OR, MANUAI, OF THE APIARY. 



319 



We should send queens by mail (Fig'. 145). They go as 

 safely as by express, and it costs but a cent or two. No one 

 should presume, on any account, to send a queen by mail, unless 

 the queen-cage is covered by this double screen and is provisioned 

 as before directed, instead of with honey. If shippers neglect 

 these precautions, so that the mails become daubed^ or the 

 mail agents stung-, we shall again lose the privilege of send- 

 ing queens by mail. 



We have already learned how to introduce the queen. We 

 have only to place her in the hive under the quilt or between 



Fig. 145. 



Mailing-Cage. — From A, I. Iiojt ( <> 



two frames, and to withdraw the cork at the candy end. The 

 bees will soon eat the candy, and the queen will be free. If 

 we use this cage to introduce a virgin of some age, we may 

 well paste paper over the holes to delay the exit. 



TO MOVE COlrONIES. 



Should we desire to purchase Italians or other colonies, 

 the only requisites to safe transport are : A wire-cloth cover 

 for ventilation— in shipping by express in hot weather it is 

 wise to put wire below as well as above— securely fastening- 

 the frames so they can not possibly move, and combs so old 

 that they shall not break down and fall out. Of course the 

 Hoffman (Fig. 99) close-fitting frames need little fastening-. 



