238 FIFTY YEAES AMONG THE BEES 



true, and often, if not generally, the cage is not put between 

 the combs, but thrust in the entrance, making sure that it is 

 where it will be protected by the bees. After being there about 

 two days, it is only the work of a minute to take out the cage, 

 expose the candy, and put the cage back in the entrance. 



Sometimes, if I want to have the work done i^utomatically, 

 I use a device that delays the work about as much as the card- 

 board, but is more uniform in the time it takes. I thrust into 

 the center of the tube of candy its whole length a wooden splint 

 about 1-16 of an inch square, and that delays the bees at gnaw- 

 ing out the candy. 



When a queen-cell is to be caged, the No. 2 cage allows 

 more room for the cell. 



For making queen-cages, instead of the common painted 

 wire cloth that is used for screen doors, I like better extra heavy 

 bright wire cloth. It is more substantial. But E. R. Root says 

 queens have been poisoned in such cages, so have a care, al- 

 though I have had hundreds of queens in them without noting 

 any harm. Perhaps all tinned wire cloth is not alike. 



DISTRIBtTTING QDEEN-CELLS. 



When the queen-cells are to be distributed, the first thing 

 is to provision a number of queen-cages of the No. 2 style, with 

 the usual queen-candy, tacking a piece of pasteboard on the 

 end of the plug. Then we go to the nucleus where the cells are 

 stored, cut out the cells, rejecting any that do not appear satis- 

 factory, and put the cells in the cages. Some cells, however, are 

 left uncaged. When we come to a nucleus that has had no 

 queen for a day or more, there is no need of caging the cell. It 

 is put against the comb in a good place, and fastened there 

 with a hive-staple (Fig. 85). Coming to a nucleus with a 

 queen which we wish to remove, we put the queen in a cage, and 

 give the nucleus a caged cell, laying the cage againct the comb 

 and nailing it there with a lYn or 1% wire nail (Fig. 93). 

 This nail is slender so as to push easily through the meshes of 

 the wire cloth. Then the young queens that we have removed 

 are used wherever needed. 



