DETAILS OF CAGE METHODS 



95 



found to be paying but little attention to her presence, it is 

 usually safe to remove the cage. 



The Benton mailing cages are stocked with candy before 

 the queens are confined. Usually there will be quite a little 

 of this candy still left, at the time the queens are to be introduced. 

 If so, all that is necessary is to remove the old queen, remove 

 the paper across the exit hole which is filled with candy, and leave 

 it to the bees to remove the candy, and release the queen. It is 

 likely to require from one to three days to remove the candy, and 

 by that time, there is little danger to the new queen. If but little 

 candy remains, the paper should be left over the hole for a day or 

 two before removing. When the paper is removed, if the candy is 

 almost gone, a little broken comb honey may be pushed into the 

 cavity. Bees are likely to be friendly to the queen which has been 

 caged in the hive for two days, and the bees which remove the 

 honey are likely to gorge themselves to the point of quietude. 



Some beekeepers by going to a little extra trouble, insure 



Fig. 38. A Mississippi queen-rearing apiary. 



