426 



Beekeeping 



Many beekeepers prefer to use full Langstroth frames in 

 boxes built to hold about three frames. 



Classification of queens. 



When a queen has mated (usually in five to eight days) 

 and has begun to deposit eggs she is ready to use and is 

 known in the queen trade as untested. At this time it 

 cannot be determined whether she has mated with a drone 

 of her own race, but if she is kept for a little over three weeks 

 (until her progeny emerges) the color of the workers is taken 

 as an indication of the purity or impurity of her mating. 

 If apparently purely mated she is known in the trade as a 



tested queen. Further observa- 

 tions may cause her to be classed 

 as select tested or finally as a 

 breeding queen. 



FIG. 190. Queen mailing cage. 

 The right-hand hole is filled 

 with candy which is then 

 covered with a circle of comb- 

 foundation or waxed paper. 

 The cork at the end is re- 

 moved when used for an in- 

 troducing cage. 



Mailing cages. 



If queens are to be shipped 

 they are usually put in a queen 

 mailing cage (Fig. 190) with some 

 workers and an adequate supply 

 of food, usually a soft paste or 

 candy made by kneading together 

 confectioner's (not powdered) sugar and honey without 

 heating. Queens are frequently mailed across the con- 

 tinent or from Europe in these cages and have been 

 shipped successfully to New Zealand. Usually a trip of 

 over ten days results in considerable loss. 



Introducing cages. 



The queen mailing cage is also used as an introducing 

 cage or special cages may be used for this purpose. Cages 

 are so constructed that the queen is separated from the 

 workers in the hive that is to receive her by soft candy. 

 The workers gradually eat this out and in the meantime 

 the queen acquires the colony odor so that when the candy 



