i48 QUEENS. 



to come upon the abdomen. Tliey may be often confined 

 in a cage, without touching with the hand. Place the 

 cage m front of her upon the comb, and with the stopper 

 gently induce her to enter. If one or more bees pass in 

 with her, all the better. When ready to liberate her, she 

 will pass from the cage to the combs without difficulty. 

 The form of cage described was designed with this special 

 point in view. The value of a good queen should ever be 

 borne in mind, and in all operations great care exercised, 

 that she does not recoivc injury. When they are deposit- 

 ing eggs most freely, they become very large and heavy, 

 and will sometimes drop to the ground during the manip- 

 ulation of the combs. To avoid this, have a cage at 

 hand, and confine the queen during necessary operations 

 with the combs, and return her when ready to close the 

 hive. 



AGE OF QUEENS. 



The bee-keeper should keep a record of the age of all 

 the queens in his apiary. Some advise hanging a small 

 slate upon the front of each liive, and for making any 

 immediate record, it will be found very convenient. I 

 advise numbering each hive, and using what I call a yard- 

 book, devoting a page to each hive, numbered to corre- 

 spond. In this book, the age of the queen may be kept, 

 and any other facts which it may be useful to remember. 

 I have kept such books for each apiary away from home, 

 with much satisfaction. It was our habit to visit such 

 apiaries once each week. I have studied the condition of 

 these colonies as recorded m this book, the evening before 

 visiting them, and found myself working much more un- 

 derstandmgly tlie following day. 



When one has purchased a valuable queen at much ex- 

 pense, or if one has been reared that proves to be more 

 than ordinarily good, the owner will be slow to destroy 

 her, so long as she deposits worker eggs, even though she 



