130 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



Avguf<f 



keeping life I had known tliat queens 

 could be let loose on frames of hatch- 

 ing brood with a certainty of success, 

 providing the brood did not get chilled, 

 or some hole was left so the queen 

 could crawl out and die; and this set 

 me to thinking that if a frame could be 

 made that would go in the hive, into 

 which a frame of hatching brood could 

 be slipped, then I would have the thing 

 complete, for the heat from the hive 

 would keep the brood in the right con- 

 dition for hatching, the same as it did 

 that not caged. Accordingly I got two 

 pieces of wood one-eighth of an inch 

 longer than my frame was deep, by two 

 inches wide and three-sixteenths thick. 

 Onto these pieces I nailed a strip of 

 wire-cloth long enough to go clear 

 around, except the top. This wire cloth 

 was wide enough so that the space be- 

 tween the pieces was one-eighth inch 

 more than the outside width or length 

 of my frame, while a cover was made 

 attachable to the cage, which would 

 closely cover the top, where it could be 

 tightly secured. Into this frame I 

 could slip a frame of hatching brood, 

 let out my queen and the few bees that 

 came with her, secure the cover and 

 then hang the whole in the centre of 

 any colony of bees that was strong 

 enough to keep up the normal heat 

 throughout the whole hive, the cage 

 taking Lhe place of two frames. To 

 make sure that the whole thing should 

 not starve, the frame of hatching brood 

 should have some honey along the top 

 bar as feed for the bees while in the 

 cage, and thus confined, as bees from 

 the colony will seldom feed them. 



Having all fixed as above, the cage is 

 left for five or six days, by which time 

 the cage will be well filled with bees, 

 if a right choice was made when secur- 

 ing the frame to place in it. It is 

 never best to select a frame having 

 much larvae in it, for, as there are no 

 nurse bees in the cage, this larvae must 

 die, if a frame having such is used. If 

 you should happen to have a colony in 



the apiary which has been queenless 

 nine days, and from this colony select 

 a frame from which you see plenty of 

 mature bees biting through the cap- 

 pings of the cells, you will then have 

 something which will be just as you 

 want it. But with a little care a frame 

 which will answer all purposes can Ijc 

 selected from almost any colony dur- 

 ing the months of June, July and 

 August. After five or six days are up 

 the cage is taken to a hive which has 

 been previously placed where we wish 

 our new colony to stand (for a new 

 colony it will soon become), when the 

 cage is to be hung in the hive, and 

 the cover removed. After removing 

 the cover, lift out the frame of bees 

 and brood, upon which you will readily 

 see the queen, for by this time she has 

 grown in size, having the appearance 

 of the laying queen she is, as on in- 

 spection eggs will be found in very 

 many of the cells made vacant by the 

 hatching bees, she having become the 

 adopted mother of the little colony. 

 Now set the frame in the hive, together 

 with one of honey, and move up the 

 division board to suit their wants, and 

 the work is done, without the least pos- 

 sible chance of a loss. If you wish to 

 build them up to a full colony in the 

 least possible time, give another frame 

 of hatching brood in a few days, and 

 in a week or so a second, when by the 

 end of the month, you will have as 

 good a colony as any in the apiary. 



I have used this plan very many 

 times during the last fifteen years and 

 know that it can be used with success 

 every time, and no failure need occur, 

 even with those having little or no ex- 

 perience in introducing queens. 



Borodino, N. Y. 



The Bee-Keeper is carefully mailed 

 about the first of each month to every 

 subscriber upon our list. If for any 

 reason you fail to receive it by the 15th, 

 kindly drop a postal card to us and an- 

 other will be promptly forwarded. 



