AMERICAN BEE JOURNAL. 



703 



very convenient to use, cheap and dur- 

 able, and by the use of both the cell-pro- 

 tectors and cages, we can control swarm- 

 ing about as we please, and re-queen the 

 hive at the same time with the best 

 natural cells, and at the' proper season, 

 too, without cost or much trouble. 



I wrote the following for Gleanings, 

 and now copy it for the American Bee 

 Journal, so that its restders may learn 

 of the uses and advantages of my queen- 

 cell protector : 



The cell-protector was worth over 

 $100 to me two years ago in swarming 

 time, as I re-queened over 100 colonies 



COILED WIRE QUEEN-CAGE, WITH A CARTRIDGE 

 SHELL FEEDER. 



with cells from my choicest ones, and at 

 the same time stopped swarming where 

 the cells were introduced. My bees win- 

 tered well, and came out strong the fol- 

 lowing Spring, while others lost very 

 heavily all around here. 



I dare not say that it is a positive 

 fact that the method I practiced two 



years ago will always prevent swarming, 

 but it did with me in four different 

 yards, and it was a swarming year, too. 

 The hives that T did not treat that way 

 nearly all gave swarms, and in many of 

 them I killed the queen while the swarm 

 was on the wing, and 'destroyed the cells 

 in the hive, and gave them a choice 

 queen-cell in the protector, from a hive 

 that had cast a swarm five or six days 

 before. This is easily done while the 

 bees are on the wing. 



This way of re-queening an apiary 

 costs nothing, and gives a chance of 

 doing it when swarming-cells are plenti- 

 ful, and this is the time to do it, because 

 we can get better queens ; and by going 

 to a hive that has not swarmed, and es- 

 pecially if for any cause the queen is 

 condemned, kill her and destroy the cells, 

 if any are started, and give them a 

 choice cell in the protector at once. 



If you want queens for this purpose, 

 go to a hive that has cast a swarm five 

 or six days previously, cut out carefully 

 all the cells you wish to save ; place 

 them in the protectors ; lay them in a 

 box of cotton, or have a block with a 

 number of holes to set them in, until you 

 are ready to use them. 



Now, when all cells are cut oiit, just 

 place the cell, as it is already in the pro- 

 tector, on the side of a comb in the same 

 hive. By pushing the spur of the pro- 

 tector (see Fig. 1) into the comb, it will 

 stay there ; and the long queen- 

 cage placed below (see Fig. 2) it, with 

 its spur pushed into the comb, will also 

 stay, and there is queen food in the bot- 

 tom of this cage, so that, when the 

 queen hatches, she will run down into 

 this cage. In this way you have a queen- 

 nursery in any hive, and hatch out as 

 many queens as you wish. 



Now, after the cells are hatched you 

 can make as many nuclei as you have 

 queens, by just taking one frame with 

 adhering bees, and place in an empty 

 hive ; place another comb by the side of 

 this; give them one of these virgin 

 queens ; close the hive, and so on until 

 the cells are closed up, and wait until 

 they lay ; then do with them what you 

 please. 



HOW TO USE THE CELL-PROTECTOR. 



Hold the small end of the protector 

 between the thumb and first and second 

 fingers of the left hand. Hold the queen- 

 cell by. the big end in the right hand in 

 the same way. Now you are ready to 

 put the cell in ; and as soon as the 

 fingers of the right hand touch the cage^ 

 it will shorten up by pushing slightly, 

 so as to fix the point of the cell just 



