NUCLEUS 
630 
after the honey flow, all the old bees will go 
back to the old stand; but if two or three 
weeks or a month elapses, during which lit¬ 
tle or no honey has been gathered, there 
will be very much less returning. 
The beginner should take this fact into 
account when he forms his nuclei, and in a 
day or two afterward he should see that 
there are bees enough in each division so 
that the young brood at least is not neg¬ 
lected. This is the reason why the advice is 
given to put the sealed brood on the new 
stand and the unsealed brood on the old 
stand. For a few days, or until the brood 
emerges in the new stands some of the 
young brood may be neglected; and this is 
a point that should be carefully taken into 
account. 
The Alexander plan of increase, as given 
under Increase, explains how nuclei can 
be formed on another plan for the purpose 
of securing honey as well as increase. 
Under the head of Feeding and Feed< 
ers, subhead Feeding to Stimulate, will be 
found full particulars on how to feed up 
these nuclei if there is no nectar in the 
fields. The Boardman one-hole feeder 
should be used for the purpose, and the 
entrances should be kept contracted down 
to the space in which only .two or three bees 
can pass at a time. If the division is made 
on the basis of five nuclei out of one full 
colony, the respective entrances should be 
closed down to an opening that will permit 
only one bee to pass at a time. 
As soon as the nuclei begin to prosper, 
an extra comb may be added on the outside. 
In 1892, on the principles already out¬ 
lined, the writer, without any special effort, 
increased an apiary from ten colonies, some 
of which were almost nuclei, to 85 good 
colonies, and obtained about 2,000 lbs. of 
honey. These were not fed, but depended 
entirely on nectar gathered from the fields, 
for the season was a good one. Colonies 
were divided in the latter part of May, and 
given frames of foundation and laying 
queens. They were given every possible 
advantage, and by fall there were 85 nice 
colonies with plenty of winter stores gath¬ 
ered from fall bloom. 
SOMERFORD METHOD OP FORMING NUCLEI. 
W. W. Somerford described a method of 
forming nuclei that has worked very satis¬ 
factorily, especially when the work is done 
at outyards. While it involves some of the 
principles already described, it is enough 
different to warrant giving it a place here. 
To begin with, in all your fancy stock re¬ 
move the queens or cage them, after getting 
the brood-nest well filled with brood (the 
more brood the better—8 or 10 frames in a 
hive if possible). Wait ten days after re¬ 
moving the queen, when the bees will gener¬ 
ally have cells on every comb, and be in a 
broody or listless condition, waiting for 
cells to hatch. Divide and remove the 
frames quietly, giving each new hive two 
frames of brood and all adhering bees, and 
one good frame of honey, using it for a 
division-board (and, by the way, such divi¬ 
sion-boards are to my notion the best in the 
world); put the two frames of brood and 
bees next to the wall of the hive, and let 
the honey-frame be the third from the side 
of hive. Be sure to see that you have at 
least one good ripe-looking cell in each new 
hive, or division, and don’t forget the frame 
of honey. As soon as each division is made, 
stop the entrance of the hive by stuffing it 
full of green moss. If you haven’t any 
green moss, use green grass or leaves, and 
be sure to stuff them in tight—as tight as 
tho you never intended the bees should 
gnaw out, and be sure there are no cracks 
or holes that a single bee could get out at; 
for if there are, your division will be ruined 
by all, or nearly all, the bees that can fly 
leaving it. Each parent colony should make 
four or five good divisions that will make 
booming colonies in 40 or 50 days, and I 
have had them the best in the apiary in less 
time. Leave or loose the old queen (if not 
too old) on the old stand, and the bees from 
it will work straight ahead, as they don’t 
have to be confined to make them stay at 
home. 
Don’t be uneasy about the divisions that 
are stopped up, unless you failed to stuff the 
entrances well, for they will not smother, 
but busy themselves gnawing at the moss 
or grass for two or three days, possibly four 
or five, if you have done an extra good job 
at stuffing the entrance. At the end of that 
time you will find they have all gnawed out 
so as to secure egress and ingress. Then 
you can move enough of the grass or moss 
to give them a clean entrance, 1 y 2 to 2 
inches wide; and by looking into them you 
will be astonished at the quantity of bees 
you have in each hive (and they, too, well 
satisfied), having consumed so much time 
in gnawing out that the queen had time to 
hatch and kill off her rivals and be ready 
for the wedding trip by the time the en¬ 
trance is cleared. So, instead of, in a week’s 
time, having a worthless weak division with 
a chilled inferior queen, as is the case in 
the old-style way of dividing, where nine- 
tenths of the bees return to the old hive, you 
