SOUTHERN BEE CULTURE 99 



grafted as previously explained, and given back to the nuclei for 24 hours, 

 then removed to the cell-building colony and placed between two frames 

 of unsealed brood as previously explained. 



This process of cell-building can be carried on throughout the season, 

 but a honey-flow or feeding is absolutely necessary. Thus you see the cells 

 are between two solid walls of unsealed brood, and right in the comb; 

 and it is the nearest method to nature's way of building cells of which I 

 have any knowledge. No royal jelly is necessary, and no cell-holders or 

 cell-bars are to be bothered with. Large queens are not always developed 

 in large cells; but large cells are most likely to contain large queens. 



T. S. Hall, 



Jasper, 



Ga. 



FINDING AND INTRODUCING QUEENS. 



Tlie queen is the only perfectly developed female in the hive, and her 

 size is between that of a worker and a drone; but her abdomen is about a 

 third longer than that of a worker and about a third larger; is richer in 

 color than the worker, and can easily be distinguished from a drone be- 

 cause she is more in the shape of a worker. Usually there is only one queen 

 in a hive; and sometimes, but not often, two, for the bees discover that their 

 mother is failing, and raise ihem another one to take her place, when she 

 will be permitted to remain in the hive with her daughter for a while. 



The queen is the mother of all bees in the hive, which are from 30,000 

 to 50,coo strong; and, of course, to find her in this mighty army of bees is 

 often no small task. Remove the cover from the colony you wish to find the 

 queen in, and use no more smoke than just enough to keep the bees subdued; 

 for if you use too much smoke it will cause them to leave their quiet posi- 

 tion on the comb and go to crawling about over the interior parts of the 

 hive, and boiling out of it on the alighting-board and over the top of the 

 hive : and the queen will, of course, join them and be much more difficult 

 to find than if you had used only enough smoke to keep them subdued. 



Remove the division-board and lift out the frame next to it and look 

 over it well and set it beside the hive on the outside, and lift out the next 

 frame ; look it over, and set it back in the hive ; then lift out the next one 

 and look over it well, and so on until all the frames have been carefully lifted 

 out and looked over for the queen. If the queen has not been found during 

 this search, look the frames over again carefully; then, if she is not found, 

 set them all back in the hive and put the cover on ; and after an hour or more 

 repeat the search until she is found. Usually the queen is found on the 

 first or second search; and during the search keep a close watch on the 

 bottom and sides of the hive, for often she will be found there. 



Of course, queens are more easily found in a nucleus, or small swarm 

 of bees. If the frames or comb in a patent or similarly constructed hive 



