240 FIFTY YEARS AMONG THE BEES 



tell pretty well by its appearance. If it has the appearance of 

 most of those in Fig. 94, we know that a young queen has 

 emerged and must be in the nucleus. If it is torn open in the 

 side, like the one at the extreme right, the capping being still 

 perfect, we are sure that the young queen in it was destroyed 

 by the bees. 



If the cells have merely been stapled on, the bees are so 

 prompt about removing them as soon as they are no longer of 

 any use that scarce a vestige of them is left, so we have nothing 

 to judge by. But when a cell is enclosed in a cage, the bees are 

 very slow about removing it, so the cage gives us a better chance 

 for judging, 



APPEABANCE OF VACATED CELLS. 



In Fig. 94 the three first cells at the left have the cap still 

 adhering by a neck, showing that it has been only a short time 

 since the queen emerged, providing the cell has not been caged ; 

 if it has been caged the queen may have been out some time. The 

 fourth cell looks entire, as if it yet contained a young queen. 

 But it is deceptive. The bees have a trick of fastening the cap 

 back again as if it were a great joke, sometimes thus impris 

 oning one of their own number. A very close look will gen- 

 erally show a little crack, and a very little force will be needed 

 to pick the cap loose. The next sis cells show plainly that a 

 young fjueen has emerged from each, and finding a cell of that 

 kind is just as good evidence as a sight of the iiueen ; only 1 

 would a little rather see the cjneen for the bare chance that she 

 may not have perfect wings. As already mentioned, the cell at 

 the extreme right shows by the hole in its side that no queen 

 e\'er came out of it alive. 



MILLEE QUEEN-NURSERY. 



Wlinte\er the advantages of using queen-cells instead of 

 virgin queens, there are also advantages in having the young 

 queens hatch out in a queen-nursen'. So I have made consider- 

 able use of a nursery of my own devising, Fig. 881/2. It may 

 take the place of a brood-frame in any hive, in the lower stiry 

 or in an upi)er story, and it does not matter whether a laying 

 queen is in the hive or not. 



