228 THE BEE-KEEPERS' REVIEW 



they have no choice. The amount and consistence of the food left 

 in the cells, after the queens have emerged, is a very strong proof 

 in favor of his theory. 



After the cells are capped they are cut out and caged. They 

 should not be caged too soon. When just capped the tip is quite 

 thick, but the bees will thin it after a few^ days. If the cells are 

 caged before the thinning is done the queens may not be able to 

 cut their way out. The cages are made by winding a piece of wire 

 cloth around a round stick and sewing the edges together with 

 number thirty wire, the same that is used for wiring frames. The 

 bottom is closed in any convenient way and a hook of heavy wire 

 attached to the top end to hang them between the combs. The 

 dimensions are about three inches in length by not less than three- 

 fourths inch in diameter. The cells are cut out with a piece of 

 comb at the bottom of them as a tail end, put in the cages and fas- 

 tened simply by pressing the tail end against the wire cloth. Then 

 the cage is stopped or closed with a cork or in any convenient way 

 and hung between two combs in the queenless colony. The cages 

 should not be hung closer together than two iilches. I once put 

 several touching each other, but a number of the queens were 

 found dead. I presume that they worried themselves to death try- 

 ing to kill each other. No food is necessary. The bees will feed 

 them. 



The queenless colony should be kept very strong. If the brood 

 given with the cell-raising frames is not enough, more should be 

 added. Care should be taken to destroy for cage, if preferred) all 

 the queen cells that may be started outside of the prepared places. 



No nucleii or anything of the sort will be needed. When you 

 want to requeen, just introduce the new queen where she is to stay 

 and let her mate there. 



As to the process of introduction the best is to remove the 

 old queen and just turn the new one in one or two days later when 

 "the bees are mourning for a queen," as some one once said. The 

 best is to wet the cage and caged queen thoroughly and then open 

 the cage and turn her in. The wetting facilitates the introduction. 

 Sometimes the trouble in introducing is due to a quarrelsome dis- 

 position on the part of the queen. A good bath fixes her all right 

 in that respect. However, that is not what determined me to adopt 

 that method. When opening the cage, the young queen is apt to 

 take wing and fly away instead of going into her new home, and 

 that is what decided me to adopt the water bath method of intro- 

 duction. 



I do not know how long the young queens could be kept caged 

 and not be injured by confinement. If I do not use them within a 

 week or ten days, I destroy them. Better raise more than needed 



