Bet-lieepinr/ in Victoria. 65 



boards, extending upwards to the level of the top of the hive. Bach 

 has a separate entrance facing in a different direction and a separate 

 thin cover board independent of the ordinary hive roof. 



As it is always desirable to have some spare queens at the end of 

 winter, to make good any losses of queens, these nuclei grouped to- 

 gether in one hive may be carried through the winter, provided there 

 are enough bees in each to nearly cover the combs. When queens 

 have been removed, the divisions may be withdrawn and the bees 

 united under one queen. 



Nuclei may be grouped in yet another way by standing, close to- 

 gether, two boxes of two compartments each, as shown in the second 

 hive from the right in the illustration. The advantage of this method 

 is that, after one queen is removed from each box and the bees united, 

 a four-frame super may be put on each, allowing an extension of the 

 brood nest upwards, as showTi on the left. "When all combs are occu- 

 pied, an ordinary hive with entrance in the same position may be 

 substituted for the four-frame boxes, the hives moved apart by degrees, 

 and rim as independent colonies. 



For convenience the nuclei are numbered, the numbers being 

 painted on tablets secured by a nail in the centre and used to indicate 

 the state of each. The number is in normal position for queen laying; 

 upside do^vn, for queenless; diagonal upwards, for queen-cell; hori- 

 zontal, for virgin; and for queen-fertilized but not laying j^et, diagonal 

 downwards. 



XV — Introducing Queens. 



The beginner in bee-keeping often has difficultj^ and sometimes 

 absolute failure in introducing a new queen to a colony of bees. 

 Many of the queens obtained annually from queen breeders are lost 

 in introduction, even by bee-keepers of some experience. The mood 

 or temper of bees and their behaviour towards man and towards their 

 own species are governed by climatic influences, variations in the 

 secretion of nectar, and the methods of manipulation of modern bee- 

 keeping. Incidentally it may here be pointed out that vieiousness 

 is a characteristic of some strains, and even of individual colonies of 

 bees, and that such bees will sting when handled even under the best 

 condition ; there is, however, no additional difficulty in their inherent 

 wickedness so far as the acceptance of a queen is concerned. 



When colonies are in normal condition, the printed instructions 

 usually sent out with queen bees will insure safe introduction ; under 

 eertain conditions, which will be referred to further on, the usual 

 method must, however, be entirely departed from. To introduce a 

 new queen to a colony it is, iirst of all, necessary to find and remove 

 the queen which is to be replaced. It is during this operation that, 

 in most instances, the foundation for future trouble is laid. When 

 the queen to be removed is a black or brown one, it often takes con- 

 siderable time to find her. Bees from other hives are attracted, and 

 the bees of the colony operated on are roused to a state of attacking 

 any stranger ; and, when the new queen appears amongst them a day 



770.— C 



