240 Control of Drones Secured. 
holding it between us and the sun, and may uncap such 
cells, and let the queen run in at the entrance of any 
queenless hive or nucleus at once. In selecting combs for 
queen-cells, we should reject any that have drone comb. 
Bees sometimes start queen-cells over drone larvae. Such 
cells are smoother than the others, and of course are worth- 
less. After all the nuclei have received their cells and 
bees, they have only to be set in a shady place and watched 
ta see that sufficient bees remain. Should too many leave, 
give them more by removing the cover and shaking a 
frame loaded with bees over the nucleus; keep the open- 
ing nearly closed, and cover the bees so as to preserve the 
heat. The main caution in this zs to be sure not to get any 
old gueen in a nucleus. In two or three days the queens 
will appear, and in a week longer will have become fecun- 
dated, and that, too, in case of the first queens, by selected 
drones, for as yet there are no others in the apiary. I can 
not over-estimate the advantage of always having extra 
queens. To secure mating from selected drones, later, we 
must cut all drone-comb from inferior colonies, so that 
they shall rear no drones. If drone larve are in uncapped 
cells, they may be killed by sprinkling the comb with cold 
water. By giving the jet of water some force, as may 
be easily done by use of a fountain pump, they may be 
washed out, or we may throw them out with the extractor, 
and then use the comb for starters in our sections. It is 
very important that those who rear queens to sell shall 
have no near neighbors who keep bees, and shall keep 
only very superior bees, that undesirable mating may be 
prevented. If one has neighbors who keep bees,-he can 
see that they keep only the best, or else he can rear his 
queens before others have drones flying. He can also get 
his neighbor to use entrance guards. If drones are flying 
from undesirable colonies, they can be kept from leaving 
the hive by use of the entrance guards, or may be captured 
and destroyed by use of Alley’s drone trap (Fig. 94). 
These are made of the perforated zinc, and while they 
permit the passage of the workers, they restrain the queen 
and drones. By shaking all the bees in front of the hive, 
we can, by use of these, soon weed out all the drones. 
