284 QUEEN REARING. 



populous part of the hive, near the brood and the honey, and 

 keeping her there from 24 to 48 hours. These queen-cages 

 were first used in Germany for introducing queens. 



537. In catching a queen, she should be gently taken 

 with the fingers, from among the bees, and if none are 

 crushed, there is no risk of being stung. The queen herself 

 will not sting, even if roughly handled. 



If she is allowed to fly, she may be lost, by attempting to 

 enter a strange hive. 



To introduce her into the cage, she should be allowed to 

 climb up into it. It is a fact well known to queen breeders 

 that a bee or a queen cannot he easily induced to enter a cage 

 or a box turned downward. The meshes of the wire cloth 

 should not be closer than 12 to the inchj that the bees may 

 feed the queen readily through them. This is important, 

 for we have lost two queens successively in a cage with closer 

 meshes. 



The bees will cultivate an acquaintance with the imprisoned 

 mother, by thrusting their antenna3 through the openings, and" 

 will be as quiet as though the queen had her liberty. Such a 

 cage will be very convenient for any temporary confinement 

 of a queen. 



538. It is necessary, when the queen is' released, that the 

 bees be in good spirits, neither frightened, nor angered, and 

 there should be no robbers about, as they might take her for 

 an intruder, and ball her. (436). 



This technical word is used to describe the peculiar way 

 in which bees surround a queen whom they want to kill. The 

 cluster that encloses her, is in the form of a ball, sometimes 

 as large as one's fist, and so compact that it cannot readily 

 be scattered. She may be rescued by throwing the ball into 

 a basin of water. But the writer never had the patience to 

 delay, for fear ■ of damage to the balled queen, and always 

 succeeded in freeing her with his fingers. We have known 

 bees to ball their own mother in such circumstances, for 

 queens are of a timid disposition and easily frightened. When 



