TAKING NESTS 143 



Through the netting all the operations 

 of the workers can be watched. 



The combs should be laid in upside 

 down, which may be a little disconcert- 

 ing to the occupants but which keeps 

 the mouths of the cells from resting on 

 the floor of the box and also enables the 

 observer to watch the process of feeding 

 the larvas. 



A little hanging door should have been 

 cut in one end of the box so that food 

 can be put in. 



By the middle of September the combs 

 will contain capped cells of workers, drones, 

 and queens, as well as open cells that con- 

 tain larvae in all stages, and unhatched 

 eggs. 



There should be at least a few workers 

 in with the combs to care for the larvae 

 until more workers hatch out. 



Soon there will be a large and ever- 

 increasing family. Workers will uncap 

 their cells and come out, then drones will 



