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 larvaj. 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 

 to 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 is to be sure not to get any 

 old queen 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 reir no drones. If drone larvae 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 ths^t 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 keej) bees, he can 

 see that they keejs 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 m front of the hive, 

 we can, by use of these, soon weed out all the drones. 



