FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



257 



a queen out of a nucleus, if a cell were merely stapled 

 on, the bees would be pretty sure to destroy it, for not 

 yet realizing that their young laying queen has been 

 taken from them, they feel no need of anything like a 

 queen-cell. So the cage saves the time and trouble of 

 waiting and making a second visit another day. 



Fig. 88. — Comb for Queen-Cells. 



There is, however, another advantage in using the 

 cage, making it somewhat desirable to use it in all cases. 

 We often want to know what has been the fate of a cell, 

 and can generally tell pretty well by its appearance. If 

 it has the appearance of most of those in Fig. 94, we 

 know that a young queen has emerged and must be in 

 the nucleus. If it is torn open in the side, like the one 

 at the extreme right, we are sure that the young queen in 

 it was destroyed by the bees. 



If the cells have merely been stapled on, the bees are 

 so prompt about removing them as soon as they are no 

 longer of any use that scarce a vestige of them is left, 

 so we have nothing to judge by. But when a cell is en- 



