. The first introducing- 

 cage I devised was the Miller introducing-eage, listed in the 

 catalogs of supply-dealers. Then I got up one I liked better, 

 three of which are shown in Fig. 92, the blocks containing the 

 candy being separate from the cages. This may be called 

 Miller cage No. 2. Two blocks 3 inches by V2 by % and n 



