QUEEN RAISING AND INTBODUCING. 141 



Fig. so. 



queen on or between the combs of a colony that 

 has lost its queen, or by her removal has been 

 rendered queenless. The simplest form of cage is 

 known as the pipe-cover cage (Fig. 50), a small 

 cylinder of tin covered with fine-woven 

 wire. The queen should be taken alone 

 and placed in the cage, which should be 

 standing upon a piece of thin wood or 

 cardboard. It should then be laid upon 

 a part of the comb where the cells contain unsealed 

 honey. After withdrawing the cardboard the cage 

 is pressed down into the comb, and there the queen 

 remains confined for twenty-four hours or more, when 

 an examination of the hive should be made. Very 

 little smoke should be administered to the colony, as 

 the cage is to be raised and the behaviour of the bees 

 to the liberated queen noticed. Sometimes they will 

 seize and ball her, that is, so surround her that they 

 form a ball of bees. If she is not at once liberated 

 by gently smoking the cluster, she will be crippled or 



Fig. 51. 



killed. After such a reception the queen must be 

 re-caged until the bees receive her kindly. 



Queens received from queen raisers at home or 

 abroad are usually sent in a small travelling cage 

 (Fig. 51), accompanied by a few workers to prevent the 



