FIFTY YEARS A:M0NG THE BEES 103 



or it may be dequeening for about 10 days. This de- 

 queening treatment is the one most generally used. The 

 queen is removed, the queen-cells are killed, and in 

 10 days the queen-cells are again destroyed and their 

 own queen returned, or another queen given. Some- 

 times a queenlessness of a week seems to do as well. 

 At any rate, a queen in a provisioned cage may be given 

 in a week, for it will be a little time before she is out 

 ready to lay. F^ossibly, instead of waiting 10 days and 

 giving a laying queen, a ripe queen-cell or a newly born 

 virgin is given at the time of removing the old queen. 

 This has the advantage that if there is anything like 

 European foul brood in the case, it may be considered 

 somewhat in the light of a cure. It has the disad- 

 vantage that my assistant is quite strongly opposed to 

 the idea of having a virgin in a honey-hive, lest she 

 -hould take it into her head to get the colony to swarm 

 out, a thing that may happen once in a great while in 

 reality, and in the imagination of my assistant quite fre- 

 quently. 



REPLACING WITH BETTER QUEEN. 



On the whole perhaps the most common thing is 

 to replace the removed queen with a young laying queen 

 taken from a nucleus. This will generally result in replac- 

 ing the old queen with one of better stock, for the young 

 queen will be reared from best stock. If, however, 

 the old queen be an extra good one, she will be put into 

 a nucleus when removed, and then returned at the 

 proper time. Whether the old queen be returned or a 

 new one given, she is likely to be given with a frame of 

 brood and adhering bees from the nucleus, so there 

 is no interruption in laying. If for any reason she is 

 given in an introducing cage, the cage is thrust into the 

 entrance of the hive, in such way that the bees will be 

 sure to take care of it, and where it can be looked at 

 any time without opening the hive. I am not sure but 

 what a queen at the entrance is a little better received 



