19 



considered as good as queen cells prepared in a strong colony. 

 For this reason a nucleus should not be allowed to produce its own 

 queen. It is best, however, to- allow the queen cells which are 

 started by the nucleus to develop, and as the queen cell which is 

 introdi ced will have been capped over for three or four days 

 before its introduction this queen will appear before the other 

 cells mature. When she comes forth she Will destroy the other 

 cells. When one does not wish to insert the queen cell in a 

 frame of brood it may be placed between the two central frames, 

 suspended by a small wire hanging, in a vertical position. Often 

 bees will refuse to accept inserted cells and will destroy thetti by 

 cutting into the sides of the same. When the queen comes forth 

 of her own accord she always cuts off the tip of the cell leaving a 

 small, rounJ opening. This enables one to determine whether 

 she has been destroyed or whether she has come out of her own 

 accord. Queen cells are introduced into colonies Iri the same 

 manner. 



Queens from nuclei are introduced into other nuclei or colonies 

 in the following manner: Some times mature queens are allowed 

 to run in at the entrance of a queenless hive and the bees accept 

 her at once, but this is not usually the case, as bees do not readily 

 accept a foreign queen. Sometimes bees will accept a queen if 

 she is placed on top of the frames and allowed to run down 

 among them. The safest way, however, of introducing a mature 

 queen is by means of a small queen cage. These cages are made 

 of wire. They are about two and one-half to three inches long, 

 one and one-quarter inches wide, and about one quarter to three- 

 eighths of an inch thick. At one end of the cage a piece of wood 

 is inserted and at the other end there are two small pieces of 

 wood, one on either side, between which the queen may pass into 

 the hive. Into this space is placed a little honey and sugar made 

 into a thick paste. This is packed firmly into the opening so that 

 it will take the bees a nuinber of hours to remove it, and thus 

 liberate the queen. During this time the queen takes up the odor 

 of the surrounding bees and is generally accepted without being 

 bothered by them. It is advisable to look into the hive to see if 

 the bees are feeding the queen through the wire meshes of the 

 cage; if they are feeding her, it is a good sign that she will be 

 accepted by the colony. If the bees are trying to sting her, more 

 honey and sugar should be placed in the opening, thus detaining 

 the queen for a longer time. Very often a queen has to ,bp^ 

 confined in a cage a nuriiber of days before she will be acc4^t€^ 

 by the colony. 



Often when a young queen is introduced into a nucleus and 

 precautions are not taken, the bees pounce upon her and try to 

 kill her. This is called "balling". Virgin queens, when in- 

 troduced into queenless colonies, are often killed in the same 

 manner. Virgin queens should be introduced into nuclei or 

 queenless colonies not later than twenty-four hours after they 

 come forth, as the bees are more apt to reject them after that 

 time. 



