THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW. 



231 



building wax between, but they can be 

 easily separated with a hot knife. Any 

 number of cups desired can be used. I 

 usually have eighteen, and out of five 

 batches built within the last few days 

 there were only three cups rejected. 



Cut out the lower half of a comb and 

 notch the end bars of the brood frame 

 even with the part left, and by having 

 the slat or bar (I use bars j4 x ^i of an 

 inch ) just the right length they can be 

 .slipped in and out very handily. 



Instead of alternating the cells I now 

 have them built in one straight row, so 

 as to be convenient to insert in the nur- 

 .sery. If it is not desirable to remove and 

 introduce the young queens as fast as 

 they hatch, which I prefer doing, so as to 

 discard such as I do not like, it will be 

 found that the cells will be more readily 

 accepted if protected by the nursery un- 

 til the first queen emerges. 



I have not yet determined how many 

 days in advance of hatching it will do to 

 protect the cells with the nurser3^ and 

 thus reduce the number of days of queen- 

 lessness by the cell builders. 



The comb should be quite old, such as 

 has been used for many generations of 

 brood ; so that the cocoons that are to be 

 transferred from will be thick and heavy, 

 and then .shaven down with a thin, sharp 

 knife, slightly heated, so that the cells 

 are barely % of an inch deep. It should 

 be cut very smoothly so that there will 

 be no ragged edges; and when bent back 

 and forth the cocoons will loosen up, 

 and can easily be removed. Some allow 

 them to fall out on a piece of flannel, 

 and then take them up, but with a prop- 

 erly made transfer stick such as shown 

 at the small end of the forming stick, 

 made a little tapering, so as to stretch 

 the cocoon a little just above the hollow- 

 ed out point, I have no trouble in taking 

 the cocoons right out of the comb. By 

 having cups warm (at a temperature of 

 90° ) they stretch when the cocoon is 

 pressed in and then a little twist of the 

 stick makes all smooth and nice. 



This plan is objected to by some be- 

 cause the combs have to be cut, but prac- 

 tice will prove that the advantages in be- 

 ing able to use larvae too small to trans- 

 fer otherwise, surrounded by food sup- 

 plied by the bees to suit its age, will more 

 than counterbalance the damage to 

 combs. Besides, old ones that have been 

 in use until they need removing can be 

 used repeatedly during a season. 



In selecting the larvae, that used in the 

 different sets of cups should all be of the 

 same age, if it is expected that all will be 

 accepted, fed alike and hatch the same 

 day. For the best results it should not 

 be larger than can be just seen easily 

 with the natural eye ; and many times I 

 use it when only a tiny wet spot can be 

 seen in the bottom of the cell. It is best 

 after a comb is filled with eggs to give it 

 to queenless bees, as the larvae is fed 

 more abundantly; especially is this the 

 case during a honey dearth. My experi- 

 ence is that there is not as much differ- 

 ence in the hatching of the queens as 

 there is in the age of the larvie used; and 

 unless surrounded with an abundance of 

 food, one larger than the head of an or- 

 dinary pin produces a black tipped runty 

 queen. 



If it be desirable to form nuclei, a hive 

 can be filled with combs of brood ( seal- 

 ed and hatching preferred) and placed 

 under the cell-builders when the cells 

 are sealed. In any of the cases mention- 

 ed, when the cells mature slip them in 

 the nursery described on page 240, or any 

 nursery you have convenient, and as 

 soon as enough young queens hatch, 

 form nuclei by using a comb of honey 

 and one of brood, giving each a queen. 

 Place them in a dark room one day for 

 them to become accustomed to their 

 changed condition, when most of the bees 

 will remain, when the nuclei are set out; 

 especially so, if the weather or conditions 

 have been such that they have not flown 

 freely for several days. 



If only one batch of cells is to be 

 built, and the first arrangement be used, 

 when the nuclei are formed as described 



