QUEEN REAHINQ AND INTRODUCTION. 163 



cells, and one or two queen cells to the nucleus in which is the 

 queen of stock C, which queen you may return to C. by the 

 "direct method" to be described below (299). By this means 

 you have queens raised from eggs laid by your best queen, and 

 nursed by the bees of another good stock, which is always 

 desirable. The illustration above (Fig. 07) shows a modi- 

 fication of the former plan, which has some distinct advantages. 

 Cut two pieces of wood, 3" x J", and long enough to fit into 

 a frame. Make two saw-cuts in an edge of each, 2 J" and 5" 

 respectively from one end : tack them into the ends of the frame, 

 with the saw-cuts to the centre : cut two thin J" laths to slide 

 in and out of the saw-cuts, thus making three miniature 

 frames. Remove the queen from stock C. Three days later 

 cut a 4" piece of comb with eggs from your best stock A. Make 

 strips of this piece, by running a knife through alternate rows 

 of cells : with a sharp, hot knife cut down the cells on one side 

 to half their depth : destroy every alternate egg on that side 

 with a match: fasten the strips (prepared cells downwards) 

 to the top bar and laths with melted wax : and give the frame 

 to stock C, after rubbing off all queen cells started there. Nine 

 days afterwards you should have a number of queen cells built 

 on the top bar and moveable laths, and these cells you can 

 distribute as required. Give more strips of comb with eggs 

 to stock C. You can keep that stock rearing queens all the 

 season. The illustration above, which is from a photograph, 

 shows the prepared frame with all the queen cells removed, 

 save one left to the bees to enable them to re-quccn themselves. 



294. Distributing the Nuclei — When the nuclei are no longer 

 required for queen rearing, the bees and frames can be distri- 

 buted among the stocks in the apiary, or they can be formed 

 into one stock, headed by a young queen. 



295. Queen Introduction — Most of the methods of safe 

 introduction at present in use are based upon the belief, 

 gathered from experience, that, if a colony be really queenless, 

 and if a new queen can be introduced, and protected from 

 assault until she has acquired the peculiar scent of the colony, 

 and until the bees have become accustomed to her, she will 

 be accepted. The operation requires care on the part of the 

 bee-keeper, because, there is always some danger, and often 

 much danger that the queen may be roughly treated and even 

 killed. 



296. Balling tfie Queen When the bees of a colony are 



intent upon regicide, they usually surround the queen, enclos- 

 ing her in a living ball, so firm and close that it is not always 

 easy to break it up. This is known among bee-keepers as 

 " balling the queen." A strange queen, carelessly introduced, 



