THE REARING OF QUEEN BEES. 



21 



for the prospective queen l)reeder to study the problem. The ideal 

 nurser>" cage must at the same time be an introducino- cage; so that 

 from the time when the queen cell is put in until the queen is trans- 

 ferred to another hive to be mated, no attention is necessary except to 

 uncover the candy plug to allow the workers to eat the queen out. 

 The Stanley cage, consisting of a cylinder of perforated zinc, will do 



IT 



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i I . I I iti liffiMiAiSmiwtHhnrmr-— 



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Fig. 10. — "Swarthmore" nur.sery, with queens. Two cells removed to show construction (original!. 



very well, provided it is modified so that it can be used as an intro- 

 ducing cage, but it is awkward and not easih" handled in a hive. The 

 long West cell protector is also good, except that it is not so conven- 

 ient for introducing and does not fit into an}" liar, but must be stuck 

 on a comb. It may also be added that any cell protector is worse than 



Fig. 11. — "Swarthmore" nursery dissected (original). 



useless where artificial cells are used. Where the old method of cut- 

 ting natural cells from colonies and transferring these cells to queenless 

 colonies is practiced, a cell protector is desirable and almost necessary, 

 since the workers in repairing the cut edges of comb often gnaw 

 entirely into the cell and kill the queen. The author has never known 

 this to happen on artificial cells. The Titoff cage (fig. 9) is also very 



