218 AUSTRALASIAN 



MY METHOD OF FORMING NUCLEI AND INSERTING 

 QUEEN CELLS. 



With the nucleus hives, a few spare combs, and provided 

 with some long pins, I go to a hive, and without troubling to 

 look for the queen — except merely to glance over the combs 

 as I take them out — I insert the cells as quickly as possible. 

 Instead of taking time to fit them nicely, I give a hasty look 

 at the cell, cut a hole in the comb I think will suit, put in the 

 cell and fasten it there by running two pins through the base 

 of it into the comb, one each way — sometimes one is sufficient. 

 Advantage may be taken of a depression in the comb and so 

 save cutting a hole. In this way I can insert the cells and 

 form the nuclei in a very short time. If the queen should be 

 seen during the operation, she is placed with the frame she is 

 on to one side till all is finished, when she is put back into the 

 hive after contracting it with division boards, if necessary. 

 Should she not be seen it only means the loss of one queen 

 cell, which is more than made up for by the time saved in not 

 waiting to find her. I have often spent a considerable time 

 looking for the queen in a strong colony and then perhaps had 

 to give it up. Professor Cook recommends inserting the 

 queen cells twenty-four hours after the nuclei are formed, but 

 says : " We may do it sooner but always at the risk of having 

 the cell destroyed." I very rarely find one destroyed, and I 

 think the risk is likely to be greater when time is allowed for 

 the bees to commence building cells before giving them one. 

 Occasionally it happens that a nucleus colony will not accept a 

 queen cell even when it has been queenless for some little 

 time. When this occurs a cell should be protected in a cage 

 when placed in the hive until the queen emerges, when there 

 is likely to be no further trouble. 



MATING YOUNG QUEENS. 



To return to our nuclei. We left them just after liberating 

 the bees. At that time the queens would be one day old ; in 

 four or five more they will take their wedding flight just when 

 our select drones are about fourteen days old and flying. If our 

 plans have been carefully matured there would be no other 



