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 
